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?

20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

After every one was gone Cordelia went back into the room and warmed up a 12 oz. glass of blood. She put a straw in it and held it for Angel while he drank it. When he was done Cordelia lay down beside him and pulled his arm around her neck and held onto his hand. They both went to sleep then.

Nicky and Mike had their own agenda though and next on their list was being fed. Their cries woke both Cordelia and Angel up. Angel was tired from so much activity and went back to sleep while Cordelia got up and fed the boys.

While Angel was sleeping Dr. Martin was calling in some muscle to take care of her son. She tried getting some big, well muscled me to handle him. She had called the Supervisor of Nurses Aids at the hospital first to see if they had any that were off duty but the only two she had were on duty for the next eight hours. As she sat at her desk thinking of where she could get her hands on two big men she remembered seeing two guards at David Morgan's house that would fill her requirements. Each one must have been well over 6 ft. tall and 250 pounds or more. The muscles in their arms looked like they could give them all the power they needed to crush cement blocks with their bare hands. She called Marissa Morgan up and told her what had happened and that she needed to borrow two of David's guards for a couple of hours. "I don't think that will be a problem Dr. Martin. Do you think it would be okay for us to come and see Angel and the twins tonight?" "I don't think tonight would be good Marissa, Angel gets tired easily and I am going to have him downstairs just to get him moving for the first time since his surgery. Why don't you come next week Saturday for supper? I think he'll be in better condition to receive visitors. As it is right now the rest of the people here, except for his immediate family, haven't been able to visit with him yet. About 95 percent of his time is spent sleeping right now."

"Okay Dr. Martin. Is it okay if I send over some flowers and balloons?" "Yes that will help to perk him up a lot." "When do you want the men over there?" "We usually have supper at 7 so why don't you send them so they are here by 6:30. Thanks Marissa."

At 6 o'clock Cordelia was up taking care of all of her babies. Angel's catheter had come out and Cordelia had called Hunter to show her how to take care of him. Before Hunter came in she asked Cordelia to come downstairs for a minute. She wanted to make sure that Angel couldn't hear her.

"Cordelia I am going to show you how to put a different kind of catheter into Angel. It's going to go into a bag that we will strap to his leg. This is the kind that is used when a person can get up and move around." "You mean that Mom is going to make him get up and come downstairs whether he likes it or not?" "Yes but don't get mad at her because Angel has to get up for at least 15 to 30 minutes. As it is he has already been allowed to sleep and stay in bed for too long. The longer he is allowed to do this the longer his recovery will take. We want you to make him talk as much as possible and let Kathleen and her gang play in the room as much as possible. If they can't keep him awake then that will mean he is real tired and should be allowed to sleep. Let's go get him ready for his little trip. Hopefully he won't need the catheter for very long they can cause a lot of bladder infections."

As they started up the stairs two men came in through the front doors. The men were so big that they almost blocked out the light. They went up to the lobby desk and Fred greeted them. Hunter and Cordelia didn't hear anymore because they were at Angel's bedroom door. Hunter showed Cordelia how to put the catheter in his penis and then attach the bag to his leg. Angel just closed his eyes and tried not to think of what was being done to him. He had never been so humiliated in all of his existence. When they were done Hunter left. They could smell the food Connie was cooking. Cordelia could tell he was taking in the scents.

"I hungry." Angel said. "Are you hungry for solid food or just blood?" "Connie food." He smiled when he said it. They heard a soft knock at the door. Dr. Martin came in when Cordelia opened the door. She came and stood at the foot of the bed. "Are you ready for your little trip downstairs for supper?"

Angels only answer was "NO". His answer didn't seem to bother his mother at all. "Are you sure you don't want to go Angel? Connie is cooking up some mighty good food. She made her chili beans and rice just for you. She also made some sopipillas. You sure you don't want to come down stairs for that delicious supper." Angel looked at her trying to gage her resolve to get him down stairs.

"No, eat…..here." "No I won't let them bring it up here. You can have blood up here and that's all." Angel turned his head away from her like a child.

"Okay Angel, don't forget that this was your decision." Dr. Martin went to the door and said "Come in gentlemen." Angel turned and looked at the door. He couldn't see their features but he could see how big they were. One of the scents he picked up was familiar to him. "Richard?" "Yes it's me Angel and I brought a friend with me his name is Ronny. We often play football on opposite teams and we play the Quarterbacks." "Why….here?" "We came at Dr. Martin's request." "Why?"

Dr. Martin came over to the side of the bed. "I didn't want to put your friends in the middle of our little power war here. So I called Marissa to see if I could borrow two of their biggest guards to help me with you. I know you can't really do anything but since we can never really tell what Angelus is capable of I didn't want to take any chances. Plus I wanted to show you who has the real power here." Dr. Martin was smiling as she brought over the new wheel chair she had bought for Angel. "Okay gentlemen put this shirt on him and put him in the chair."

"No. I …don't ….want ….go." Angel was angry now that she was going against his wishes. Richard took the heavy shirt from Cordelia and Ronny pulled Angel forward and pulled his legs over the side of the bed. Angel was unable to resist although Dr. Martin could see that he was trying. When they had the shirt on him both Richard and Ronny picked him up and placed him in the wheel chair. Cordelia put a blanket over Angels lap and tucked it in around him.

"Okay let's go." Dr. Martin said. Before they went out the door Angel looked at Dr. Martin. He had his blood red tears threatening to spill over. "Mom…..please…..no make me." Her heart started to soften but she knew what she was doing was for his benefit. "I'm sorry Angel but it's for your own good." Richard continued out the door and to the elevator. As he pushed Angel out of the elevator and towards the dinning room Angel could sense a lot of people in the room. He could also smell a lot of flowers and he could see some large shapes floating in the air. He guessed these to be balloons. As he was pushed to his end of the table he heard everyone stand and start clapping. They actually saw Angel blush as he put his head down.

"Thank you." Angel said as he looked up and smiled. Joyce and Junior came over and put their arms out to him so he could pick them up but he had no control of his arms and hands yet.

"Uncle Angel can't pick you up Joyce and Junior." Cordelia said. "Why?" "Because his arms don't work right yet. Maybe if you ask the gentleman nicely he'll pick you up so you can give Uncle Angel a kiss." Joyce turned and looked up at the man standing by Angel. "Excuse me but would you pick me up so I can give a welcome kiss to Uncle Angel?" Ronny picked up Joyce and Junior and put one under each arm and let them kiss him. When he put them down he went back to standing beside Angel.

"Why did you get Richard and Ronny here instead of asking one of us to help Angel?" Spike asked.

"Since Angel was refusing to come down stairs for supper I didn't want to put anyone on the spot and have to choose between Angel and me since you all know it might put you in hot water with either one of us. You guys should have seen him pouring on the sympathy getting big brown eyes. You know the kind he uses Cordelia." "Yes I sure do. He's used them so much on me that he even got me to say 'I do'."

In answer Angel used his big brown eyes and said "I'm hungry." "Okay I guess I can get you something to eat." Cordelia started to put some chili beans and rice in a bowl along with some onions. She gave him a couple of Beano pills first then started to spoon up the beans and rice to him. "Hot." Angel yelled. "I'm sorry baby; here drink some of my milk." Cordelia held the glass of milk up for him as he drank it. Everyone was very conscious of the fact that Angel needed everything to be done for him. Angel felt everyone's eyes on him. Cordelia blew on the food to cool it then tried it herself, just as she used to do for Kathleen when she started to eat solid foods, she judged it to be cool enough and gave it to Angel. After only 4 spoonfuls Angel turned his head and said "No more."

Angel seemed to be uncomfortable with something. "Cordy…..tight." "What is tight?" Angel was struggling with the words he wanted to say. "Cordy….too tight." When Cordelia couldn't figure out what was too tight she had an idea of who would be able to understand him. "Kathleen, come here please." "Yes Mommy." "Can you understand what your Daddy is trying to tell us is too tight?" "He said the belt around his chest is too tight." Angel smiled. "Yes, yes." Richard undid the crib sheet they had used to put around Angels chest to keep him from falling forward. Since it was too short to give him more room they ripped it in half and joined the two ends then put it around him again. "Is that better?" Richard asked. "Yes….better. Thank you." "No problem Angel, no problem."

The meal continued then without any more problems. Connor was sitting on Angels left side and would help him drink his glass of blood. Thirty minutes into the meal Angel was trying to tell Cordelia something but she couldn't understand.

"Angel when they hit you we lost the link between us. Can you see if you can re-establish it again?" They could all see that he was very tired but he wanted to try anyway. Richard positioned Angel's wheelchair closer to Cordelia as she pulled over more. She took Angels hand and put it to the side of her face. Angel closed his eyes and put his head down and concentrated. They could see perspiration beading up on his forehead. He put his head up and said "I can't. Kathleen, come Daddy." Kathleen came over again. "Yes Daddy." 'Help me establish a link between your mother and me.' Kathleen heard him say in her mind. "I don't know how." Kathleen said. No one could hear what Angel was saying so what Kathleen was saying sounded funny.

'Put one hand on my face and the other on your Mommy's face and imagine that you are putting a wire between your Mommy and me, okay?' "Okay Daddy I'll try." Kathleen did as her Daddy said and imagined that she was dressed up in a hard hat and climbing up a telephone pole that looked like her father then she reached out and touched the other pole that looked like her mother. She could feel her fathers mind going through her and to her mother. 'Okay you can let go now.' Kathleen lowered her hands and smiled.

"Where did you get the idea of climbing up a pole dressed like a telephone girl?" Cordelia asked her daughter. "When we were playing in the back yesterday I saw a man dressed up like that and he went up the pole with a long wire that was attached to the other pole." "Can you remember which wire he attached to the pole in the back?" Connor asked his sister. He got up and followed his sister to the back. She pointed out the wire she saw being attached to the pole in back of the hotel that carried their electric and telephone wires. "You did real good Kathleen. I think I'll take you to school with me and make you an honorary police officer." Kathleen just looked at him as though to say 'are you crazy or something?' "You little rascal." Connor said then chased his sister back into the hotel as she ran as fast as she could. She was laughing as he chased her so she couldn't run quiet as fast as she wanted to.

"Well is it what we think it is?" Wesley asked. "It's from across the street alright." Connor said. "Didn't you say you were going to buy that property across the street Hunter?" "Yes I did and I've already contacted a real estate lawyer to look into it. She contacted me this morning with the name of the present owner and I'll give you one guess as to who owns it." "Wolfram & Hart." Wesley answered. "Yes, how did you know?" "Angel asked me to look into it when we first moved in here. As soon as I told him who owned it he told me to drop it." "Why did you tell him to drop it Angel?" Everyone looked at Angel. His head was down and they could see that he was sleeping.

"I think it's time for Angel to be put back to bed." Dr. Martin said. Cordelia reached over and took the napkin off of his chest then Richard pushed his wheelchair back to his bedroom and with Ronny's help they put Angel to bed. Cylinda followed them in and when they left she took the leg bag off of him since he was lying down now and put a regular catheter in him.

Dr. Martin stayed at the table so she could talk to everyone now that they had seen Angel and how things were for him.

"Well what do you all think now that you've seen how he is?"

"He'll get better won't he Grandma?" Connor asked.

"Yes Connor he can get better and he will but it's going to take longer then what you are all used to. The length of time that he takes to heal will be longer because he is more human now. I want to explain the difference in what I went through with my stroke and what Angel has gone through. The symptoms are the same but the causes are entirely different. With a stroke normal pathways have been blocked but can return to normal by either surgery or through medication, they clear by themselves or the damage is permanent. When I was recovering from the stroke I was relearning how to speak, read, walk correctly and so forth. The knowledge of how to do these things were still there but I had to develop knew pathways to get to that knowledge and it was just a short walk. It was kind of like building a bypass around a city. For Angel though there is no possible way to get around the accident that has occurred. For Angel it's like an earthquake has occurred and has completely cut and separated portions of his brain and a deep chasm now exists." Dr. Martin paused for a moment and let everything she had said so far sink in.

"Before the surgery I spoke to Angelus. I told him not to attempt to heal Angel until I said it was okay. I told him that the Doctor that was going to be operating on Angel didn't know everything about him and it would be in his best interest not to let him see things that couldn't be explained away. I spoke to Angelus again yesterday and told him he could go ahead and heal Angel. Of course I took precautions to make sure that he couldn't hurt himself once the expected seizure started. When Angel awoke his ability to speak was much worse then it is now. Since then his ability to speak has improved by the hour. But that is all that has improved. His ability to control his eyes, move his hands or arms or even his ability to sit up is non existent. His vision is very poor. He can see light and shapes but very poorly. He recognizes all of you because of his heightened ability to smell our different scents. If you were to ask me how fast I thought Angel will get back to normal I would have to say that I have absolutely no idea.

Starting tomorrow we will start Angel on his rehabilitation therapy. Before we left the hospital yesterday Wesley, Giles and I had supper with two of the Sisters that are the Speech and Physical therapists at the hospital. They told us what to use to help Angel relearn how to speak, walk, and basically take care of himself and hopefully return to full health again."

"I thought Angel had broken the link between himself and Kathleen." Gunn asked.

"He did. I think he was able to speak to Kathleen inside her mind because of Kathleen herself. That little girl is showing a lot of special abilities. From what Connor tells me she can do magic without having to even say anything like Willow and Tara does. Now that Wolfram & Hart know about Kathleen have you taken any steps to protect your little sister Connor?" "Lou and Tom are with the kids all of the time when they are on the outside of the hotel and beyond the security sensors that we have and the spell that Willow puts on the hotel at night their isn't much else that we can do. Kathleen is getting pretty good at taking care of herself also plus she can talk to me whenever she wants to. I'm the one that is the weak link when she speaks to me. Where as I have to be close by to speak to Kathleen she can reach me over great distances."

"Well I think I am going to go up to our room my dear Rupert and prepare myself to give you 100 percent of my attention." "Grandma please, there are children present." Connor said as he was blushing. "Why, the kids have gone upstairs to play with Toby." "I know I was talking about Lou, Tom, and myself." Connor laughed as he said it. "Besides its weird thinking about you and Grandpa doing it." Connor, Lou, and Tom looked at each other and said at the same time "Ewww." The rest were laughing at them.

"Did you take your Viagra Grandpa?" Giles stood up, grabbed his wife and bent her over backwards on the table on an area he cleared with one sweep of his arm. "Ah my beautiful wife you still have what it takes to get me going. I don't need any drugs to get ready for you my sweet." Giles kissed Mary with a long passionate kiss. Buffy had been quiet most of the night but when she saw the senior citizens putting on a show she spoke up. "Giles please, control yourself." Spike started laughing when he looked at Giles and Mary then at Buffy. She was turning beet red while Willow and Tara just turned away with their hands over their eyes. Mary was starting to tear Rupert's shirt off while he had his hand going up her back and unhooking her bra. Mary skillfully pulled it off and out through one of her sleeves and threw it towards the other side so that it landed, just by chance, on top of Buffy's head. Rupert lifted Mary off of the table when he heard a man clearing his throat behind him. Mary looked at Richard in surprise and embarrassment.

"Will you need us any longer Grandma?" "No Richard, you and Ronny can sit and have some supper if you want." "No thank you, we're barbequing a Lamb tonight so were kind of anxious to get home. Goodnight everyone. If you should need us again Connor don't hesitate to call." "I will, thanks Richard. I apologize for my grandparents' childish display Ronny. Sometimes these old people just get out of hand." Connor said.

Rupert picked up his little wife and threw her over his shoulder and took off for the elevator as Richard and Ronny left through the front doors. That was the last they heard from the so called old people for the rest of the night. Everyone else left the table then and went to their own bedrooms.

Cylinda had helped take care of Angel and taken all of his vitals before she left. Cordelia was taking care of the boys now and feeding Nicky while Mike waited patiently in the bassinet. Mike was a very quiet baby and in some ways he reminded her very much of Angel. He lay in the bassinet just staring at the small toys that dangled from the hood of the bassinet. Not Nicky though, Nicky was usually the one that had to be fed first or he would throw a tantrum if he didn't get what he wanted immediately.

As soon as she had the boys back in there bassinet Cordelia went to bed. It had been a very busy day and she was tired. Even though Angel was in another bed and not beside her she still felt secure. Just knowing he was in the room was enough.

It was 9 o'clock when Cordelia went to bed. Four hours later she was awakened by Nicky demanding attention. She got up and changed them both then settled down in the rocking chair to nurse Nicky. He emptied one breast and was hungry for more so she put him to the other breast and hoped that he would leave some for his brother. A few minutes after he latched onto her other breast he was apparently full and went back to sleep. "What am I going to do with you Nicky? You're so greedy I'm surprised that you left anything for your brother." Cordelia quickly burped him and put him back in the bassinet. As soon as she put him down though he woke up again and started crying.

"Give him to me." Angel said. "I didn't know you were awake." Cordelia said as she picked up Nicky again. She pulled Angels arm over so she could put Nicky in the curve of his arm then she put a couple of pillows between his arm and the rail on the side of the bed. She picked up Mike then and hoped that she had enough left for him. What little was left satisfied him and he went back to sleep. Cordelia checked on Nicky and he was sleeping once again until she tried picking him up and putting him with his brother.

"Leave him with me. Nicky is going to be like me before I was turned I think. But Mike is going to be the best of both of us." "Yes I think so also. Are you hungry?" "No I'm good." She gave him a kiss and went back to bed.

Cordelia slept until 9 the next morning. She was surprised that Nicky hadn't started crying yet. 'Maybe I can take a nice peaceful shower before I have to take care of them again.' She went to the bathroom and took her time taking care of herself this morning. She had left the bathroom door open in case Nicky started crying. When she came out Angel was awake along with their boys. To her surprise though Nicky wasn't crying but just lying in his fathers arm and staring at him.

"Did you sleep well Daddy?" "Yes, Nicky did too. Since he is still being quiet why don't you take care of Mike first?" Cordelia did as he suggested. She was surprised at how much better he was able to talk now. As she sat down and put Mike to her breast she looked at Angel. "You seem to be speaking much better now." "Yes it is the first thing that I concentrated on healing. Last night when I woke up again I did as the Tibetan Monks taught me. They said to imagine that something was happening that would heal a wound whether it was a physical wound or a mental wound like the one I was suffering when Buffy died. So last night I imagined that I was building a bridge between the two sides of the wound in my brain and apparently it worked. But I still can't move anything and my eyesight hasn't improved. I can make my eyes stop moving so much but I can't see clearly yet. I can't even see my sons face."

Cordelia was ready for Nicky now that Mike was back in his bassinet. All through the process of changing him and feeding him he remained quiet and not so demanding. He didn't try to drink her dry as he usually did and went to sleep again without raising a fuss when she laid him down next to his brother.

"Now that you're done with the boys Cordy I am sorry to tell you this but I think my diaper needs to be changed also." Cordy checked him and found that he was right. She got everything together before she started to clean him up. Cordy knew how embarrassing this was for him so she quickly took care of him and didn't say anything that would cause him more embarrassment.

"I am going to see what's cooking downstairs Angel and I'll be right back." "Okay." Before leaving Cordelia turned the camera on so he could be monitored while she was gone.

When Cordelia arrived downstairs everyone was at the table. "Good morning everyone. I have some good new this morning Mom. When Angel woke up this morning he was speaking normally and without any hesitation whatsoever." Cordelia grabbed some eggs, toast and coffee and sat down. Dr. Martin let her eat her breakfast before asking her anything.

"So did he have an explanation as to how this was accomplished?" "Yes he said he used the mind technique the Tibetan Monks taught him when he went there to learn to cope with his suffering over Buffy's death. He said that when he went to sleep last night he imagined that he was building a bridge between the two sides of his brain that had been cut and apparently it worked."

Everyone was quiet for awhile. "That man can pull more rabbits out of his hat then a veteran magician." Dr. Martin said.

"Well when are we going to start him on his physical therapy." Connor asked.

"This morning after he has had his blood I want you to put his sweat pants on and you men can bring him downstairs." Dr. Martin instructed.

"If you men are done with your breakfast I would appreciate it if you would leave the table because I need to talk to our two resident Doctors about some girly stuff." The men cleared out without asking any questions. Cordelia laughed when they all got up at once and cleared out. She got up and went to the back doors and called Lou in. When just the women were at the table Cordelia brought her coffee over to Dr. Martins end and sat down.

"Okay Mom Buffy told me what happened after I left last night. Tell us did you really go upstairs and make out big time with Giles." Cordelia laughed as she asked her question. "Yes of course we did. Why you young people think that it's disgusting for older people to have sex is beyond me. You know you will all be there sooner or later. And you Hunter, Mike is a year older than I am, do you think his age has diminished his sex drive that much?" "No that man won't need Viagra for a long time to come. I can practically do chin ups off of him he gets so hard." That started off another round of laughing.

The women didn't know it but the men were all upstairs on the 5th floor and using Connor and Spike to tell them what the women were talking about. Mike was turning 3 shades of red.

"Angel told me how Mike described the Vampire Special you give him. He said when the men went camping and were hiking to some hot springs Mike was having a hard time keeping up. They stopped for a while so he could catch his breath. When Spike looked at Mike he could see that he was a little pale so he asked him if Hunter had just given him the Vampire Special the night before. Mike told them that every time Hunter gives it to him he feels like the head of his penis is going to explode and that he is glad that he has enough property around his house so that no one can hear him yelling Hunters name."

Hunter just leaned back in her chair with her hands interlaced behind her head. "What can I say girls but when you got it, you got it."

"What's the Vampire Special?" Lou asked innocently.

"I'll explain it later Lou because if I tell you before you and Connor get married you might just jump Connor before. That poor guy is having enough of a hard time as it is. Our water bill has gone up since you moved in with us." Cordelia said. "Am I using too much water? It didn't occur to me that you had to pay for the water we use." Lou said seriously.

"No it's not you that's using the cold water, it's Connor. I think every time he has to speak to you he has to take a cold shower." Cordelia explained. "Oh! It is fun getting him going. If it hadn't been for the fact that he had a class to get to, one time, I would have finally broken his oath to not have sex with me until we both graduate." They all laughed at how devious Lou was getting.

"I really did need to ask you Mom and Hunter if you have any idea what I could do about increasing the amount of milk I am producing. Nicky isn't satisfied with what he is getting from just one breast. Last night I had to give him my other breast as well. I was afraid that I wouldn't have enough for poor Mike. Fortunately what Nicky left for his brother was just enough. When Fred had David and Robert Connie and I were able to help but now the extra bars are closed."

"The only thing I can suggest Cordelia is to use your breast pump frequently to encourage your breasts to produce more milk faster. Other then that you may have no choice but to go to bottles." Dr. Martin said. Cordelia moaned and put her head down on the table. "I know, I thought I would just ask to see if anyone had heard of something. Can't you give Willow or Tara some kind of drug to make them start producing milk? There are four milk producers between them and they aren't being used."

"I'm not sure if there is anything on the market, I'll have to ask Mike. It really doesn't make any difference though because most likely by the time they started to produce milk you would start producing enough. No, I think it would be best to just do as I said and just keep some formula around just in case Nicky starts demanding more than you can give." Dr. Martin said and Hunter agreed. "Oh well I guess your right. At least there is one good thing about this problem. I'm starting to loose my baby making fat because my body is using up a lot of calories just to make the milk."

"Wesley was sure glad that my breasts didn't shrink down to their original size when I weaned the boys. I was wearing an A cup before I got pregnant and when I was breast feeding I had to change to a B cup and they haven't shrunk down yet. He was so glad the night I asked him to empty my breasts instead of feeding it to the boys. The next morning he started acting like Angel and went to the boys crib and said 'Their mine now boys and I can have all the milk I want. Yahooo!'" All the women started laughing. The men on the 5th floor had to put their hands over their mouths to keep from laughing to loud because it was poor Wesley's turn to turn 3 shades of red from embarrassment.

"I guess I better go and take care of Angel. We should be ready for the men to come and get him in about 30 minutes." "Okay Cordy well be ready." Hunter said.

After Cordelia had fed Angel his blood she put his other catheter on him and some sweat pants along with a t-shirt and a flannel shirt that she left open. She then wrapped up the boys and put them in their bassinet and waited for someone to come and get Angel.

A few minutes later Connor and Spike came up to help with Angel. Spike elbowed Connor in the arm. "Watch me get Angel going." He whispered.

The door was open so they just walked in. "Well is Daddy all ready to go?" Both Cordelia and Connor looked at Angel.

"That's okay Spike I'm just keeping a score card in my head and when I'm able to get around again, which we all know I will sooner or later, I'll tally up that score card and then I'll get back at everyone that took advantage of my paralysis." Angel said then gave his best wicked laugh.

Spike gave an involuntary shudder. "What's wrong?" Connor asked. "Nothing, it's just that I felt like someone just walked on my grave and …………………danced an Irish jig." Angel, Connor and Cordelia laughed. Spike pulled Angel up in a sitting position while Connor pulled his legs over the side of the bed. Once they had him in the chair they tied him in with the sheet they used the night before. Connor pushed Angels chair to the elevator while Cordelia picked up Nicky and Spike picked up Mike and they all proceeded to the basement.

Once they got to the door of the basement it was decided that it would be easier for Connor to put Angel over his shoulder and carry him down the stairs to the basement while Gunn and Wesley picked up the wheelchair and took it downstairs. After Angel was settled in the wheelchair again Dr. Martin came over. Everyone finally noticed that she had changed into some sweatpants herself along with one of Giles T-Shirts and a flannel shirt since it tended to be cooler in the basement.

For the next 90 minutes Wesley and Dr. Martin put Angel thru all of the exercises that the physical therapist had recommended. Cordelia helped put Angel through some of the exercises so that she could help him go through them as frequently as he could take it without getting too tired.

For one week Angel went through these exercises and tried very hard to do as he was told, but at the end of 7 days he still couldn't do anything more than hold his head up for a longer period of time. At the end of the 7th day they were all downstairs and having supper. Cordelia was trying to give Angel another spoon full of food when he turned his head and said "No more."

Connie was bringing in some tapioca pudding for everyone when she saw Angel refuse anymore food. "Would you like something else to eat Mr. Martin?" "No thank you Connie I'm just not that hungry." Cordelia gave Angel the rest of his blood then started eating her own dinner which was cold so she got up and warmed it up in the microwave. Angel let her finish her dinner before he said anything.

"Mom and Wesley I want to thank you for working so hard with me so that I can move on my own again but I think it's obvious that it isn't working." Everyone was quiet for a moment because they all knew that what he was saying was true.

"Your correct Angel, your not showing any improvement and you should be showing something by now. I think I've known you long enough to know that you have something up your proverbial sleeve because you do not give up this easily." Dr. Martin said in response.

Angel just looked at her and grinned. "Remember how I was able to start speaking normally again?" "Yes, you said you used the mind techniques that the Tibetan Monks taught you."

"Yes but what I want to do now is more extensive and more involved. I need for you to show me exactly how the brain is mapped out. I believe I saw a picture of this in one of Spikes medical books that I was reading when I had to spend the night at his vacation hut when Cordelia threw me out during our honeymoon. I then need for you to show me on the map where my brain was cut into by the pieces of bone. I need either a large TV screen or movie screen that will show me the building of a bridge over and over again. Get me films on the building of the Golden Gate Bridge, London Bridge, in fact any and all types of bridges. Once I've seen these films the picture can be stopped but I need the sound to continue at a much lower level.

What I am going to attempt to do is create new pathways or bridges over the areas that were cut. This may take me as long as a week or as little as a few days. I don't want to make the same mistake I did when we were in Ireland so I am going to need someone by me almost constantly once I put myself in a trance. Most importantly of all though is that I will need someone to call me back and out of the trance."

"How will we know when your ready to come out of the trance?" Wesley asked.

"You should be able to start seeing me move my arms and legs. They may be jerking motions at first. You can try getting me to do different things like Mom did when she hypnotized my younger self."

"How can the films help you Angel when you can't see clearly enough to make out the picture?" Dr. Martin asked. "Set up your teaching schedule so that, that is the first thing we work on." Angel said.

Gunn brought his coffee over to Angel's end of the table and sat down. Angel looked at him. "Do you have a question Gunn?" "Yeah, exactly how do you do this little magic of yours? Because I can't for the life of me figure out what good all this set up is going to do."

"Well I can show you how to do it. You still get those sinus headaches?" "Yeah, in fact I have one right now." "Okay, do you remember those heavy cylinders they used to use when they were planting a new lawn? They would put down a truck load of stinky fertilizer then work it into the ground then throw the grass seed on the dirt. Then some people would use these cylinders to press the seed into the dirt." "Okay I remember."

"I want you to sit back and relax and listen only to my voice. I want you to imagine that you have two little men inside your forehead pushing those cylinders. They are starting from the middle and just above your nose. Imagine that they are starting to push the cylinders now. They have to go slowly because they are very heavy. What they are pushing the cylinders over is your sinuses that are like large bags full of water. They are so full that they are pressing in on your nerves that go over your head. The men have to go slowly or the bags will burst. As they push the cylinders the water in the bags is starting to come out of the sides. As they get to the end of the bag they flip the handle on the cylinders so that they can now push them back over the bags again. Very slowly they push the cylinders over the bags of water and there is a little less water in them each time they push the cylinders over the bags. Look at the bags, they have less water in them don't they because the water is continuing to come out of the sides and running down the drain." Dr. Martin and Wesley were sitting near by and watching Gunn. They noticed a small trickle of water coming out of his nose. Gunn sat up then and pulled his handkerchief out and wiped his nose.

"That's a neat trick." Gunn said. "How are your sinuses?" Angel asked. Gunn ran his hand over his forehead. "It's not completely gone but it's a lot better then it was." "If you were to continue doing as I directed until you felt that your sinuses were drained it would stay that way for a much longer amount of time then it would if you took an over the counter drug. Now you have an idea of how I will attempt to fix my own brain." Angel said. He was barely able to keep his eyes open now, he was so tired. "Spike, can you take Angel back to his bed now? I think he needs to rest now."

After Cordelia removed Angels napkin from his chest Spike took Angel upstairs while Cordelia and Dr. Martin brought the boys over. Nicky was hungry and was starting to demand attention so as soon as they arrived in their bedroom Cordelia changed both boys. Nicky was still screaming as loud as he could. He was making so much noise that his brother started crying also. While Cordelia and Dr. Martin were taking care of the boys Spike got Angel settled in. "Do you mind if I put your regular catheter in you Angel? I've done it for a lot of women but I've never done it to a man." Spike asked after he had him settled on the bed.

"Sure as long as you don't start getting envious and taking pictures." "Ha, ha, very funny. I believe I satisfy Buffy well enough. Dr. Martin, should I feel anything different as I push the tube up the urethra?" "Yes go a little slower at first because you have more of a curve as it passes by the prostate, after that it will feel the same as a woman." Spike proceeded to change the catheter in Angel. When he was done he removed the rest of his clothes and pulled the sheets and blanket up to and under his arms. In the mean time Nicky was screaming his head off.

"Why don't you give me Nicky Cordy and take care of Mike first. That way he can get his fill before Nicky drains you dry." Angel told her. Cordelia gave him Nicky and put him under his Daddy's arm then put a pillow between Angels arm and the rail of the bed. Spike was watching her do this and noticed how Nicky quieted down almost immediately.

"What do you do Angel to make him stop crying?" Spike asked. "I talk to him in his mind. It's not a link just a light touching of my mind to his. It gives him something to think about besides his empty stomach.

Cordelia was nursing her other son while Angel took care of the noisy, demanding one. When she was done Dr. Martin took him so that he could be burped. She held Mike for awhile and rocked him as he went to sleep. "He's such a good baby. He doesn't seem to cry very much." "No he doesn't, in fact he is the exact opposite of Nicky. Angel and I were talking about him the other night. He seems to have inherited everything that is good in the both of us and Nicky has inherited everything that is bad in us. Of course it's mostly Angels bad since I don't have very much." She smiled at him as she said this. "Yes I can't argue with you there. Connor will be lucky to get him to work at all since he'll be up late and hitting the bars until late at night. Hopefully I'll be here long enough to get him to grow up and not make the same mistakes I did." They were all quiet for a while then as they thought of the future and how short it will be for some of them.

"Well this one is sleeping now. I think I'll put him in the bassinet and go and start looking into getting those x-rays and pictures of the map of the brain. Goodnight Angel and Cordelia." "Goodnight Mom." Angel and Cordelia said at the same time. When Nicky had his fill she laid him down next to his brother after burping him.

"Do you mind staying here for a while Spike while I go and take a shower?" "Sure, no problem." "Uh Cordy I sure would like to take a regular bath also and get my hair washed. I'm tired of feeling this bandage on my head and I don't think it's really necessary any more." Cordelia looked at Spike and thought about the logistics of giving Angel what he wanted. The whirlpool bath had curves in it to act as a chair of sorts.

"Okay Angel I think we can do that. Right Spike?" "Yes I think we can fill the tub up half way, bath him, then fill it the rest of the way and let him soak a little." "Okay let's do it then."

It took them a good hour to give Angel what he wanted but when they finally got him tucked in again he went right to sleep. "Thank you Spike I think he'll sleep straight through tonight. Good night." "Your welcome and goodnight." Spike went to his own bedroom after checking on his daughter upstairs first. He found the girls in bed together with Joyce laying with her leg over poor Kathleen and holding onto her. Junior was in his bed and Toby was on his own bed that they had made for him. Spike went back downstairs to Buffy and called it a night.

The next morning Connor brought in a box full of DVD's on the building of various bridges. It was Monday so he had classes to attend. He was going to have a heavy schedule this semester so that he could finish with school as soon as possible. Angel was awake and Cordelia was giving him a mug of warmed blood. "Dad I am going to have a heavy schedule of classes this semester so that I can finish with my schooling. Since I am going to be too busy to help with any of Cordelia's visions or the business I asked Spike and Buffy to stay here until I graduate. Since Wolfram & Hart know about Kathleen's abilities I don't feel safe with you out of the picture. Now if you're successful in coming back to a full recovery we won't have to worry about it and we can proceed with your previous orders. Is that okay with you?" "Yes Connor that sounds good. If you need any help you know you can always call on Richard." "Yes he has already offered his help. I have to go now." They could hear him jumping down the stairs to the Lobby.

"As soon as he can take over Cordelia and the boys are big enough for us to leave them for awhile I want to go away for a few months. If Wesley and Fred want to I would like them to go with us. Have you ever talked to Fred about her parent's home?" "Yes she has some pictures that she has shown me. They have a large place that they just run cattle on now and a foreman that runs things for them since they're getting along in years also. You know they've invited us to come out and visit them whenever we wanted. We could take the horses with us and go riding every day."

"That sounds good. When my mind gets tired of trying to bridge the gaps in my brain I'll stop and rest by thinking of those days to come. If you think I'm starting to look tired take over from Mom and talk to me about what we can do at the ranch. Talk to me about the wind blowing in our faces as we ride over hill after hill." Angel started to cry as he thought of what he was going to have to go through.

"What's wrong Angel. You know you can tell me anything and I'll understand." Cordelia said as she started to shed her own tears. She went to the bed and lay down beside him then pulled him into her arms.

Cordelia and Angel didn't realize it but the monitor had been left on and Dr. Martin, Hunter, Mike and Spike where watching and listening in the clinic.

"I am so tired Cordelia. I feel as though I am tired all the way to my soul. If it wasn't for the fact that I would miss you so much I would ask God to take me now."

"Cordy I don't want to try to heal my mind yet. I think that if I tried it now I would probably fail because I am too tired." He waited to see if she would say anything but she was silent.

"Cordelia I want to go to sleep for at least a month. I can slow all of my organs down so that it seems as though I am dead but I won't be. I want the men to put me in one of the rooms on the fifth floor or else in the basement. I need to be in a dark and quiet place. The next thing I am going to ask you to do Cordy is going to be the hardest." She looked up at him with fear in her eyes at what he was going to ask of her now.

"I need for you to stay away from me during my month long sleep. Every time you come near me, even when I'm in a deep sleep, I sense your nearness to me and I start to wake up." Cordelia let out the breath she was holding. She had been afraid that his request would be worse. Then something else came to her. "Angel what if Angelus takes control of you again like he did in Ireland?" "Hunter will help me to go to sleep. She told me that she has put herself to sleep at least 4 times so she has my complete trust and I am asking you and everyone else to do the same. She has already helped me do it once before. When I first met her it was because I almost went crazy with grief when I was given my soul back and my mind was very tired so she showed me how to rest as only Vampires can rest. When she helps me I don't have a problem with Angelus."

"When do you want to do this?" "As soon as possible." "Okay Angel I'll go and talk to Mom and Hunter and well find a place for you." Cordelia kissed him long and hard. She knew she wouldn't be able to come near him for the next 30 days. She got off the bed then and wiped her tears away then went to find Hunter and Dr. Martin. When she went to turn the monitor on she realized that they probably already knew about it.

Cordelia made her way to the clinic after taking a shower and dressing. All of the resident doctors were still in the clinic.

"You all heard what he wants to do?" "Yes." Dr. Martin answered for everyone.

"Since Angel trusts you Hunter to take him through this, I trust you also. Our only problem right now is to find a place to put him for the 30 days that he wants to sleep." Cordelia said.

"Hunter and I were talking about the problem Cordelia and we both think it would be best if I took him home with me and placed him in the old Crypt that I used to live in at the Sunnydale cemetery. I've excavated lower levels to the Crypt and I have a bed down there that I can place him on. Its dead quiet down there, no pun intended. There is some electricity so that Hunter can go down there when ever she wants to." Spike told Cordelia.

"Mom do you think we have to worry about the fact that he is more human this time." "We were talking about that also. Hunter doesn't know for sure but feels it would be better if we continued to have the catheter in him and set him up with extra padding on the bed. In other words just as he is now, we will also have to set him up so that he is fed periodically. Hunter feels that it should only be necessary to feed him once or twice a week. If he doesn't pass any urine after a week then she'll take the catheter out since it can cause infections."

"Okay then he wants to do this ASAP." "Do you want to put him under before we leave Hunter?" Spike asked. "Yes I think that will be best. In fact we can do it right now and by the time we leave he should be in a deep sleep."

Everyone left the clinic then and went upstairs to Angel's bedroom. He had asked Cordelia, through the link they shared, to bring Kathleen with her so he could explain to her what was going to happen. Kathleen came running to the bedroom. She had figured out on her own how to get up onto the hospital bed. She had seen the little box that her Grandma used to use in the clinic before they had the fancy exam bed that went up and down. She asked her Grandma if she could borrow it while her Daddy was sick. She kept the box by the bed but out of the way so that when she came in she pulled it over by the bed and climbed up to give her Daddy a kiss.

"Mommy said you wanted talk to me Daddy." "Yes I do. Daddy is very, very, very tired from being sick for so long. So I am going to go to sleep for 30 days and you won't be able to see me for those 30 days. You can't try to talk to me in our minds either because then you would wake me up and I would have to start the 30 days over again okay?" "Why are you going to be sleeping for so long Daddy? You told me that you weren't going to get sick and leave us anymore." "Yes that's true but I didn't say exactly that. I think that if you think about it you will remember that I said that I would try not to get sick again." "Okay Daddy." Kathleen was starting to cry now. "Don't cry baby or you're going to make me cry too." "I can't help it Daddy. When I think of how long you're going to be gone from Mommy and me I get very sad and that makes me cry, see." Kathleen sat up and pointed to her tears. Cordelia wiped her eyes and helped her to blow her nose.

"I want you to do something else for me Kathleen. Do you know how to pray all of the Rosary now?" "Yes Daddy." "Okay then every night I have to pray the Rosary but I won't be able to because I am going to be asleep for 30 days. Will you pray the Rosary for me and before you start each night I want you to offer your prayers for all of the sins that your Daddy committed when he was a bad boy a long time ago. You can sleep with your Mommy while I am sleeping and you can pray the Rosary with her each night okay?" "Okay Daddy I promise and I promise to take care of Mommy and Nicky and Mike." "Give Daddy a big kiss and a hug that is so tight that it will last you and me for the next 30 days." Kathleen did as her Daddy said and gave him a bunch of kisses all over his face then hugged him as tight as she could. After a while Cordelia picked her up and held her for a minute. "Goodbye Daddy, I love you." "I love you too Kathleen." By now everyone was shedding silent tears. Cordelia took her daughter to the door and told her to go and play with Joyce and Junior.

"So what have you guys decided you're going to do with me?" "We have decided that you need to go home with Spike and Buffy and me." Hunter said. "I still have my old crypt that I used to stay in before Buffy and I got married. I still use it when that dirty villain PMS comes to the house to stay for a few days. Then I take Joyce and we run for cover. I have a bed, refrigerator and TV down in the lower level. We're going to put you down there and Hunter will stay there with you. That way you will have complete quiet and there won't be any danger of someone waking you." Spike said. "Since Spike can't leave until it's dark we won't be taking you to Sunnydale until then. I want to help you go to sleep now though Angel. I can sense how tired you are and I can't see any reason to delay it." "I think I had better break the link between us before I go to sleep Cordelia or else I might make you sleep also or at the least make you want to sleep more than usual." Cordelia went to the other side of the bed and sat down next to him. She bent down, gave him a kiss and put her head next to his. Angel broke the link and she sat up.

"I want you to leave now Cordelia or else I won't be able to concentrate on what I have to do." Angel told her. He wanted to reach up and touch her face so bad that his right arm started to shake. Cordelia picked it up and kissed his hand then opened his hand and looked at the mark of his mothers ring. She kissed the palm of his hand gently then turned and walked out of the room.

"Okay Angel, close your eyes. Do you remember how you did it the last time you slept?" "Yes." He answered as though he was already sleeping. "Okay then lets go down another level. You can no longer feel the bed under you. You can no longer feel anything that is touching your skin. You are floating in space and you cannot feel anything but the warmth of the room." Hunter waited another 10 minutes. Dr. Martin and Mike were watching Angel and the monitors that gave his heart beat and respiration. While this was going on Wesley and Giles came in. Spike got up from the chair he was sitting in. He held his finger to his lips to tell them not to talk then motioned for them to follow him.

"What's going on?" Wesley asked as soon as they arrived in the hallway.

"Angel wants to go into a deep sleep that only Vampires can do. We can put ourselves into such a deep sleep that we seem to be dead and we can exist like that for a long time. Hunter said that she has done it sometimes for as long as 10 years. She told us she would do it when she would get bored and tired of life. If you think of how old she is you can understand that having existed that long she was bound to just get bored with life. Hunter helped Angel do this once before for a few months. It was sometime after he had been cursed with his soul again and he was into the guilt trip big time. He heard about Hunter and asked her to help him. So that is what she is going through right now. When he goes down into a deep sleep Buffy, Hunter and I are going to take him to Sunnydale with us tonight and I am going to put him into the Crypt that I used to live in. I've kept it in a livable condition and the famous bed is still there. Hunter will stay with him during the first few days to make sure he is okay then check on him once each evening. Since he has become mostly human his body still has to be nourished so we'll feed him through a tube that we'll put through his nose and down to his stomach. Now when he goes into this hibernation of sorts his body will slow way down so Hunter thinks we will only have to feed him once each week and since we don't know if his body will still produce waste we'll keep him hooked up with a catheter. Don't say anything when we go in because he should hear only Hunters voice until he is all the way down."

Wesley and Giles followed Spike back into the room. They heard Hunter talking to Angel as she took him further and further down. It was a good thing that Angel couldn't move because at one point Angelus came through but Hunter quickly took Angel into a deeper level of sleep and Angelus went back into his cage. It took her another 30 minutes before he was down far enough that he could now obtain complete rest. His mind could rest now and do nothing but remind his body to breathe once every hour and his heart to beat every hour. The rest of his body functions continued at a drastically reduced rate also.

Hunter stood up and walked away from the bed. "You can talk now and we won't wake him up. He is now in a deep hibernation type of sleep."

"Where is Cordelia? I would think that she would want to be here when he is going through this." Giles asked. "Angel asked her not to come near him again until it's time for him to come out of it. He told her that her nearness to him would make him come out of the sleep and he also broke the link they share." Hunter answered.

"Why did he want to do this now?" Wesley asked. "He told Cordelia that his mind is very tired and he was afraid that he would be unsuccessful in constructing the bridges in his mind to enable him to move again since he was so tired. He told her what he wanted her to do. He talked to Kathleen before we started so that she would understand that she couldn't try to talk to him until he woke up again. It was so sweet the way she accepted what he told her. That little girl has so much love for her Daddy that she was crying when he told her to give him a kiss and a big hug that would last them for 30 days. I think we were all crying when she did that. Cordelia had to take her away from him she was hugging him so tightly."

"Let's go and take a nap until it's time to leave Mickey. You'll have a long night ahead of you." Mike said as he put his arm around Hunters shoulder. He noticed that she felt warmer then usual. Since she had been taking hormone treatments her temperature had gone up closer to a normal temperature but now she felt warmer.

"Let's go downstairs to the clinic instead. I want to check you. You feel warmer than usual." "Yes I have been feeling unusually warm lately. I just chalked it up to the hormone treatments though."

When they arrived at the clinic they found Dr. Martin gathering up supplies for Hunter to take with her for Angel. "Hey you two, I thought you were going to rest for tonight's trip." "We were on our way but then when I put my arm around Mickey I thought she felt unusually warm so I thought it would be best to check her. You can never be too careful with those hormone treatments." Mike told Dr. Martin. She came over and felt Hunters forehead then pulled out a thermometer to check her. When it beeped she pulled it out and read it out loud. "Mrs. Hunter-Thompson your temperature is exactly 98.2. I do believe my dear that it is quite possible that you are pregnant." "Let's not get too excited yet. It could be just the hormones." Mike took a sample of her blood and grabbed a pregnancy tester and gave it to Hunter. "Do you think you could put some urine on this?" Hunter took it from him and ran to the bathroom. She hadn't had to go today yet so if she had any in her bladder it would be the first urine of the day. Ever since she had started the hormone treatments she had started to go more often then she usually did which was two or three times a month. Now she was going at least three times each day. About 30 minutes later she came back into the clinic and gave the stick to Mike. "We have to wait 10 more minutes." She told them. After 10 minutes Mike looked at the stick and Dr. Martin was checking her blood sample. With so many women in the building she had bought all of the supplies she needed to test their blood.

"Well what does it say?" Hunter asked. She was trying to be calm but she felt like she was going to take off like a rocket if he didn't tell her within the next second.

"My dear Mickey it says that we are pregnant." "Your blood test says the same thing." Dr. Martin said. After she let Mike go she went to Dr. Martin and hugged her.

"Apparently God has blessed your marriage Hunter with a baby of your own. You will now know joy and pain and something that you have wanted for many years. You will know death." Dr. Martin told her. "Did God tell you this?" Hunter had tears pouring down her cheeks. Dr. Martin put her hands on each side of Hunters face and said "Yes and you will live for a long time after your child is born. He has given you many years to see your child grow up and for you to become a grandmother." Dr. Martin told her. She pulled Hunter to her and they hugged each other as they both cried for joy.

"I am going to go and thank Him Dr. Martin." When Hunter left Mike went to Dr. Martin and hugged her also. Dr. Martin stood back from Mike and held his hands in hers. "Mike, how do you really feel about Mikalob having a baby at such a late time in your life?" "I love her Mary and I am happy for her that she is finally getting everything that she has always wanted. Most of all Mary I am glad that I was the one that God chose for her husband and the one that was chosen to help in giving her a baby. I know that I will probably never see my child grow up to have their own child but I will treasure each moment that I am given to be with them both. I've decided to close down my practice Mary so that I can spend what time I have left with my family. I have more than enough money to take care of us and Mickey has her own money also." Mike hugged Mary again then left to join Hunter in the chapel.

Dr. Martin was happy for them. She thought of her own mortality and decided to go and be with her husband as long and as much as she possibly could. He had gone to his shop this morning so she went to join him. The grand opening had been postponed many times and Giles was bound and determined to open this coming weekend. Since Angel was going to be in Sunnydale and sleeping she was going to help him open his shop come hell or high water, as the saying goes. She changed into some slacks and a light blouse that she could perform some manual work in. Before leaving though she got on the phone and called Xander in Sunnydale.

"Hello Xander this is Dr. Mary Martin." "Yes Dr. Martin how is everyone?" "Well Angel is coming back with Buffy and Spike so he can get some rest. Buffy and Spike will explain everything to you when they see you tonight or tomorrow. I called you about work Xander. I need a contractor to build a gym onto the back of the Hyperion and I need it built within 30 days. Do you think you could do it?" "With enough money Dr. Martin you can do anything. It just so happens that I will be finishing my current job next week Friday but I can get things going by this coming Monday. I'll come to L.A. on Friday night and bring some plans of a Gym that I built for someone else last year." "Thank you Xander I knew I could depend on you. I'll see you on Friday then. Do you think that Anya could come with you, Giles is finally having his Grand Opening of the Magic Shop II this weekend?" "I'll check with her." "Okay Xander Goodbye." Dr. Martin hung up the phone and let Connie know that she was going to work with Giles at the shop and wouldn't be back until just before supper.

While all of this was going on Cordelia was unable to go anywhere near her own bedroom since Angel had told her to stay away since he would wake up if he sensed her nearness to him. After Hunter and Mike left the chapel Hunter went to Cordelia and told her what was going to happen to Angel. When she gave her the news of her pregnancy it helped to brighten her day. She was truly happy for Hunter that she would have what she had wanted for so many, many years. When Kathleen heard that her Aunt Mickey was going to have a baby she just shrugged her shoulders and said "I guess we better start buying a truckload of diapers from now on." Cordelia and Hunter laughed at the truth of it.

By the time it was getting dark everyone was coming back to the hotel for a last supper together. Hunter had explained everything to Connor as to what happened with Angel and where they were going to be taking him while he slept and rested.

"I think we had better call David Morgan then and ask Richard if he can come and help us out while Angel is gone. As you know Wesley I have taken a heavy load of classes so that I can be finished with school by December and I just won't have the time for anything else." "Okay Connor I think that would be a good idea. With Gunn, Lou and Tom I think they will be able to handle anything. I will help only if they need me, otherwise I will not be taking part in any battles anymore. Your father and I talked about this and he told me that he didn't want me fighting anymore because of the work that I have to do and all that I am responsible for. I think we need to ask Willow and Tara to stay with us for a while so that they can maintain the security spell that protects the hotel and our resident miracle child. Maybe they can help her to learn a few things about her powers."

"Okay Wesley can you call Richard and David?" Connor asked. "Yes I'll take care of it." "I have some studying to do so I will take my leave now. Lou would you come with me into Angels office for a minute?" As Connor got up he turned to Spike who had also stood up to leave the table. "Take care of him Spike, our Daddy is helpless now." "I'll take care of him brother." Spike said. They hugged then Connor left to go to Angel's office where Lou was waiting for him.

As soon as Connor entered the office he closed the door and drapes. He then went to Lou and didn't say anything he just grabbed her, put his arms around her and kissed her. Lou felt her legs become like rubber. They wouldn't support her anymore as she gave herself to Connor. He picked her up and put her on the couch. He started to remove her blouse when he suddenly stopped and sank to the floor. "What's wrong Connor?" "I want you so bad Lou but if I take you now I will break every rule that I have set up for both of us. Will you marry me Lou D'Chambeau?" "Yes Connor I will marry you." Connor pulled her off of the couch and into his lap and kissed her hard and long.

Connor got up before he lost complete control of himself. "I want you to go and tell everyone that we will be getting married as soon as you graduate and tell Cordelia that she can start planning now because I want a big church wedding." He kissed her one more time then left to go to his studies. A second later he came into the office again and went to kiss her again. "Study hard Lou and if you can take the GED test early then do it." He left again and this time he ran up the stairs and into his room. He tore his clothes off and jumped into a cold shower. He stood there for a while and just let the cold water run over his body. He leaned his head against the wall and said "Please God help me to be strong. I need to concentrate on my studies and I can't with her on my mind."

Lou just stood there for a minute while she straightened herself up and composed herself. She walked over to the table and cleared her throat. When she was sure that she had everyone's attention she gave everyone the news.

"Connor has told me to let everyone know that he has proposed to me and I have accepted. He also told me to let you know Cordelia that you can start planning the wedding now because he wants a big church wedding as soon as I graduate. He also gave me instructions that I was to try to graduate early and pass something he called the GED test." They were all just staring at Lou. Especially her brother who was looking at her with his mouth open.

Dr. Martin was the first one to recover. "Well let me be the first to congratulate you Lou. Apparently all the things that Cordelia has been teaching you, even though Angel told her to stop, has accomplished what you wanted." Cordelia and Lou exchanged glances then looked down at their food and were suddenly hungry. They both started laughing and turned beet red at being caught.

"That's okay girls we all do it in one way or another." Dr. Martin said so they wouldn't feel so guilty. "What do you mean you all do it in one way or another? I thought I was the one that made the initial move." Giles said to his wife.

"Oh please, if I hadn't taken the initiative you would still be in Sunnydale." "What did you do to entice me into your web?" Giles asked. All the men were curious to hear her answer.

"Well lets see, first I have to tell you that I had an accomplice that was able to tell me when there was at least one of the girls putting out what Angel calls those sexy pheromones. That was when I would direct the conversation to talking about their sex lives as frequently as possible. Then there was the one where I play with my hair. I knew how much you loved my long hair so I would often play with it in some way. Oh and there was the times when I would have a hot flash and I would have to open up just enough buttons. Then there was the exercise sessions downstairs when Buffy was working out with you and I would come downstairs with Cordelia to work out also. You were staring at me so much that Buffy almost knocked you out when you failed to put up the gloves she was aiming at." They were all having a lot of fun at poor Giles expense.

"Didn't you ever realize Giles that Dr. Martin wore an unusually short shorts for her. She never exposes herself like that except when she was setting the hook with the appropriate bait. Did it ever occur to you men that usually when we women are busy working and we have to pick something off of the floor we bend our knees and pick it up but when Mom was down stairs and she had to pick something up she would bend from the waist so you could see as much as she wanted you to see. Poor Giles you were so easy to reel in." Cordelia told him. Dr. Martin got up and wormed her way onto Giles lap.

"I wanted you my sweet and since I never really had the time to hone my man baiting skills I asked Cordelia to help me and she reminded me of all of a woman's bag of tricks. Since Lou had been around only men all of her life she didn't know about a woman's arsenal of tricks so Cordelia helped her to get the man she had set her sights on."

"And what about Angel Cordelia did you bait him and reel him in?" Wesley asked. "I didn't use all of my skills on him at the beginning. At the beginning it was just as a friend so I just gave him a glancing blow. It wasn't until later when our friendship starting heating up that I started to dig into my bag of tricks." Cordelia smiled at everyone and reached up and tossed her hair back over her shoulder.

Spike got up then and said "I think it's time to get Angel and load him up ladies. I'm giving you ladies thirty minutes to be downstairs with all of your luggage. I'm going to go and pull the van over to the back and put the seats down. Dr. Martin I'm going to need to borrow your carrier so that I can transport Angel back and forth." "Sure Spike, I'll get the bag of supplies I put together for you Hunter." Dr. Martin said as she got up and went to the clinic.

As Spike had ordered everyone was downstairs with their bags and all of the supplies that Dr. Martin had gathered up for Hunter to take care of Angel. Since Cordelia couldn't go back into her apartment with Angel in there Fred had gathered up some clothes in case he needed them. Fred also took the films of bridges that Connor had gathered for him along with a picture of the Martin family.

Spike came in along with Connor, Gunn, and Tom. They had the gurney with them and the carrier board on top of that. Dr. Martin checked Angel one last time. His respiration was almost non existent and his skin was cold to the touch. Hunter had told her that it was normal since his body was concentrating its energy on his internal organs. Angel's hair had just started to grow back since the nurses had shaved his head completely for the operation. It used to grow back within just a few days but now with Angel being more human it was taking longer.

Spike and Hunter pulled the sheets and blanket over Angel so that he was well covered for the trip. They got on one side of the hospital bed and pulled the opposite side of his body over towards them so that Tom and Connor could place the carrier board under his body. Then they placed the gurney next to the bed and pulled the carrier board onto the gurney. After strapping him to the gurney they took him downstairs to Spikes van and slid the carrier into the van.

Tom pulled Hunter to the side and gave her a lasting kiss. "Take care of our baby Mickey. If you should feel even a twinge I want you to call me do you understand?" "Yes Daddy I promise." They both smiled then and gave each other a last kiss and Hunter climbed into the seat next to Angel. Spike had left one side of the third row of seats down and Joyce's car seat was strapped in here. Poor Joyce and Kathleen had cried when they had to say goodbye. Kathleen had hugged her and said "Bye girlfriend, I'll miss you." To everyone's surprise Kathleen traced the sign of the Cross on Joyce's forehead just like she had seen her grandmother do so often. Since Cordelia didn't think it would be a good idea for Kathleen to get to close to Angel they had said goodbye in Kathleen's bedroom. Joyce hugged Junior goodbye when they went to the van. Toby was standing by Connor so Joyce went to him and gave him a big hug and a kiss on his nose. Toby gave her a kiss back by cleaning all of her tears away. Her Daddy picked her up then and strapped her into her car seat. He wiped her tears away and made her blow her nose in his handkerchief. "Don't cry anymore sweet heart you'll see Kathleen again when we bring Uncle Angel home again okay?" "Okay Daddy." Joyce said as she continued to sniff and wipe her tears away with the back of her hand.

Spike and Buffy said their goodbyes and then got into the van and pulled out of the hotel parking lot. When they arrived at Sunnydale Spike went directly to the cemetery where Xander was already there and waiting to help take Angel down into the crypt. Hunter was going to spend the night with him to make sure that he was doing okay. Most of her days and nights would be spent watching over him as he rested in his deep sleep.

Dawn would often come and spend her free hours with her. She had started to like Hunter ever since she had fallen in love with Mike. Dawn would let Hunter practice hypnotizing her and Hunter would help Dawn with her homework. "You make history more fun. Angel is kind of dry he doesn't make it sound as real as you do. You make me feel like I'm right there and experiencing it with you. You should be a teacher Hunter." Dawn said one day. "I think I'll tell Wesley that he should make you the kids history teacher. I always do real well on my History tests when I study with you. You make it so real that I retain the information easily and just sail thru the tests."

Back in L.A. Cordelia was missing Angel every night and she had both Kathleen and Lou sleeping with her at first. Fortunately she had started to produce enough milk to satisfy both Nicky and Mike. Without Angel there Nicky was throwing a fit if he didn't get what he wanted when he wanted it. Finally on the second week of sleeping with her mother Kathleen got up and went to the crib that the boys were sleeping in now and she started talking to Nicky in his mind. After she had started to do this Nicky would start screaming and wouldn't stop until his sister came, as soon as Kathleen projected her thoughts into his mind he would quiet down.

One night after Cordelia had changed the boys and fed them Nicky was continuing to cry until Kathleen projected her thoughts into his mind. "What do you do to make him stop crying Kathleen?" Her mother asked her. "I asked Grandma if she had any suggestions to make him stop crying and she said I should learn an Irish lullaby and sing it to him because he is a lot like Daddy and Grandma said she used to sing it to him when he was sick and having a hard time sleeping." "Maybe if you teach me how to sing the song I can do it too and then we can take turns putting them to sleep when they wake us up at night." Kathleen proceeded to sing the song for her mother that her Grandmother taught her. They were in bed at the time and singing their Irish Lullaby song until Kathleen was satisfied that her mother had it right. Cordelia laughed at her daughter. She talked like she was so much older. Dr. Martin had said that Kathleen spoke more like an adult because she was the first baby at the hotel and no one would speak to her in baby talk. They would always ask her to repeat what she was saying more clearly because they couldn't understand her and tended to speak to her as an adult instead of a child.

During the day Cordelia kept herself busy with gathering wedding magazines and going through them with Fred and Lou. Dr. Martin was busy helping Giles at his new Magic Shop II and Wesley was busy with the construction of the new pool and gym in the back of the hotel. It was November now and Angel had been at Sunnydale for 4 weeks. He was due to come home next Thursday and Cordelia and Kathleen were getting excited. The men had set up a flat screen TV that hung from the ceiling and could be put close to Angel so he would have a better chance of seeing the picture.

During the last week Hunter had been running the films on bridges being built. She had told everyone that even though Angel was still in a deep sleep external sounds would start to be heard more, he would start to dream more and at this time he could learn from the films.

On the Monday of the week they would take him home Hunter started to talk to him in a low voice. She spoke to him of creating bridges across the gaps in his brain that she would describe as chasms. She told him his brain needed a bridge to be built so that his thoughts could cross the chasms and get to the correct side of his brain, then he would be able to see better and move his arms and legs as he wanted them to. To make sure that she wouldn't lose her voice while talking to him throughout the day she recorded her first session with him so that she could rest while the recording was running and continuing to feed him information and instructions.

On Wednesday night Hunter hooked Angel up to the heart monitor so she could see how he was doing that night. She started giving him a pint of blood three times a day.She explained to Spike that his heart should slowly be starting to increase in the number of beats per hour then finally per minute by tomorrow. To help Angel to achieve this Hunter didn't leave his side for the last 24 hours. Because she didn't want to give Angelus a chance to gain control she had to constantly be on watch with each increase of his heart beat.

By 12 noon on Thursday Angel's heart beat was now at his normal rate. His respiration was normal and he was beginning to talk in his sleep. Hunter went to his bed and sat at the chair that she usually occupied. She had left for a few minutes to go to the side of the room and throw up. Her morning sickness was making her miserable but she refused to leave Angels side. She could hear Buffy coming into the crypt on the upper level.

"How is he doing?" Buffy asked as she quietly came over to the bed. "He is starting to wake now. I heard him talking in his sleep a few minutes ago."

As Buffy stood there Angel opened his eyes. He was having a hard time focusing on who was by his bed. He knew from the scent that it was Buffy and Hunter but he couldn't see them clearly. Without thinking he raised his right arm and rubbed at his eyes to clear them of the sleep that left a film over his eyes. Buffy and Hunter looked at each other and smiled.

"Good afternoon Angel." Hunter said in between the bites of crackers that Buffy had brought her. Angel tried to say something but his mouth and throat were dry. Buffy gave him a glass of water with a straw. He drank the whole thing then tried to talk again. "Good afternoon. What day is it?" "It's November 14th and Thursday afternoon. Yesterday made 30 days that you were in a hibernation sleep. Do you remember why you went into a hibernation sleep Angel?" Hunter asked softly.

Angel was quiet for a while. He was trying to remember what had happened before he went to sleep. "Yes I remember everything now. I remember that I couldn't see very well before but I can see you quiet clearly now. I remember that I couldn't move my arms and legs before but now look." Angel moved his arms and pointed to his toes where they could see him moving his toes slowly under the covers. Angel reached up and felt his head. "Thank goodness my hair is almost completely grown back so that I don't have to listen to Gunn making any wisecracks. But most of all I am so hungry that I think I could eat a whole cow by myself." "Would you like to sit up now?" Hunter asked. "Yes, please."

Both Buffy and Hunter had to help Angel sit up. He was weak after lying on his back for so long. "How's that?" "A lot better thank you. When do I get to go home?" "Tonight as soon as it gets dark enough for Spike to go out and so that people can't see our van here so easily." "I thought this must be Spikes former home. And this must be the bed were you did the dirty deed." Angel put his hand over his eyes. "I am just scandalized that I have been laying in the very bed where, where,I can't bring myself to say it." Buffy and Hunter were cracking up. "Well you certainly have improved your mood. I remember one time after waking up from one of my long sleeps I almost killed the first person that looked at me cross eyed or at least I thought he was looking at me cross eyed. It turned out though that the poor guy really did have one eye that looked way into the center. I felt so bad for almost killing the guy that I tracked him down later after opening my practice and fixed it for him." Hunter said as she stuffed some more crackers in her mouth. "Buffy would you go and get me something to eat please because I am so hungry." "Sure I'll be back as soon as I can." Buffy said as she climbed up the stairs to the upper level.

"Hunter now that she is gone can you take this catheter out of me?" Hunter had a mouthful of crackers so she just got up and put some gloves on and removed the catheter and the urine bag and placed it all in the trash bag.

"I see Mike must have been successful that night I told him you were ripe for the taking." Hunter was finally able to swallow the crackers and drink some blood to wash it down. "Yes isn't it wonderful." Angel held his arms out to her and she went to him and as they hugged each other Hunter was crying she was so happy. After awhile she pulled away from him. "Angel if I should die after I deliver will you take care of Mike and the baby?" "Hunter you won't die. You'll have both Mike and Mom there to help you. We have no idea why Lou and Tom's mother died. It could have very well been because of complications from the delivery that their father didn't know anything about."

Hunter sat up then and wiped her eyes. "Yes I guess your right. Even Mary said that I will live to see my first grandchild born." She looked up at Angel and said "Never would I have thought in my wildest dreams Angel that you and I would live to marry and have children." Hunter stared at Angel for a minute then she leaned over, picked up his hand and kissed it. "Thank you Angel for not killing me when I begged you to." "You're welcome Hunter." Angel said in reply.

After Hunter wiped her blood red tears away she asked Angel "Would you like me to give you a sponge bath." "Yes I would like a bath, 30 days is a long time to go without one I must be rather odorous." "No you're not really, remember that your body has been very cold and you only moved when I moved you to keep your body from developing bed sores. Plus Buffy helped me to give you a sponge bath at least twice each week." "And did you girls have fun." "Yes we did, we took a whole lot of pictures and we are just waiting for Willow to get back so she can put it up on the internet." Angel just grinned at her. He was starting to get tired and sleepy. Hunter was able to finish bathing him just a few minutes before Buffy got back along with Spike and Joyce.

"Hi Uncle Angel." "Hi princes. Are you all ready to take me home and see Kathleen again." "Yes and I can hardly wait. I even asked Mommy and Daddy if we could move to your house so Kathleen and I can play all of the time. We're girlfriends just like Mommy and Aunt Willow are girlfriends." "And what did your Mommy and Daddy say about you moving to my house?" "You know, the usual, Mommy and Daddy work here in Sunnydale." "I tell you what maybe when you take me home you can ask your Mommy and Daddy if you can spend a couple of weeks with us." "Can I go for a visit Mommy and Daddy?"

Buffy and Spike looked at each other. Buffy nodded okay. "Okay Joyce if Kathleen's Mommy says it's okay then you can go over in two weeks okay. I am saying 2 weeks because I am sure that Kathleen will want to spend some time with her Daddy before you go over." "Okay I think that will be acceptable." They all laughed because she was mimicking Kathleen so exactly.

Buffy had brought enough food for everyone to eat with Angel. He was hungry but Hunter wouldn't let him eat too much because his stomach wasn't used to solid foods. When they were done Hunter told Angel to get some rest before it was time to leave. "But I've been resting for 30 days." Angel said like a child that didn't want to go to bed when told to. "Angel, do as I say and don't argue with me or I'll tell Mary." "Oh, alright tattletale." Angel put his head back on the pillow and was sleeping within minutes. Hunter looked at Joyce who was right next to her. "Joyce always remember, girls grow up but boys almost never do no matter how old they get." "That's what Mommy says all of the time too."

Buffy, Spike and Joyce left then to get ready to leave in a few hours.

By 9 o'clock that night they were pulling up to the front of the Hyperion. Angel was sitting up in the second row of seats with Hunter. "Why don't you go to the back?" Angel asked Spike. "This is where Wesley told me to unload everything. He said he would show me where to park later." Angel could hardly wait to see his family so he didn't question Spike any further. Cordelia, Kathleen and Connor were out in the front waiting for them along with a wheelchair. As soon as Spike opened the side of the van Cordelia ran to Angel and kissed him. When she backed away Kathleen wormed her way in between them and climbed her way up into the van and Angels lap. She kissed him on the cheek and hugged him for a long time. When Cordelia and Kathleen gave the men some space they helped Angel to get out and put him in his chair. Even though Angel could now move his arms and legs he had very little strength in them. Connor and Spike had to more or less pick him up and place him in the chair.

When they had him settled in the chair Angel grabbed Connors arm and pulled him down to him so that Connor had to kneel on the ground. Angel then pulled Connor into a bear hug. When he let him go Connor said "Welcome home Dad, welcome home." Angel wasn't that surprised to see tears in Connors eyes. Their relationship had changed so much since Dr. Martin had come to help him.

"Where is everybody else?" "They're in the back of the Hotel waiting for you." Cordelia said. She pushed Angel's wheelchair while the rest brought in their bags. Kathleen and Joyce had already run into the Hotel. As soon as they entered the Hotel Angel noticed the wheelchair ramp at the side of the stairs that went upstairs and in back of the post that helped to support the second floor. As Cordelia came back out to the Lobby she stopped and pulled out a long black scarf. "Okay Angel they don't want you to be able to see what you're going to see yet so I have been instructed to place this blind fold on you. When she was done and was sure that he couldn't see she pushed his chair up the other ramp and out of the back doors.

Angel felt himself going up a ramp but then was wondering why they weren't going down another ramp. He felt his chair going down a rather long walkway and then thru another pair of doors. Then he had a sense of being in a large room.

Cordelia took his blindfold off and everything at first was dark. Someone turned the lights on and Angel had to rub his eyes so he could see clearly after having the blindfold on.

"Surprise!" Everyone shouted.

TBC……………………………………………………………………………….

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