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?

22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"Is that true Mary? Is that why you never wanted to answer my question about what happened that night? Every time I wanted to talk about it you avoided my inquiries." Angelus could hear Giles heart beating faster as he questioned his wife.

"What? Don't tell me you never told Giles how much you enjoyed our little encounter. All I can say Mary is that I hope Cordelia looks as good as you do when she reaches her fifties. It's very unusual for a woman of your age to have breasts that are still so firm. But the best part of all Mary was how tight you were. You were like a virgin."

Dr. Martin had her head turned away from Giles. She couldn't bear for him to see the tears that he was causing. She was afraid that he might consider her as tainted merchandise now and not want to have anything to do with her again. Cordelia saw her tears though and she got up and put her arms around Dr. Martins shoulder. Wesley had come over and put his hand on Giles shoulder.

"Giles Angelus is baiting you and you're reacting exactly as he was hoping. He's doing this to get back at your wife for helping Angel and taking him out of the hell hole that he had him in." Giles closed his eyes and tried to control his reaction to what Angelus had said.

Cordelia took a moment to compose herself. She was going to practice some of her own brand of torture before Angelus was put back where he belonged.

While Cordelia still had her arm around Dr. Martin she said to Angelus "Come now Angelus you know what your saying is just an attempt on your part to get Giles riled." Cordelia walked back to her chair and pulled it over by the wood that Gunn had put down as a caution not to go any closer to the cage. She had a long, wide, cotton skirt on that she was using to her advantage. As she sat down again she spread her legs apart and leaned forward with her hands on the chair between her legs. She saw Angelus turn his gaze exactly where she wanted him to look.

"One day Angelus when we women were alone we started to compare notes on our husbands. Between the four of us we figured out that you are not as big or as long as you brag about." Cordelia changed her position and when she did so she moved her skirt around and lifted it high enough when repositioning it so that Angelus would get a good view.

"Did you know Angelus that all men have an erection at least once each night while they are sleeping? One night I took my cloth measuring tape out and I actually measured Angel's length and circumference. I told the other women what I had done and they did the same thing to their men the next night. The day after that we compared notes and because Fred is such a whiz at math she figured out that there is a direct correlation between a mans height and the length of his penis. It seems that the taller a man is the longer his penis is when he has an erection. Now we have all seen that you, Angelus, are shorter when you are in your true form which pretty much tells me that you are lying about you're own personal attributes. We confirmed this when we were able to get Mom to talk about her own personal experience with you. Since she was, as you said, so tight she could feel you as soon as you entered her." Cordelia sat back and rearranged her skirt again. She put her hand to her forehead and gave a look of concentration.

"Now what was it she said, oh yes, she said … it was a…. short experience." Cordelia, Dr. Martin and Hunter started laughing and making hand gestures that gave an impression they were measuring a short penis.

All of this had the desired affect on Angelus. He suddenly changed into his true form and started to try to pull the bars apart. When this failed he went to the cage door and started to repeatedly throw himself at the cage door. Gunn and the rest were watching the bolts and latch carefully. Angelus was able to bend them but they continued to hold. When he admitted defeat he just fell to the floor and roared his anger at Cordelia who had finally stopped laughing when she saw the latch on the cage door bending.

Before saying anything else Cordelia composed herself. "Isn't it time to give Angel his soul back Wesley?" "It sure is. Willow would you start getting ready please." Wesley said as he turned around and looked for her.

"I'm over here Wesley and waiting for you to give the word to start." Willow had everything set up with the jar holding Angel's soul in the middle of a circle she had drawn in the sand.

"Go ahead Willow and start." Willow started to say the words as Angelus redoubled his efforts to escape his cage and go after Cordelia. When Willow said the last words she removed the lid from the jar and they saw what looked like a wisp of smoke come out of the jar and swirl around the inside of the tent, around Cordelia and Dr. Martin then into Angelus.

Everyone stood then and watched Angel. After a few minutes he opened his eyes and looked around the tent. He slowly got to his feet and walked to the cage door. "Do you mind letting me out now?" Gunn took the keys to the locks out and unlocked the door. Angel went into the trailer and looked for Cordelia's purse. When he found it he pulled the keys to her van out and just walked to the van, got in, started it up and left. Everyone stood and just watched him drive off. Cordelia was the first one to move. "Well that went rather well I think. I guess it's time to close up shop and return home." Everyone was quiet as they started putting everything away. "What about the tent?" Cordelia asked. "It'll be okay some of my boys should be here pretty soon to start taking everything down. Wesley I'll need for you to drive my truck so I can drive the truck that's pulling the trailer. I have to return it to a place in West Covina so follow me okay?" Gunn said. "Okay." Wesley answered then they finished loading up the trailer and left.

Several hours later they arrived at the Hyperion. Cordelia walked into the kitchen. "Connie did you see Angel come in?" "Yes Mrs. Martin. He came in just 30 minutes ago and went upstairs. He asked me to make him a roast beef sandwich and a mug of blood along with a beer that he wanted me to send up to his bedroom with Joaquin. When Joaquin came back he said Mr. Martin had told him to put it on the floor next to the bath where he was soaking. He looks very tired."

Cordelia went upstairs to the third floor first to see her daughter. She was in there for a good thirty minutes while the children all tried to tell her at once what they had done while she was gone. When she was finally able to leave the room she went down to Fred's room, where Mrs. Sanchez said the boys were, and checked on them. The woman that she had hired to nurse the boys had just fed them and put them to bed before Cordelia had come in so she didn't disturb them. She paid the woman, thanked her, and walked her down to the front door. Fred was anxious for news on what had happened but Cordelia promised her that she would talk to her after she took a bath and took care of Angel.

When Cordelia opened the door to her own rooms she saw the dim lights in the bathroom. She closed and locked the door quietly. Angel was still in the whirlpool bath. She knew that his muscles must be very sore from Angelus so she went out to the hallway where there were extra towels in the hallway linen closet. Cordelia took these and placed a sheet then a large bath sheet towel on the floor. Before calling Angel she pulled out the massaging oil that they used and warmed some up in the microwave.

Cordelia made sure she locked the bedroom door then opened the door to the bathroom again and called to Angel. "Angel I want you to come out here. I am going to give you a massage." Without saying anything Angel got out and went over to the sheet and towel that was on the floor and laid face down. Cordelia disrobed then spread the warm oil over his back and started to massage his sore muscles. She had lit a few candles and had his favorite music playing softly. As she started to massage him he finally spoke to her.

"Cordy." "Yes Angel." "I love you Cordy." "I love you Angel."

When she was through giving him a massage she went into the bathroom and filled the whirlpool bath with fresh warm water and put bubble bath and eucalyptus oil in the bath water. When it was done filling up she called Angel to come in. He dutifully came in and sat in the tub while she climbed in and sat between his legs. After bathing she turned the whirlpool on and they just soaked for a good half hour. When she heard him snoring she knew it was time for them to get out.

Cordelia put her husband to bed then lay down beside him. They slept until late in the evening. "I'm going downstairs to get something to eat, do you want anything?" "Yes but I'll come down also." Cordelia threw on one of her heavy nightgowns, a robe and her fluffy slippers and went down stairs. After being in the warm whirlpool bath water the air seemed cold to her. Angel pulled on his sweat pant suit.

"That is a sure sign that you two are now officially an old married couple." Connor said as he came out of his bedroom. Toby was up with the children so he was alone. "What's a sure sign?" Angel asked Connor.

"Cordelia has a heavy long nightgown on and fluffy slippers and you're wearing a t-shirt and sweat pants." Connor answered.

"Did you hear him Cordelia; do you think that we are an old married couple now?" "Yes I think we are. We know each other well enough that we know what each other is thinking. You know like when I stripped in front of you and let you examine the merchandise 'just before you spanked me for coaching Lou'." "Yea but then I sacrificed myself and had a vasectomy just so that you wouldn't have to take birth control pills anymore." "Okay you topped me with that one." Cordelia said as she opened the refrigerator to see what kind of leftovers were inside. She pulled out a few bowls and filled up a couple of dishes with some rice, vegetables and beans and put them in the microwave. As they were eating their supper they heard someone out on the porch.

"It's Grandma Cordelia. Grandma and Grandpa still aren't talking after what happened this morning." "What happened this morning?" Angel asked. Cordelia and Connor proceeded to explain to Angel what had transpired between Angelus, Dr. Martin and Giles.

When they were done with supper and had cleaned up they were just about to leave when they saw Giles go to the back porch. When Giles closed the door they snuck over to the window overlooking the porch and got on the floor and listened. Angel had to tell Cordelia what was going on. They sat there for the next 15 minutes listening to what was being said. When they heard chairs being moved they jumped up and ran up stairs and to there room.

As Dr. Martin headed for the elevator she stopped and turned to Giles. "I hear the pitter patter of large Vampire feet and his followers. Let's take a side trip to the second floor." As Giles and Dr. Martin arrived at the second floor they walked down the hallway and slowed down as they arrived at Angel's room. "Gee I hope none of our Vampires or their offspring heard us downstairs. Let's go to bed now and we can spend the rest of the night making up." They made real loud kissing sounds and Dr. Martin said "Oh Giles stop that you're going to drive me crazy." Giles picked her up in his arms and she giggled loudly all the way back to the elevator.

The next morning everyone was downstairs having breakfast but it was rather quiet. When Angel was done eating he cleared his throat and said, "Mom Cordelia explained to me why you let Angelus out by having Willow remove my soul for 24 hours. I was very angry with all of you yesterday for doing it but I understand why you did it and why you had to keep it from me that you were going to place Angelus in a cage. But Mom, you can't possibly understand how painful it is to have your soul taken from you. The only thing that I can possibly suggest that you imagine is for you to wake up one morning and find yourself in Hell as you understand it." Everyone was quiet.

"Almost five years ago Angel you were having a problem with Angelus talking to you about Drusilla and telling you it was all your fault for Drusilla going insane. At the time he was talking to you so much that you came very close to going into the same world that Drusilla lived in. What happened yesterday was the result of a deal that I made with him so that he would stop torturing you with that issue. I made the deal Angel because I was not ready to lose you yet. But if you say one more thing about it I am going to, to, …………I am going to sock you right in the nose." Angel was so shocked by her reply that he couldn't think of anything else to say except "Yes Mam."

"Just in case anyone wants to know I talked to Mary last night and apologized for being such a pompous Ass. I stupidly held it against her as though what Angelus did to her was her fault. As Angel put it once I'm just like any other red blooded man and just like any other red blooded intelligent man I tucked my tail between my legs and begged her forgiveness." Giles said as he cleaned his glasses.

"Is their anyone else that wants to air their feelings or thoughts on what happened yesterday before we all go our own ways for the day?" Dr. Martin asked everyone.

Gunn cleared his throat. "Did you have something Gunn?" "Uh yes I do. Dr. Martin is it true what Cordelia told Angelus about all men?" All of the women started laughing but none of the men were laughing they were all just looking at Dr. Martin.

"Gunn the only part of what Cordelia told Angelus that was true was the first part. All men, from the time that you are very young, have an erection at different times during a 24 hour period." Dr. Martin said. "The rest of what I told Angelus was nothing but pure fiction Gunn. I wanted to get back at him for what he was doing to Mom. From his reaction to what I said I am pretty sure that I was successful." Cordelia said.

"Did Angelus tell you what Cordelia had said to him Angel?" Gunn asked. "No but Cordelia told me about it. Gunn stop and think about what we saw when we took Tom and Connor out to party and that should tell you that what she said wasn't true." Slowly but surely Gunn started to grin. Then the men started laughing. Connie happened to come out of the kitchen to see if anyone wanted more coffee. The men's eyes were constantly on her and how she walked.

Connie noticed this. "Is there something wrong?" She asked no one in particular. Cordelia came to Connie's rescue. "No Connie everything is just fine. Since there are only two weeks left before Christmas do you and Joaquin need some time off to do your Christmas shopping?" "Yes, would tomorrow be alright with you?" "Yes that's fine. In fact you can start today if you'll look for something for me?" "Yes of course." "We still haven't had a chance to go and look for a larger table for the children can you do that for us?" "Yes we can do that, in fact I know of a place that has used furniture. I can look for one that looks like this one and all we'll have to do is cut the legs so that it's their height." "That sounds perfect, so after lunch you can start taking the rest of the day off and the next two days." "Thank you Mrs. Martin." Cordelia turned around and the men quickly took their eyes away from Connie.

As Cordelia returned to the table she reached over and lightly slapped Angel up the side of his head. "Oww! What did you do that for?" Angel yelled. "Angel Liam Martin you are projecting your thoughts. Put it back where it belongs and zip it closed." "But Cordelia I can't help it. I don't know how to control it. Hunter can you help me?" Angel looked at Hunter and pleaded for her help.

"Angel I can't help you because I can't do what you do. The only reason Spike can do it is because he is your childe. You're just going to have to do like Cordelia said." Hunter just smiled at him.

"Well I'll do my best to control it but I'll need you to tell me when I slip, okay?" "Okay. Who wants to go horse back riding? We haven't taken Santana and Aunt Bee out for a run in a long time. You probably need to take Opie out for a ride also Connor." "That sounds good. Lou I don't suppose you know how to ride a horse?" Connor asked.

"Does she know how to ride? Hah! She rides like she was glued to the horse. Most of the time she doesn't even use anything to guide the horse." Tom told Connor.

"What did you ride up in the mountains?" Connor asked. "There was a small horse ranch in a valley that was on the other side of the mountain where we lived. I used to just take some carrots and a rope and call to one of the horses like Kathleen does Toby. When it came to me I would reward it with a carrot then jump on its back. Sometimes I would use a rope to guide it but most of the time I just gave him a picture of where I wanted to go, or run, or jump."

"Did anyone ever catch you?" Connor asked. "Yes, one night the owner caught me riding one of his horses. He told me at first he was thinking of throwing me off of his ranch but then he watched me and saw how the horse would just come up to me and let me jump on their back without even a bridle to guide them. He said he was so impressed he decided to allow me to ride his horses as long as I didn't use just one all of the time because I was running it down too much. So he asked me to use a different one each time I went riding. He gave me a bridle for the horse so they would get used to them but that was all I used." Connor got up and just gave Lou a kiss. "Well let's get going then. They have horses at the stables that we can rent. Tom, do you know how to ride?" Connor asked. "No, that isn't for me. When Lou would go horseback riding I would usually change to a wolf and run with her."

"Okay we'll meet here in 20 minutes then." Angel said. As they were heading out the door though they were stopped by three little people.

"Where are you going?" Kathleen asked. "We're going to go horseback riding do you want to go?" Angel asked. "Yes, yes, yes." They all answered as they were jumping up and down. "Go and get a jacket and we'll wait for you." Cordelia told the three children.

Mrs. Sanchez came around the corner and said "Now you know why parents learn to discuss such things when the children aren't around." She was laughing as she went into the kitchen. Angel saw Joaquin just coming in from the gym with a mop.

"Joaquin we're going horseback riding and taking Kathleen and Joyce is it okay to take Junior with us?" "Yes that will be okay. He knows how to ride." "Okay then would you tell Connie that we will be going out for lunch." All three of the children came running out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened. Junior came over to his father.

"Papa is it okay if I go with everyone to go horseback riding?" "It's okay Junior, Mr. Martin already asked me. I want you to be a good boy and mind Mr. and Mrs. Martin alright?" "Yes Papa. Bye Mama." Connie barely had the time to yell Good Bye before her son went running out of the door.

Cordelia called the stables and asked them to saddle up their horses along with an extra one. She let him know that Lou was an experienced rider.

When they arrived at the stables it was already 11 o'clock and Angel had been out in the sun light for an hour. "Okay everyone I only have another 2 hours before I have to be back. I'll take Kathleen with me, Connor take Junior and Lou can take Joyce." "I want to go with Aunt Cordy." Joyce cried. "Well you can't because we found out that Aunt Bee likes to lie down in the water if she feels it touch her tummy. Aunt Cordy will be okay but you might get hurt and if that should happen your Daddy would hurt me. You don't want that to happen do you?" "No I guess not." Angel picked Joyce up and started tickling her. "What do you mean you guess, you little rug rat." By the time he gave her to Lou she was glad to be up on the horse with her. Angel gave Kathleen to Cordy then mounted Santana and reached for his daughter.

They quickly made their way down the street and to the open field leading to the river bed. Since it had rained recently the river was a little high so Cordelia had to keep encouraging Aunt Bee to keep moving or else she knew she was going to lie down in the water. It was just too inviting to her and Cordelia could feel her starting to lie down. "Angel she's going to lie down." Within the next few seconds Aunt Bee gathered her legs together and practically jumped out of the water. Toby followed right behind her.

"Did you tell Toby to do something?" Cordelia asked Angel. "No, did you Connor?" "I saw him coming right behind her and I told him to nip at her rump. I think she got the message." "Once she gets it in her head to lie down in the water that's all she can think about." Cordelia said.

For the next two hours they had fun playing follow the leader. Cordelia took the lead and went through all of the fields. At one point Junior told Connor "Let's go fast Connor so we can beat Kathleen and Joyce." "Okay hold on. I'll see you back at the stables slowpokes." Connor yelled then gave a kick to Opie's ribs then quickly left the others behind. "Go Daddy, go. We can't let them win." Toby was running after Connor and Angel gave a swift kick to Santana and he lurched forward. Santana had a competitive nature and he ran as fast as he could to catch up. Since Lou had a rental horse she wasn't sure as to what it could do so she took it easy going back. Cordelia went with her to keep her company.

"Thanks for keeping me company. I didn't know what my horse could do and I know that there is a fence in the back of the stable that they have to jump in order to get to the front." "Well I thought I would keep my future daughter in-law company." Lou smiled when she said that. "It's hard to believe that I'll be Mrs. Connor Martin pretty soon. At times like this I miss having a mother to grow up with. My Dad did his best but it's just not the same." Lou said as they walked their horses back.

"I know what you mean. Although my mother and father are still alive they never showed any interest in me. They were always off having fun and even when they did take me along on their trips during the summer I was always left with a Nanny. I can't begin to tell you how happy I was to have Dr. Martin here when I was pregnant with Kathleen." Cordelia reached over and put her hand on Lou. "Don't worry Lou because when you have your first baby both Grandma and I will be here for you." "Come on Lou let's go faster so we can see if Kathleen won or Junior won." Lou gave a light kick to her horse's sides and they started going faster. When they finally made it to the stables they saw Angel and Connor unsaddling their horses and wiping them down. Both Kathleen and Junior were helping by wiping their legs down.

"What took you two so long?" Connor asked with a smile. "I didn't know what my horse could do so I decided to go by way of the street because I knew you had to jump the fence in the back." Connor came and took Joyce from her while Lou got down. "Here you better hold onto Joyce. She's too little to be left to walk around all of these big horses." Lou took her from Connor and went to sit on a bench that was by a tree.

On the way back they stopped at a McDonalds and Kathleen was talking non stop about her ride with her Daddy and how they had caught up to Opie and Connor. By the time they got back home and put the kids down for their nap Angel and Cordelia were worn out while Lou and Connor had gone out again to do some Christmas shopping after taking a shower.

The rest of the two weeks before Christmas went pretty much the same way. Kathleen and Junior seemed to be fighting more than usual until Dr. Martin was watching them one day and was able to figure out what the problem was. After supper one evening after the kids had gone upstairs Dr. Martin told them what she thought the problem was.

"Now that the kids are gone I can tell you what I think the problem is between Kathleen and Junior. Connie and Joaquin, can you come in here for a second please?" The Sanchez's came over to the Dinning room. "I'm sure you're aware that Kathleen and Junior have been arguing a lot lately?" "Yes." They both answered.

"Well Lucinda and I put our heads together and we figured out what the problem is. If you recall Kathleen and Junior started to argue a lot when Joyce came here. It looks like Junior is jealous of the time that Kathleen gives to Joyce. We have a bit of a problem here now. It's not healthy for the kids not to have any interaction with other children of their own sex. They don't develop their social skills when they have what amounts to nothing but siblings to talk to and it's particularly hard on Junior because he has nothing but girls to play with. Junior needs to be able to play with other boys his age. Now even though we have four other boys in the house they are way too small for Junior to play with. Kathleen has Joyce to play with once in awhile and all of the women in the hotel.

"Gunn do you have any small children in your group, you know children Juniors age?" "We recently had two boys join us that have smaller brothers and sisters. I know for sure that one of them is Juniors age and another one is about a year older I think. One is African-American and the other is Chinese I think." "What about the girls, do you know how old they are?" Dr. Martin asked as she fixed another cup of coffee for herself.

"To tell you the truth I haven't paid too much attention to the girls. Cylinda I saw you talking to them last week do you know how old they are?" "One of the girls is a year older then Kathleen and she and her brother are twins. The other girl I think said that she is four and a half years old. She is the African-American girl and her name is Suzy. I'm not positive Dr. Martin but I think that she is developmentally retarded. If she could spend time with Kathleen I think it would help both Suzy and Kathleen. Because Kathleen acts like a child that is much older she would be a good influence on Suzy who can barely speak. Suzy would be forced to speak more clearly and leave her baby talk behind her. Her brother has told me that the foster parents they were with didn't bother to make her say her words clearly what they did instead is guess at what she wanted and talk to her as though she was a baby and they kept her in diapers all of the time they were with them. He knows that she isn't stupid because he has seen her figure out how to do things on her own. It was for these reasons that her brother took her and left a note saying that they were going to go and live with their older brother."

"Aren't they looking for the children?" Fred asked. "Fred, children are often taken in by families and never reported missing so that they can continue to collect money from the government." "How is having her here going to help Kathleen?" Angel asked.

"Angel our daughter has very strong maternal instincts. Having someone like Suzy around would give her an outlet for those maternal instincts and also having a child older then her will give her someone that she can communicate with on a more equal level. I tell you when our daughter gets herself a man she is going to start having babies like a regular bunny." Cordelia said. They all started laughing at the way she put it.

"So Wesley it's kind of up to you and Fred as to whether we should have these children spend most of their time here. You would be taking on three more children to teach. In the evening they can go home with their brothers." Dr. Martin said.

Gunn looked at Cylinda and she nodded at him.

"Dr. Martin Cylinda and I are starting up a Home for teenage boys and girls that have younger sisters and brothers. The teenagers will be allowed to live at the home with their siblings as long as they stay in school and stay out of trouble. We're working with a welfare worker to start this place up. Remember the woman that you got to nurse Mike and Nicky while we were gone?" "Yes as I recall you were the one that told me about her." "Well she is the one that will take care of the little kids and more or less make a home for them in exchange for a salary that will be paid by the government. It will be a way that kids can stay with their brothers and sisters instead of the only family that they know being torn apart. Mrs. Benton lost her husband less then six months ago in an accident. I think that she must have been very much like Kathleen when she was little because she loves children and has taken in several of my kids. When her husband died though she couldn't afford to have the children live with her anymore and she came to my attention because of her problem."

"So what do the rest of you think?" Dr. Martin asked everyone, including Connie and Joaquin.

"I have no problem with the arrangement so it's mostly up to Wesley and Fred." Angel said. Wesley and Fred were quiet for awhile.

"Well Fred it really comes down to you since you do most of the teaching now. I really only work with Tom now and I am going to be tied up with Giles after Connor and Lou's wedding. Giles has asked me to help him with the reorganization of the Watchers Council so we will be going to England for two to three weeks." Wesley said.

"Sure I don't think their will be a problem. What are a few more kids anyway? I can always call on some others to help me if I need it." Fred said. She knew if she said no that she would be the bad guy. Besides it will give her boys someone else to play with.

"Okay then I guess that's that then our little problem is solved."

"This place is going to be noisy and busy from now on." Connor said.

"Well ladies Lou and I need help in addressing and stuffing envelopes with wedding announcements. I need your list of guests that you want to invite Connor." Cordelia announced.

"Why so early? The wedding isn't until the end of January right?" Connor asked. "Yes but we need to give people time to return their acceptance envelopes so that we can give a total number of people that will be attending to the caterer and the baker that will be making the wedding cake. Then we have to decide whether to have the reception here or at a hall. I am pretty sure though that we will have the reception here because of some of our friends looking kind of unhuman like. Then last but not least you have to decide where you want to spend your honeymoon." Cordelia looked at Lou and raised her eyebrows a couple of times.

Angel saw her and gave a warning "Cordelia." She put her head down and rubbed her behind and said "Yes dear." "What's wrong Cordelia?" Dr. Martin asked even though she knew the answer.

Cordelia looked at Dr. Martin and said "You know why." "I do but I was told to keep my nose out of my sons business or I would get some of the same medicine."

Lou didn't understand what they were talking about. "What happened Cordelia?"

"Your future Father in-law told me to stop giving you advice as to how to get Connor to cave in and when I didn't do as he said he gave me a spanking. He hit me five times because that's what Connor asked him to keep it down to. And you know Angel's hands are pretty big. When I went into the bathroom and looked at my behind in the mirror I could actually see his hand print on my behind. So I am giving you fair warning that if Connor tells you not to do something you better not do it because he is most likely going to give you a spanking also. If it wasn't for the fact that Angel sacrificed himself and had a vasectomy he would have still been in dry dock."

Lou looked at Angel in surprise. "Did you really do that?" Lou asked Angel.

Angel just looked at her and made a gesture that showed he was spanking Cordelia. "Whop, whop, whop, whop, whop. I didn't think you were actually going to do it after that little show I put on." Angel imitated Cordelia's voice.

Cordelia was smiling at him which encouraged him to continue when Connor asked what kind of show she put on. "She stood in front of me and disrobed and let her hair down. You know that sexy thing that women do with their hair." Angel made like he was letting his hair down then fluffing it up. "Then she stretched herself across my knees and I tell you men this women almost had me to the point of exploding just looking at her. She stretched herself out across my knees and said 'Okay Angel I'm ready for my punishment.' Now I knew exactly what she was doing so I played along with it for a minute and rubbed my left hand over her behind then up her back and through her hair, just to throw her off track and let her think she had accomplished her goal, then with my right hand I gave her 5 good whacks. When I helped her up she stood in front of me, rubbing her behind and said 'I didn't think you would actually do it'." "And you know Mom I can't even complain to Kathleen and have her turn him into a toad because she would probably just say "Daddy must have had a good reason to spank you. Daddy wouldn't have done it unless you were a bad girl. You just wait Angel Martin when our boys grow up they'll stick up for their Mommy all of the time."

"You wouldn't ever do that to me would you Connor?" Lou asked him. "I refuse to answer on the grounds that it might incriminate me." Connor almost couldn't get it out he started laughing so hard.

Dr. Martin got up then and started helping to clear the table so they could help Cordelia and Lou address and stuff envelopes. "If you men don't want to help I suggest you make yourself scarce for a few hours." Most of the men cleared out. When Angel got up to leave also Cordelia grabbed onto his shoulder and pushed him back down.

"You're not going anyplace Angel and you either Connor. Angel you have beautiful handwriting and Connor you do to so you two are going to be addressing these envelopes." Cordelia gave them each pens, a list of names and addresses. "Lou, you and I will help write addresses and names also." Dr. Martin had gone in to the kitchen to get a Cherry Cola and was just sitting down when Cordelia was handing out the assignments.

"Do you want me to address envelopes also?" Cordelia, Fred, Hunter and Lou all said at the same time "NO!" They surprised themselves and all started laughing at the same time. "Sorry Dr. Martin but your just like all other Doctors. It's a miracle that we can decipher your writing. You can stuff envelopes and close them so you better get yourself a sponge and a dish of water."

"Yes Mam." Dr. Martin did as instructed and dutifully sat down and waited for them to start giving her envelopes.

After about 30 minutes Angel and Connor were starting to groan and moan. "How many of these do we have to do?" Angel asked. "Three hundred and thirty five." Cordelia answered. Angel just looked at her but didn't dare say anything when he saw the look on her face that told him 'shut up and continue writing'.

When they were almost done two people came in through the front doors of the hotel. When Cordelia looked up she reached for Angels hand without looking at him and pulled him with her as she stood and walked over to the couple.

Everyone else was watching them as they walked over to the couple. Without any clue as to who these people were they saw Cordelia stop in front of the couple.

"Angel I would like to introduce you to my Mother and Father. Momma and Daddy this is my husband Angel Martin." Angel stepped forward and offered his hand to Mr. and Mrs. Chase. "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Chase. I'm happy to finally meet you." Angel noticed that Cordelia wasn't making a move to greet her parents with any kind of warmth.

Angel turned to Dr. Martin and motioned for her to come over. When she stood beside him he introduced her. "Mr. and Mrs. Chase I would like to introduce you to my Mother Dr. Mary Martin." This, of course, brought out a reaction from Mrs. Chase.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Chase reached out and shook her hand with genuine smiles. They then turned back to their daughter. "Aren't you going to give us a kiss and hug Cordelia?" her mother asked. She held her arm's out to her daughter then and took her into her arms. Cordelia responded stiffly. Her father hugged her also but she responded to him a little more warmly. When she separated from him she said "Come and sit over here at our dinning room table. We were just addressing invitations for Connor and Lou's wedding next month. Connor is Angel's son from a previous marriage and Lou is his fiancée. Angel and I are Lou's guardians. Lou and her brother joined us recently when their father died in a hunting accident." Connor and Lou each stood and shook their hands. She introduced Hunter then. Hunter was starting to show her pregnancy now and had a maternity blouse on. She stood up when Cordelia turned to her. "This is

Dr. Michaela Hunter-Thompson. Her husband is a doctor also and they stay with us occasionally." Since she was on the other side of the table they just nodded their greeting to her.

"When is your baby due Dr. Thompson?" Mrs. Chase asked politely. "We believe in June although it may be the end of May." "Let me take your coats Mr. and Mrs. Chase and please have a seat over here. Angel why don't you and Cordelia move down here and I'll ask Connie to bring in some coffee." Dr. Martin told them as she took their coats. When she returned from the kitchen she sat down in her usual place while Angel and Cordelia were on her right and Mr. and Mrs. Chase were on her left.

"So what do we owe this visit to?" Cordelia asked her parents. "Why? Can't we just come and visit our daughter and her family?" "You didn't respond to my invitation to you to my wedding. You didn't respond to my announcement of our children's birth so why would I expect you to come here now out of the goodness of your heart?" Cordelia kept a smile on her face at all times. Dr. Martin and Angel felt that these were legitimate questions so they didn't say anything.

"Well dear you know how much we travel and we didn't receive those invitations or announcements until well after they were done. Your father took some time away from his work for Christmas so we just thought we would come and visit with you for two weeks." "I see what are you doing now day's father?" "I'm still in the export import business and it keeps me pretty busy traveling around the world. Buffy tells me that you run a private investigation business Angel." "Yes I own Angel Investigation and along with several other people we run it together. They are more of my co-workers rather than my employees. We also all live here at the Hyperion and it's the reason why I chose this old Hotel. We recently had it renovated when we were expecting Kathleen, our daughter."

"Why didn't you ever call me Momma? Why didn't you at least come and see your granddaughter when you finally returned home and saw my announcement. You may have had to go somewhere else right away but that wouldn't have stopped you from calling. It's been 8 years since I left Sunnydale Momma why didn't you ever try to contact me?" Everyone was quiet and waiting for a response from Mrs. Chase.

"I have no excuse Cordelia, we've just been too wrapped up in ourselves and we've always been like that and you've always known it."

"Yes Momma but it doesn't make it right. I'm going to allow you to stay here for exactly two weeks. I am sure that you will be bored by then and want to go on your next trip." "Thank you Cordelia." Mr. Chase said.

"I think we have a room that you could use. Do you think it would be okay if I give them 412 Mom?" "Yes I don't think that we'll be using it for the next 2 weeks." Dr. Martin saw the look on Mrs. Chase face when Cordelia addressed her as Mom.

"Would you like to go upstairs for awhile to settle in?" Angel asked as he got up. "Yes that would be nice we have some luggage out in our car." When Angel, Connor and Mr. Chase left Cordelia got up also and started for the elevator. "Come with me Momma and I'll show you to your room and where everything is." Mrs. Chase followed her daughter to the elevator without saying anything. Cordelia noticed how her Mothers eyes where taking in the interior of the Hyperion. She didn't say anything more to her Mother as she showed her the way to her room.

As they arrived at the door Cordelia said "Here we are this will be your room while you're here. Dr. Martin usually uses this room as her psychiatric office. I usually keep the refrigerator stocked with different types of cola. You will find coffee and tea in the cabinets. I can bring some food up that you can use to make sandwiches with if you want. We have a family that works with us they take care of the cleaning of all of the first floor, the hallways and all maintenance. Connie Sanchez does all of the cooking for us. Each person takes care of their own rooms, their own laundry and so forth. While you're here I'll take care of everything for you, please don't bother Connie with a lot of demands. Besides taking care of all of the cooking and cleaning on the first floor she has a husband and son. Along with her Mother in-law they all live on the 3rd floor."

Mrs. Chase put her things down on the bed and waited for her husband and Angel to bring in the suit cases. "Would you like something to drink Mom? As I recall you like A&W Root Beer." "Cordelia would you sit down for a minute please?" Cordelia pulled out a Diet Pepsi for herself and a Root Beer for her mother then sat down across from her.

"Cordelia your father and I are aware of what Angel is. We remembered you talking about him when you were in High School. We came here to find out if he turned you into the same thing that he is." Cordelia just sat and looked at her. Angel and her father came in just then and they were loaded down with suit cases.

"I see where you get your packing skills from now Cordelia." They put everything down by the bed or on it. There must have been six suitcases in all.

"Angel and Daddy would you come and sit down for a second please?" Angel and Mr. Chase came and sat at the kitchen table.

"Angel I just found out why my parents are here. They think that the reason I married you is because you turned me into a Vampire also." Angel sat back in his chair. He looked at Mr. Chase and not at Mrs. Chase. Angel reached for Cordelia's hand and Mr. Chase's hand. He put Cordelia's hand in her fathers. "You've felt how cold my hand is Mr. Chase does your daughter's hand feel cold like mine? It feels warm and full of life doesn't it Mr. Chase. Cordelia and I have known each other for a long time and she accepted my marriage proposal knowing full well what I am. Down stairs on the 3rd floor and the second floor in our bedroom you will find the products of our love. They are all fully human and their souls firmly attached. They are sweet innocent children that love their Mommy and Daddy just as much as we love them."

"Why are you so concerned about me now Daddy? You never cared that much before. You never even called me at the hospital when I fell on a metal bar and it went right through my side. I am going to ask you one last time, why are you here?"

Cordelia's parents couldn't look at their daughter.

"I'm in trouble with the IRS again and I don't have the money or the property to pay them this time. We are here to see if I can borrow the money from you to pay them off. We've seen the mansion that Angel owns and this old Hotel, it takes a lot of money to keep these places up. We've seen all of the improvements to the grounds at the mansion and now that we see this Hotel and all of the remodeling that has been done we know that you have the money that we need."

"How much do you need Mr. Chase?" Angel asked.

"One hundred thousand dollars and I need it by the end of this year or I go to jail for tax evasion." They were all quiet for a while.

"What's the matter Daddy didn't you learn anything from the first time?" "Apparently not baby." "I'm going to let Angel handle this Daddy. Angel it won't bother me one bit if you decide not to give it to him. I think I better warn you though if you give him the money he needs he'll come back for more over and over again." Cordelia got up then and left to go and check on the boys.

"I am going to give you the money Mr. Chase under one condition." Mr. and Mrs. Chase both gave out a big sigh of relief.

"Thank you Angel, thank you. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this." "You may not be so thankful once I tell you the condition Mr. Chase." "I'll do anything you want Angel." Mr. Chase had been sweating before Angel had told him he would bail him out with the IRS. He wiped his face with his handkerchief.

"What is the condition Angel?" "From now on Mr. Chase my colleague and one of my lawyers will take care of all of your financial dealings. From now on when you want to purchase anything that costs over $1,000 dollars it must go through my colleague Mr. Price. For now you will stay here for the two weeks that you promised and you will respond with nothing but love for your daughter and our children. I am going to tell Wesley what is going on and you are to tell him everything that he wants to know. From now on Mr. and Mrs. Chase you will stay at home for at least six months out of the year so that on those occasions that we are in Sunnydale you can come and visit your daughter and grandchildren or we can visit you. I don't want you to complain to her or even mention what is being done. If I chose to I will let her know."

Angel went to the phone and called Wesley in his room and asked him to come up to room 412. When Angel opened the door he took Wesley out into the hallway and explained what was going on and what he wanted him to do. Wesley just patted Angels hand and told him "I'll take care of it Angel and between Jackson and I well keep your in-laws in line." Wesley laughed as he turned around. "What's so funny?" Angel asked. "Did you ever, in all of your almost 300 years of life, ever think that someone would say that to you?" "Never ever." Angel said as he walked away laughing.

Wesley went into the Chase's room and took down all of the information that he would need to clear up their problem.

Cordelia was in their bedroom and feeding the boys when Angel entered their suite of rooms. He went and sat down next to her on the couch and picked up Nicky. They were getting bigger and bigger every day. They each had their own high chairs at the table now and were in fact using the high chairs that the price boys used to use. Kathleen spent a lot of her time with her brothers. Cordelia would often take them upstairs to the children's room where both Joyce and Kathleen would mother them. The boys were more ruff then the girls were so Toby usually stayed out of their reach. Connor and the rest found out about this one night when they were out in the back play area and they heard a loud yelp come from Toby. Kathleen went running to Toby, as did Connor, and checked him to see if he was alright. They looked into Toby's mind to see what happened and he gave them a picture of Nicky pulling on his ear and biting it. Both Connor and Kathleen babied him for awhile but Toby made sure that he stayed out of reach of Nicky for a long time after that. Mike was a lot gentler with Toby and he didn't mind Mike playing with him.

"Did you give my father what he wanted?" "Yes but I put rules on him that he would have to follow. Wesley and one of my lawyers, Jack, will take care of him. You may find your father calling here once in a while because of the rule I gave him to follow." "Are they still going to stay for 2 weeks like they said or are they going home now that they have what they came for?" "They're going to stay two weeks so they can get to know you again. I warned them though that they may get mowed over if they stayed in one spot too long here. Especially on Christmas day. By the way did you rent a couple more tables yet for Christmas, don't forget that Mom told Gunn to bring all of his kids over for Christmas dinner."

"Oh my goodness Angel I completely forgot." By the look she was giving him he knew she was pulling his leg. He just laughed at her.

"Is there anything else you want me to do today my beloved?" After Cordelia put the boys down for their nap she came back over to her husband and sat across his legs.

Cordelia started to play with his shirt. "You know we haven't had any special Cordelia and Angel time for awhile and to tell you the truth I am getting rather ravenous." "And what are you hungry for?" "Well I thought tonight would be a perfect time for us to have a little role playing." "And which game would you like to play tonight?" Cordelia reached over to the CD player and pushed the play button. After a few minutes the song "Hey their little Red Riding Hood" started playing. You promised me that we could play it once in a while and we haven't played that game at all yet."

Angel picked her up and put her on the floor. "Well since you want to keep me up late tonight I better take a nap." Angel got up from the couch and took his shoes, pants and shirt off and lay down to take his usual nap in the afternoon. Cordelia did the same and crawled in under the quilt with him. They spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping along with their sons.

By 5 in the evening both Cordelia and Angel were up with the boys. Nicky was demanding attention and since his brother was raising a ruckus Mike apparently thought he would voice his opinion of the situation also.

"What is the problem my dear boys?" "I think they're hungry. Apparently your milk isn't enough for them anymore." "Well let's take them downstairs and see what Connie is cooking."

When they arrived at the dinning room they found both Mr. and Mrs. Chase talking with Dr. Martin and Giles.

"We have been having a nice little talk while all of the younger people in the hotel have been taking a nap. Lou wanted me to tell you that they finished addressing all of the invitations and her and Connor took them to the Post Office." "Okay Mom, thanks. Did they say they would be back in time for supper?" "Yes they said they would be back in time."

"She calls you Mom?" Mrs. Chase asked. "Mrs. Chase I can't keep calling you Mr. and Mrs. Chase, if you don't mind telling me, what is your first name?" "My first name is Lillian and my husband's is Joseph." "What do you prefer Mr. Chase, Joseph or Joe?" "My friends call me Joe." "To get back to your question yes Cordelia has called me that ever since Angel and I had a mutual adoption. Angel and I are distant cousins only." Dr. Martin proceeded to tell the Chase's all about Angel and her relationship. By the time she was done Cordelia had made some food for her boys and brought out two little dishes. Angel already had them in their highchairs and two towels on the table.

"Okay Nicky lets try eating solid food." Nicky closed his mouth down tight and turned away. Angel showed him how good it was by eating some. When he saw his Daddy eating what was on the spoon Nicky thought he would try it. Once he got a taste he opened his mouth as wide as he could. After that Angel couldn't shovel it in fast enough. Cordelia didn't have any problem at all with Mike. By the time they were done feeding Mike and Nicky everyone was coming in for supper. Connor and Lou had come in just a few minutes before when they helped Joaquin bring in the children's new larger table.

Everyone was looking at the new table. Kathleen and Joyce were jumping up and down and clapping. "It looks just like the big table doesn't it Daddy?" "It sure does and it's so shiny. Whoever you paid to do it did a good job. Did you tell them to send me the bill?" "No Mr. Martin. This table is a gift to all of the children from my wife, mother and I." "Well on behalf of all of us I want to thank you." Angel shook Joaquin's hand and all of the children thanked him as well. Kathleen wouldn't let any of the other children sit down until she put one of the old table cloths on the table. They each had their own chairs that looked just like the big ones also.

"Kathleen, before we start supper I want to introduce you to a couple of people." Cordelia took her daughters hand and went over to the other end of the table where her parents were.

"Kathleen this is my Mother, Grandma Lillian and this man is my Father, Grandpa Joseph. They are here for a visit during the Christmas holidays." Kathleen put her hand out and said "Hello. Where have you been I don't think I've ever met you before?" "We've been traveling around the world. Your Grandpa Joseph has a business that requires him to travel frequently." "Oh." Kathleen said. Then she turned to her new Grandfather and shook his hand. "Hello Grandpa Joseph. Can I go now Mommy?" "Yes sweetheart." Kathleen ran back to her table and sat down next to Junior who had taken the end chair.

"That was Kathleen our oldest and the two boys in the highchairs are our two youngest. The young boy at the end of the table is Joaquin Sanchez Junior and the little girl is Joyce Summers, Buffy and Spikes daughter. The two twin boys are Wesley and Fred's sons. This is Dr. Mike Thompson, Dr. Hunters husband. As you can see we are overflowing with doctors."

Cordelia and Fred helped Mrs. Sanchez to bring the food in and put them on the side bar so everyone could serve themselves. As usual the children were served first and Connor prepared a dish for Toby. When everyone had their plates full they all sat down but no one started to eat. Mr. and Mrs. Chase started to eat but stopped when Dr. Martin told them to wait a moment until a thanksgiving prayer was given. Kathleen tapped her glass with her fork like her Daddy had shown her. When everyone was quiet she proceeded with the prayer by starting with the Sign of the Cross. "Thank you Jesus for this delicious meal that Grandma Lucinda has prepared for us and we want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez and Grandma Lucinda for our beautiful new table. Thank you for my new Grandpa and Grandma for coming to visit us. Amen." Everyone echoed her Amen then started eating. Dr. Martin had noticed how surprised the Chase's were that Toby sat at the table with the children. When the prayer started she told them to look at Toby. As usual when Kathleen started the prayer Toby had put his two front paws on the table and lowered his head between them.

"Who taught him that?" Joe asked when the prayer was over. "Kathleen said that no one taught him he just started doing it one day when they were having lunch in their room." Dr. Martin said. "I tested him Grandma to see what told him to do it. I tried just giving thanks without making the Sign of The Cross and he didn't do anything. The next time I tried it with the Sign of The Cross and he did like you saw him." Connor said.

"What an amazing dog." Joe said.

Half way through the meal Cordelia dropped her fork and put her hands to her head. Angel reached for a tablet and pen that they kept near by. Connor, Lou and Tom stood up along with Gunn. "What's wrong Cordelia?" Lillian asked her daughter. "It's alright she is having a Vision from the PTB." Dr. Martin said. The Vision was over and Cordelia reached for the tablet and pen. She wrote down something and gave it to Angel.

"What did you see?" Angel asked. "At the address I gave you there are 4 or 5 young Vampires partying with some young girls. They intend to rape them then kill them." "Are you okay now?" Angel asked. "Yes, go, go before they kill them." Cordelia said while holding her head. When Angel, Connor, Lou, Tom and Gunn left Cordelia got up from her chair. "I'm going to lie down on the couch in Angels office for a few minutes Mom. I just need some quiet for a few minutes." "Okay Cordelia."

As she went into Angel's office and closed the door Lillian turned to Dr. Martin. "Are the visions always that bad?" "Yes but they used to be a lot worse. In fact Cordelia almost died from them. St. Michael has made them correct that though." Wesley told them. Lillian and Joe looked at each other. "I think that there is a lot that we have to learn about our daughter's life now." Lillian said.

Cordelia opened the door of Angel's office and called for Dr. Martin. When she arrived and took a seat Cordelia said "Mom, Angel is broadcasting his physical feelings to everyone that he has any kind of link with. He is feeling the physical pain that is being inflicted on him more. Angelus doesn't seem to be helping him very much. I think it's time to talk to Angelus again and find out why he isn't giving Angel what he needs to fight." While Cordelia was talking to Dr. Martin she would wince at some painful blow that Angel was feeling. At the end of the fight Angel must have been struck several times in the stomach because Cordelia grabbed for the trash can and vomited her supper.

When she was able to Cordelia asked Dr. Martin to check on Kathleen to see how she was doing. Dr. Martin went upstairs to check on Kathleen. All of the children were upstairs playing in her room but Kathleen wasn't in the room with them. "Junior, where is Kathleen?" "She's in the bathroom Grandma, I think she's sick." She went to the bathroom door and knocked on the door. "Kathleen, its Grandma are you okay?" "Come in Grandma." Dr. Martin opened the door and closed it right away so that none of the other children could come in. Kathleen was trying to clean the bathroom floor where she had gotten sick. "I got real sick all of a sudden Grandma and I couldn't get the safety lock off of the toilet seat fast enough and all of my supper just came up." Kathleen was crying while cleaning up the mess she had made. "Don't cry Kathleen I know you tried." Her Grandma helped her clean everything then told her to wash her face and rinse her mouth out.

"When you're done Kathleen come down to your Daddy's office. Your Mommy was sick also and is in there." "Okay Grandma." Dr. Martin took the towels and rug downstairs to the laundry room so they could be washed. When she went into Angel's office she opened the door to find both Cordelia and Kathleen sleeping. Mrs. Sanchez had already cleared the table and had Nicky and Mike with her. Everyone else had returned to there rooms while Wesley was in his office working on Mr. Chase's problem with the IRS.

Hunter and Mike had gone out for awhile. Mike didn't have to worry about being paged anymore for a baby that was making its first appearance so he felt like doing more with Hunter which included looking at baby furniture. Fred had offered the furniture she had for the boys but Hunter had said that she had waited for 4,000 years for the opportunity to do this and she wanted to enjoy every moment.

After sleeping for an hour Cordelia woke up and was feeling better. Kathleen woke up when her mother did. "I'm hungry Mommy." "Me too lets go and see what we can find or would you like to wait until Daddy comes back. I think he'll be hungry also since Mommy had her vision halfway through his supper."

"What are the Visions Mommy?" "Remember ever hearing anyone talk about the PTB?" "I heard Aunt Buffy and Daddy say that a few times." "Well the PTB are a group of Angels that have been assigned the job of helping people that are being hurt by bad Demons or Vampires. When they see someone in trouble then they send Mommy a Vision. A Vision is like a short movie that Mommy sees in her mind that shows me what the PTB see. Then I tell your Daddy or someone else about the vision and that's when you see everyone go running for the weapons cabinet and then to the cars or vans. Then you're Daddy or someone else goes and saves the people from the bad Demons or Vampires. Do you understand everything that I have told you?" "Yes Mommy." "One day, a long time from now, these Visions will be given to you instead of Mommy. But that won't be for a very long time though. Your Daddy will be too old to fight anymore and your brother Connor will take his place as head of Angel Investigations and you will be what they call his Seer." "Then the PTB will send me the Visions and I'll tell Connor where to go and save the people." "Yes that is correct." "Do the Visions hurt?" "A little but it isn't too bad. What happened today is unusual and shouldn't be happening. Do you know who Angelus is?" "Yes Daddy told me about him." "I think that Angelus is being a bad boy and he is getting back at your Daddy for doing something that he didn't like and that's why you and I became sick."

"Why is Angelus being so mean Mommy?" "That's how demons are Baby and Angelus is a very, very, very mean Demon. He is so mean that Daddy's Guardian Angel, St. Michael, had to put him in a cage that is in your Daddy and he told your Grandma what kind of key she had to make that would keep Angelus in that cage. Have you seen the small cross that Daddy wears?" "Uh huh." Kathleen answered. She was listening to every word that her Mother was saying. Somehow she knew that what she was saying was very important and Kathleen had to learn and remember everything her Mother was telling her. "That Cross that your Daddy wears is the key that your Grandma made and it was designed by St. Michael. Next time you see your Daddy ask him if you can look into the little glass that is in the center of the cross."

"Your Daddy said he will be home in about 15 minutes and he said he's hungry and would like a sandwich after he takes a shower. So let's get up." "Mommy how come Daddy never talks to me in my head anymore like he used to?" "Remember when Daddy went to Connor's school and had pictures taken of his head?" "Yes and I remember Daddy had a big headache after." "Yes that's correct. Well that is when we found out that your Daddy's head would hurt more when he talked to you. So you're Grandma and Aunt Hunter told him that he had to stop talking to you in your head or he was going to get very sick. Your Daddy cried and he said 'But I like talking to my Princess like that and I'm going to miss her if I have to stop'. But Grandma said he had to stop and she put down her foot and said 'Break the link now Angel'. Your Daddy didn't want to but he is a good son and he did what his Momma told him to do just like you do when we tell you to do something." "Well I guess if Grandma told him then it was for a good reason. I have more questions Mommy but I'll save them for tomorrow because I am getting sleepy. Give Daddy a kiss goodnight for me okay?" "Okay but don't you want to give it to me first then?" Kathleen came over and gave her Mother a kiss twice. "One is for you Mommy and the other one is for Daddy. Goodnight." "Goodnight Kathleen."

Cordelia made a roast beef sandwich for Angel and went upstairs. Connie was in her room and just putting the boys to bed. "Thanks Connie I didn't mean to leave them with you for so long. I was explaining my Visions to Kathleen and we talked about Angelus for awhile. I thought that since she was being affected by my vision and what her Daddy was feeling now would be a good time to explain them to her. Since she is going to be her brothers Seer she has to start learning about these things sooner or later." "Don't worry about it Mrs. Martin you'll do just fine. Goodnight." "Goodnight Connie and thank you."

Cordelia took a shower and crawled into bed just as Angel came in. As usual he went directly to the bathroom and took a shower. When he came out he found Cordelia sitting at the kitchen table and waiting with a sandwich and a cup of soup along with a warm mug of blood. He hadn't bothered to put anything on since they were alone with the boys in there crib.

"Did I ever tell you that you were my most favorite girl of all time?" "No you never gave me that line before." "Well you are my most favorite wife of all time and I say that because I've often heard men talk about their wives and it wasn't always in glowing terms but most of the time it was in glowing terms. But you are the best." Angel gave Cordelia a kiss then started in on his sandwich and soup while Cordelia had a bowl of soup.

Cordelia didn't say anything about what her and Kathleen went through that night since Angel seemed to be feeling so good. She looked at him carefully as he ate his Supper. She could see bruises and cuts all over him but they seemed to be healing.

"You must have had a very busy night. I can see a lot of cuts and bruises on you that are just now healing." "Yeah Angelus didn't start helping me until we were halfway through the fight. You saw only four Vampires; there was five more at the end of the street. We took care of them without too much problem. I guess Angelus wanted to get back at me for the little trick Mom pulled on him so he let me get beaten up by three of them before he started to help me. As you can see though he is still busy healing me."

"I think I'll go and sit down on the couch for a while and watch television." When Angel was done he cleaned up after himself along with the dishes then joined Cordelia on the couch. After an hour of watching television Cordelia heard him snoring. "Angel wake up and let's go to bed." After turning everything off she shook him again since he had gone back to sleep. "Angel Liam Martin if I didn't know better I would think that you were getting old. Let's go to bed old man." Angel got up and let her guide him to the bed. After a few hours of sleep he was feeling so good that he started making advances on his wife. They spent the next hour making love. Cordelia was tired though and didn't respond as usual. They usually made love for two hours or more but Angel sensed her fatigue and let it go and just rolled over and went to sleep instead.

The next morning Cordelia was nursing the boys when Angel woke up. When she was done she turned the boys over to Angel and went to take a shower. The boys were starting to crawl around more and more and had to be watched constantly to make sure they didn't get into trouble. Angel put them into their walkers while he got dressed. He heard everyone else getting up. "I'm going to take the boys downstairs Cordelia." "Okay, I'll be down in just a few minutes."

Angel took the boys out into the hallway and put each one down on the floor and a shoe while they hung onto his leg. This was how he walked to the elevator and then to the dining room where he put the boys in their highchairs. The boys had started to talk and were talking to their Daddy almost non stop. Of course Angel acted as though he could understand everything they said. The other children came downstairs along with Grandma and Grandpa Giles. Wesley and Fred came down next with their sons who were now walking and talking a mile a minute. Cordelia came down along with her parents. Everyone was down at the dining room table now so Connie and her husband started to bring in the food. As usual Angel, Cordelia, Fred and Wesley served their children first and Connor made a plate for Toby. Then all of the adults got up to serve themselves.

Lillian was the first one to say something after they had all had a chance to eat most of their breakfast. "You certainly have a large group here Cordelia. Do you usually have this many people?" "Wait until the Scooby's come we'll have to bring out the old table while they're here for Christmas. We also have so many people going to church that we have to let Father Barris know how many people we have coming to midnight mass so he can rope off several pews for us. Do you think that you'll go with us?" "I don't know Baby we haven't gone to church in so long the church my cave in on us when we go in." Joe said. "Daddy I can assure you that if it hasn't caved in from when our resident Vampires go in it won't cave in when you and Momma enter the church."

"You go to church Angel?" Lillian asked. "Yes I do in fact Fr. Barris is my Confessor and a friend of my mothers and of the family. Of course being Irish it's practically a given that I was raised in the Catholic Church so I didn't have to have lessons but Hunter here, and Spike were not and are taking lessons from Fr. Barris to convert to the Catholic faith. Both Wesley and Giles are taking lessons also."

"Do you receive Communion also?" Joe asked. "If you don't mind Angel I'll explain it to them?" Dr. Martin asked. Angel nodded at her and she proceeded to explain to them what had happened when she came to help and why she had come to help him.

"Well I guess since the church has seen all of this happen I believe that it will be okay when we enter so yes you can count us in." Joe said. "Good, I have to call the Morgan's and ask them if they want to join us. Fred do you remember when Tina was supposed to have her baby?" Cordelia asked. "I think she was supposed to deliver last month but I'm not positive. Hunter, do you know if Mike was Tina's doctor?" "I don't remember him talking about her but since Marissa was I would guess that he was." "I'll call them after Supper and find out if their coming also. We are going to be overflowing with people for Christmas because we are going to have Gunn's kids over here also."

"You look to young to have a lot of children Gunn." Lillian said. "Oh their not my children they are just a group of kids that I watch over and they fight Demons and Vampires also along with anyone else that feeds on the poor and old. We also help to feed the poor and homeless. I was told by Dr. Martin that God wanted my kids to come over for Christmas Dinner so that Fred could choose one among them that Angel Investigation will send to collage and Law School."

"Cordelia, how about having it in the Gym? I think that if we move all of the equipment over to the other side of the pool we should be able to fit three tables of this size in there along with the children's table." Wesley said. "That's a good idea, what do you think Fred?" Fred turned to her husband and patted his cheek "I think our little Uncle Wesey has a good idea." Fred laughed as Wesley grabbed her around the neck and gave her a knuckle sandwich. "You said you wouldn't call me that anymore?" To get him to stop she said "I promise, I promise that that's the last time." He let her go then.

Since you have so much energy Wesley and it's your idea why don't you go and measure the gym and tables to see if we can fit four tables in there along with a big enough side board to hold the food. Wesley stood up and gave a crisp solute to Cordelia. "Yes Captain." They all laughed at him. "Get busy soldier and double time it." Wesley started walking faster. "Wise guy." Cordelia said as she helped to start taking the plates into the kitchen. Everyone else followed her lead and they had the table cleared in no time.

"Tell the private that I'll be calling around to try to find two more tables like this one." "Okay, can I do anything?" "Yes well need more place settings and table clothes can you see if we can either lease or buy them?" "Sure." Fred sent the kids upstairs to play and took Mike and Nicky down from their highchairs and put them in there playpen.

"Mary do you think someone could take us to the Mall to go shopping for Christmas?" "Sure Lillian Giles and I can take you. I need to see if we can borrow someone's van though. My BMW is too small to carry four adults comfortably. Why don't you get ready to go and I'll see what I can find.

For the next six days the hotel was a busy place. Cordelia found the tables they needed and the gym was cleared. Cordelia and Connie along with Connor went shopping for all of the Christmas day Turkeys. They had ordered five fifty pound turkeys along with more Turkey legs and five large fresh hams. Angel and Joaquin rented a couple of large barbeques to cook all of the meat in. The barbeques were so big that they had their own trailers. Angel used Gunn's truck to hall the one of the barbeques while Joaquin hauled another trailer full of wood. One of the workers at the rental store hauled the other barbeque trailer to the Hotel.

Cordelia had called Father Barris and told him that they would have a total of 32 people which would take a total of 4 pews. The night before Christmas Eve the Scooby gang came in and the place was even more crowded. As soon as they came in Joyce went running to her Mommy and Daddy. Buffy looked like she was about ready to explode with her twins. If Angel thought she looked big with just one baby he thought she needed a cart to support her stomach now. Cordelia and Angel went to her and Spike.

Cordelia went to Buffy and gave her a hug. "How are you doing Buffy? Would you like to go to your room now and rest for awhile?" "Yes I think that would be wonderful." Spike took her to their bedroom and got her settled in. Joyce was with her and telling her all about her time here at the Hotel and with Kathleen, Junior and the Price boys. Spike went looking for Dr. Thompson and Hunter and found them in the gym helping to set up the tables and the tables for the buffet. "Mike I need to talk to you." Spike yelled when he saw him. "Hi Spike what's up?" "Hi Mike I need for you to come and examine Buffy. Mike I think one of the boys might be dead or is very close to it because I can't hear his heart beat." Spike was almost crying when he said it. "Okay Spike I want you to go and get Buffy and bring her downstairs to the clinic. We are probably going to have to perform a Caesarean tonight." "Spike ran upstairs so fast that no one but Hunter saw him go up. She looked towards the entrance to the Gym and saw Mike coming towards her. "Hunter lets go to the clinic. Where is Mary?" "I think she is in the kitchen fixing some tea." "Get her and come to the clinic."

A few minutes later both Hunter and Dr. Martin came into the clinic. "What's up Mike?" Dr. Martin asked. "Spike just told me that he is afraid that one of the baby's might be dead because he can't hear a heart beat. We are going to have to perform a Caesarean right now because that usually means that the umbilical cord is most likely wrapped around the baby's neck. Spike is bringing Buffy down now."

Spike and Buffy came into the clinic within the next minute. Spike picked her up and put her on the table. "Help her take her clothes off Spike and get her ready for surgery. Have you told her what is happening?" "Yes." "Okay Buffy your going to get to have your baby's the easy way." "Do you think they'll be alright because I haven't felt them move very much today?" Buffy asked. She was scared that she had lost her babies again. "You know Dr. Martin Buffy if she can't find a way to save them then she'll call on St. Michael for help. But we will do our very best to save your babies." "Lay down now Buffy. Do you want to be awake through the whole thing or do you want to wake up after?" "I want to be awake." Spike gave her a kiss then got her ready for the Caesarean.

Hunter went out to the Lobby. Angel and Cordelia went to stand by the clinic when they saw Spike and Buffy coming back down the stairs. "What's going on Hunter?" Angel asked. "I want you to let everyone else know that we are performing an emergency Caesarean on Buffy. Spike told Mike that he thought that one of the babies might be dead because he couldn't hear a second heart beat but this usually indicates that the umbilical cord is wrapped around the baby's neck." "Okay Hunter we'll let everyone know." Hunter went back into the clinic where Dr. Martin was preparing to start.

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" Everyone stopped talking and gave Angel their attention. "Mike, Hunter and Dr. Martin are performing an emergency Caesarean on Buffy. Spike told Mike that he couldn't hear one of the baby's heart beats and Mike thinks that the umbilical cord might be wrapped around the baby's neck. I think they would appreciate it if we would keep it quiet out here." Fred went in to see if she could help once the babies were born.

"Once the anesthetic took affect Dr. Martin didn't waist any time in getting started. In just minutes she was opening the uterus and she reached for the first baby. The first one gave a healthy cry as soon as its mouth and nose were cleared. Hunter took the baby and showed it to Spike and Buffy. "It's a beautiful, healthy boy Buffy." She only gave them a moment before she took him to the side to clean him up and weigh and measure him. His heart sounded strong and his lungs clear. Hunter handed him over to Fred to put in the incubator then went to assist with the next one.

Dr. Martin was having difficulty getting a hold of the second baby. She couldn't get a good hold on the baby because she was too far down. "Spike come over here and put some gloves on. Your hands are smaller than Mikes and you might be able to reach in and get a good hold of the baby and pull him out." Hunter helped Spike put gloves on and he stepped up to the table. Since he was taller then Dr. Martin he was easily able to reach in grasp the baby and pull it out. It was as Mike had thought and the umbilical cord was wrapped around its neck. Hunter took over the baby and quickly started working on it. Within the next minute they heard a nice healthy cry from the second boy. She quickly cleaned him up and continued to check him over. Spike came over and stood behind her.

"I think he'll be okay Spike. He was a little blue but I think we got to him soon enough. You want to take him over to Buffy?" The smile on Spikes face gave her, her answer. Dr. Martin and Mike were still putting Buffy back together again as he brought their second son over. "Is he okay? It took a while for him to start crying." "As far as Hunter can tell he is fine. She said he was a little blue but since he wasn't breathing on his own the umbilical cord was still supplying enough oxygen to his blood." "You know we still haven't even decided on names for them." "I know but Mommy is tired now and I think I'll go to sleep." Spike gave her a kiss and placed his son in the incubator.

"Let's hook them up to the monitors for the next 24 hours at least Hunter." Hunter did as Mike said and put tabs on each baby's chest. They were tiny so the tabs took up a large portion of their chest. Spike went out to the Lobby to announce the arrival of his two boys.

Angel knew everything was okay by the look on his face. "Everything is okay everyone. We have the next Slayers brothers with us and both are okay. The second did have the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck but Hunter thinks he is okay. He was only slightly blue and she thinks we got to him in time. Buffy is doing fine and they are almost done sewing her back up." "Have you named them yet?" Angel asked. "No we thought we had at least another week or two to go. Angel I got the chance to deliver my second son. He was a slippery little critter and Dr. Martin couldn't get a good grip on him. It was the first time that I was glad that I had small hands. I swear Angel that when I reached in he grabbed onto my thumb and held on while I pulled him out of his Momma." Angel hugged Spike and patted him on the back with a congratulation for him and Buffy.

"I guess I better get back to my family. Where is Joyce?" "The kids are upstairs playing do you want me to get her?" "No I guess introducing her to her new brothers can wait. Buffy is sleeping now so tomorrow morning will be fine. Willow could you go up to our room and get the bed ready for Buffy and turn the heater on in there?" "Sure Spike we'll take care of everything." Willow and Tara took there bags upstairs to their own room and Connor took up Buffy and Spikes to there rooms.

The next morning Spike went looking for his sons. He found them in with Mike and Hunter in there room. Mike had wanted to keep watch over them since they were delivered three weeks early but they passed the night uneventfully. Spike knocked on the door. "Come in Spike." Hunter called out. "I believe my sons are in here." "Yes they are and they've been good little boys. Their hearts are beating nice and strong and their lungs are doing just fine. They both woke us up this morning around 4 o'clock. We got a good idea as to what life will be like for awhile when our baby finally comes out to see his Daddy." Hunter said as she started to unplug the monitors and incubators. "Would you help me take them over to our bedroom?" Spike asked. Since the boys were still in their incubators they had large beds to be moved along with their monitors.

As they entered the bedroom Buffy was just coming out of the bathroom after taking a shower. Once again her Slayer healing was coming in handy. Her stomach was still a little large but was quickly shrinking. She hadn't gained very much weight while she was pregnant and that made her pregnancy stand out even more than usual.

"Here they are Mommy all ready for their first meal." Hunter said as she helped to reconnect the incubators and monitors to the electricity. "How long do they have to stay in the incubators?" Buffy asked. "Mike said we should leave them in there for at least another 24 hours. He said that it won't hurt them and the incubators have their own heating system to keep them warm. You can take them out though while you go downstairs for breakfast though. Just make sure you bundle them up good. On top of each incubator you'll find a band to put around their wrists and the Birth Certificate. When you decide on names you can fill them out. Now when I filled out the times on the birth certificates I left off the minutes and the reason I did that was because with twins they always like saying who was born first. The one on the right here was pulled out first so technically he was born first but the one on the left would have been born first because he was already positioned over the cervix and would have been the first if we hadn't delivered them by caesarian. You can decide how you want to handle it because I promise you it will be important to them." Hunter started to leave when she almost ran into Fred and Wesley coming in through the open door.

"Good Morning Buffy and Spike we knew you didn't bring anything over with you since this was a surprise so here are our old Bassinet and carriers. We went out last night to get some bags of newborn diapers and other things for newborns. Would you like me to fix you some breakfast or do you think you can come down stairs." Fred asked as her and Wesley brought everything in.

Buffy and Spike just looked at Fred. "Wow, it's been a long time since we've heard you talk like that." Buffy said with a smile. "Yeah I was waiting for you to pass out from lack of oxygen." Spike said. "I'm sorry I've been slipping back into that habit lately, Wesley is always telling me to stop and breath." Both Wesley and Fred were checking out the boys now.

"Have you chosen names yet?" "No but I think we better do it right away before the next person comes in. Hunter was telling us that it always seems important to twins to know who was born first so we also have to decide whether we tell them who was delivered first or who would have been first if they had been born naturally. What do you think we should do?" Buffy asked. "Most definitely who came out first, because the only ones that will know where they were positioned for the first one will be the Doctors that delivered them. Just make sure you let them know what you decided so that your stories will all be the same. While you're here you'll hear our boys invoke that position status quiet often." Wesley told them. "Let's go Wesley so Buffy can feed the boys. Are you going to come down for breakfast or would you like us to bring something up for you?" Wesley asked again. "We'll be downstairs." Buffy answered.

When they left and Buffy and Spike had a few minutes with their boys Buffy and Spike took them out of the incubators and took the tabs off of them. After checking them Buffy settled down on the bed and put the first one to be delivered to her breast for his first meal.

"Well Daddy what should we name this one?" "How about Edward Anthony Summers?" "That sounds like a good name. We can call him Eddie." When Eddie was done and she was feeding the second one she asked the same thing. "And what about this one?" "Well I was thinking Angel William Summers." Buffy looked up at Spike with a tear threatening to spill over. "I think he would like that Spike." She reached up to him and gave him a kiss.

When they were done they bundled the boys up and headed downstairs with the newest members of the Scooby gang. Everyone was already at the table when they came down. Connie and her mother were just bringing in the food when they came down.

Joyce came running over from the children's table. "Is that my new baby brothers?" "They sure are you want to come over and see them?" All of the children got up to come and see the newest members of the family. Buffy and Spike took them out of the carriers and placed them at the empty end of the children's table.

"When did they get here?" Joyce asked as she stood at the end with her hands behind her back. "They came last night shortly after we arrived. You were upstairs and had gone to bed I think." Spike answered. "What are there names?" Junior asked. "Well let's see they have these little bands around their wrists. Can you read them Joyce?" Buffy asked her daughter. Joyce looked real hard at the words. "This one is called Edward. Can you help me Kathleen?" Kathleen came over and carefully picked up the babies hand and turned the band around so she could see it better. "It says Edward Anthony Summers and this one says Angel William Summers. Hey Daddy his name is just like yours." Angel and Cordelia came over to see his namesake.

"Thank you Spike and Buffy this is an honor for someone to be named after me." Angel gave them both a hug. "We also would like for you and Cordelia to be their Godparents." Buffy told them. That started off another round of hugs and kisses. Everyone took their seats again and waited.

Kathleen lightly tapped her glass and waited until everyone was quiet. Then she started with the sign of the cross. "Thank you Lord for this new day. Thank you for all of our friends being here so that we can celebrate your birthday together most of all we want to thank you for giving us these two new babies, Anthony and Angel. Amen." Everyone echoed her Amen. Lillian and Joe were terribly interested in how and who fixed the plates for the children and Toby. When they were done feeding the children the adults got up and started getting there own food.

The conversation during the meal was kept light everyone was thinking about what they had left to do before Christmas Eve started. When the rest of the children went outside to play Kathleen stayed behind and went to Angel.

"Excuse me can I ask you and Mommy something?" Angel was done so he picked up his daughter and put her on his lap. "What would you like to ask us sweetheart?" "I would like to start working for an allowance so that I will have money to buy presents for other people also." "You don't have to do that Daddy will give you whatever you want." "I know you would Daddy but then the present really wouldn't be from me it would be from you." "Yes I understand how you would feel that way." Angel looked at Cordelia. Everyone was watching and listening because Kathleen was the oldest of the children and she would most likely tell each of the other children what happened and the way they handled her request would have to be done with the others. "What do you think we should give her to do Mommy and how much should we pay her?" "Well I'm not sure what the going rate is for children. Does anyone have an idea?" Cordelia asked everyone.

"I might be able to help you there. I have a friend that has children that are just a little older than Kathleen. Let me call him and see if he knows what the pay scale is for children under 12." Connor said as he got up and pulled his cell phone out and made his call. A few minutes later he came back to the table and reported his findings.

"Henry said that they paid their oldest $1 for every hour of work that wasn't necessary to keep the house in working order. Which means they didn't pay her for cleaning her own room or helping with the dusting and such because that was work that was needed in order to keep the house neat and clean. What she was paid for was when she took care of her other sisters and brothers while her mother and father, were busy elsewhere in the house." "Well let me see then." Cordelia folded her arms under her breasts and tapped her chin with her right hand. "I think Daddy that we should pay her for taking care of all of the younger children when they are all playing together. So I figure that she has worked for about 4 hours each day for the past 3 weeks. Which would come out to I believe $84 dollars. And since Junior helped her to take care of them he should be paid the same. I think we have to ask Wesley though if we can squeeze that into our budget. Can we afford to pay Junior and Kathleen $1 an hour for 4 hours each day Uncle Wesley?" Wesley pulled out his pen and started writing on a piece of paper he also had in his pocket. "I don't think that, that will be a problem and next month we can go to the bank and open up saving accounts for them."

"Well that sounds good to me. Do you except this salary?" Kathleen copied her mother and crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her chin like Cordelia did. "I think that would be equitable." Angel put her down and told her to go and get Junior. Kathleen ran outside and got Junior. When they came back Kathleen explained to Junior what she had asked for and what her Daddy and Mommy had agreed to. Connie and Joaquin had been watching and listening to what was going on. Junior ran over to them and asked them if it was okay for him to get paid for watching the smaller children with Kathleen. They gave their okay and he ran back to Angel. "Thank you Mr. Martin my Mother and Papa said it was okay." "I'll give them their first pay this month Wesley and you can take care of the paper work okay?" "Okay Angel I'll draw up the necessary papers and they can sign it and then it will all be legal." Angel pulled out his money and took the money clip off of it then carefully counted out the money into two piles. "Here you are Kathleen and Junior, your very first pay for work done." Angel shook their hands then gave them their money.

"Now can we go shopping for our Christmas gifts?" Kathleen asked her father. "Maybe if you ask real nice and butter him up Connor and Lou will take you to the mall where there are a lot of people." Kathleen went over to Connor and reached for him pick her up. By the time she was done buttering up Connor he practically slid out of his chair.

"Well Lou I feel like I am well buttered can you be ready in 15 minutes?" "Yes, Kathleen and I only have to wash our hands and brush our teeth and we'll be ready." Lou took Kathleen's hand and they raced each other upstairs to the third floor except Lou jumped up to the second floor and then to the third. "That's not fair Lou you cheated." All of a sudden Kathleen disappeared and reappeared on the third floor. They could hear her yelling. "I won, I won, I won."

Lillian and Joe's eyes were as wide as saucers. They both looked at Dr. Martin. "What, how, what, where?" They were so surprised by what their granddaughter did that they couldn't talk. "She's something else isn't she? Our granddaughter has more power in her little body then both Willow and Tara put together I think. Where as they have to use complicated words in Latin Kathleen just thinks it or says something simple and it happens." Dr. Martin said.

"Aren't you afraid that she'll do something where other people outside of the family will see her?" Lillian asked Dr. Martin. "Kathleen is a very good child and she obeys her parents. Angel and Kathleen have a close relationship and from the time she was a little baby he was able to talk to her inside of her mind. It's the reason why she speaks and thinks way beyond her years. It's also why I believe she will always be very careful with using her abilities outside of the family. Just to make sure though she is being home schooled. In fact all of the children will be home schooled by Fred and Wesley for their first years or until we feel that they understand the necessity of keeping some things about their family secret. Eventually though, we'll let her become more exposed to the outside world so that she can develop more of her social skills. To keep her confined to just her family just isn't healthy for her, psychologically speaking that is."

"Have you tested her to see what her limits are, if any?" Joe asked. "We have never seen her do what she just did. Your granddaughter is constantly coming up with something new to surprise us. But to answer your question I think we would have to take her to England to test her at Watchers Council Headquarters. We have a network of powerful witches and warlocks that can test her. For now though we are keeping her close to home where Angel and her brother can protect her better. There is a group of evil people that would like to get her in their hands so that they could turn her to their side." Wesley said.

Lou and Kathleen came down the normal way this time. She went to her Mother first to give her a kiss goodbye. Angel picked her up then and put her into his lap. "Daddy is going to be with you in your mind while you are out with Connor and Lou okay?" "Okay Daddy." Everyone watched as Angel put his hands on each side of her face. He closed his eyes for a minute and when he opened them again he gave his daughter a kiss and hug then put her down and she went to hold Connor and Lou's hand as they left.

"Can you talk to her now Angel?" Joe asked. "I try not to do that because it takes her mind off of what she is doing at the time and that could be dangerous. Kathleen has had a brush with Wolfram & Hart and she understands that she must always be watchful when she is away from home. So if I talk to her in her mind too much I may be taking her concentration away from something that may just have come into her field of vision or hearing that she should be careful about. When she comes home I'll put my hands on her again and back out of her mind since she will be where we can protect her more easily."

For the next hour they sat at the table and everyone helped to explain what they did at Angel Investigation and about Wolfram & Hart and what happened when they found out about Kathleen.

"I don't know about the rest of you but I have to get up and walk around a bit or else I'm going to be stuck permanently to this chair." Dr. Martin said as she got up and went into the kitchen. "Connie does Junior want to go shopping also?" "Yes he certainly does but I don't have the time to take him." "Would you mind if Rupert and I take him?" "No not at all. I am sure that he will be very happy to go with you." "Good that will give me the chance to get some exercise in and finish my shopping. Get your jacket Junior and we'll be down in just a few minutes.

Since the two baby sitters were gone Fred had to watch the boys and Joyce was helping her mother with her two baby brothers. Angel had left for a couple of hours also. Everyone else was busy with wrapping presents. The Hotel was going to be packed with people tomorrow and since Cordelia had promised to help Connie get ready tomorrow she thought she would try to get the boys to take a nap for the rest of the day so she could do the same.

Joaquin was already getting the barbeques ready to roast the turkeys and large hams. He knew from experience that this was usually a gathering place for the men while the women gathered in the kitchen so he had bought several large foam ice chests. One would be filled with beer and the others would all be filled with various types of colas. He had also been stock piling ice for the last 2 weeks and the ice maker was filled to the brim. Cordelia had rented another large refrigerator so they could make some of the food ahead of time. When they went shopping the other day they had needed both Connors van, Gunn's truck, and her mini van just to haul the food. They had gone to the local wholesale warehouse store to buy all of the different types of colas, beer and paper plates and anything else that they could buy that was throw away. The extra tables and chairs had been brought yesterday and were already set up. Just thinking about everything was making her feel tired so she put the boys down for a nap and laid down for a nap also. She had already told Connie not to worry about supper because she was going to order out.

Two hours later Angel came home and lay down beside her. "Where have you been?" "It's a secret." He raised his eye brows a couple of times as he said it and smiled. "Christmas shopping is tiring. I don't know how you do it." "That's why we women do a lot of shopping throughout the rest of the year so that we can keep in shape for Christmas shopping which started after Thanksgiving." "Well I need to get some rest since I didn't have any lunch." He pulled her close to him and rested his chin on her shoulder.

By 6 o'clock the boys were awake and wanted out of their jail. "It looks like we are going to have to make up a room for the boys pretty soon. I think both Junior and Kathleen need their own rooms now also. They're getting a little big to be sharing the same room together." "Yes dear, what ever you say dear." Cordelia turned around and started to tickle him. Angel pulled her to his chest to keep her from tickling him anymore and gave her a big slobbery kiss. "Eww that's awful now I have Vampire slobber all over my mouth." "Well I know somewhere else I can put my Vampire slobber on you that you always like." He started to pull her bra off when Cordelia pulled away from him and rolled over him to get to the other side of the bed and the boys. "No play time tonight Daddy we have two little boys that need to be changed. By the way we women have decided that the children, except for Kathleen, Junior and Joyce will be staying home and nice and cozy in their beds. They're way too young to be going to midnight mass so I called Lorne and he said he would come over to stay with them."

By 10 o'clock that night they were all gathering downstairs. The women had long beautiful skirts on while the men wore either a suit and tie or a jacket like Angels black corduroy jacket and white silk shirt. Connor couldn't wear his anymore because he had grown out of it when his muscles started getting bigger. When they were all downstairs Dr. Martin said "Okay everyone lets load up." The women all started for the back where their vehicles were but Angel stopped them. "Our rides are out front ladies." They all went to the front without questioning him. In the front they found four black stretch limousines.

"Wow, we're going in style tonight." Fred said. They all divided up and got into the limousines and took off to the church. David Morgan had told Angel that his group would meet them at the church. The women were busy thanking their husbands as they drove to the church.

The church was decked out in beautiful flowers of all kinds but mostly poinsettias. Angel was just beaming with pride at how good his family looked. Cordelia had chosen a long black full skirt along with a white silk blouse with long sleeves and a diamond pendant. Kathleen wore the exact same thing. Fred had chosen a deep blue skirt and blouse along with a small diamond pin on her shoulder. Wesley had a blue suit and a silver and blue tie. They were all decked out in their finest. It wasn't the men's idea to be so dressed up but they knew that Dr. Martin would send them right back up stairs if she didn't approve of what they were wearing. When it came time for communion everyone went up to either receive communion or receive a special blessing from Fr. Barris. Besides the Vampires receiving a special blessing Kathleen, Junior, and Joyce received a blessing also since they hadn't received their First Holy Communion yet. Dr.Martin said she would start getting them ready for that next year and Joyce would start going to classes the year after that.

When they finally got home they were all tired. Angel and Cordelia thanked Lorne for taking care of the kids and took their two downstairs to their crib. Fred and Wesley took theirs also. Spike and Buffy just pulled their new sons incubators back down to their room. Lorne left as soon as everyone came home, he said he had his own private party to attend tomorrow.

The next morning the kids were all up early and waking everyone up by yelling "Merry Christmas everyone". Kathleen led the group over to Connors room and peeked in. He was pretending to be sleeping as they all gathered around the bed. Toby's tail was wagging so hard that his whole body was doing it. At a signal from Kathleen they all jumped on the bed and yelled, "Wake up Connor its Christmas, Merry Christmas Connor, Merry Christmas." Toby jumped up on the bed also and was licking as many faces as he could.

"Okay, okay, I'm up. Merry Christmas why don't you go and wake up everyone else?" They all went running out the door and Connor jumped up out of bed and closed the door and locked it. He quickly got dressed and went over to Spikes door. He lightly tapped on the door and heard Spikes voice telling him to come in. Connor stuck his head in the door. "Come on Spike let's go and open a few presents before Cordelia gets up and tells us we have to wait." "I'll be there in a few minutes."

Connor went running down the stairs along with Toby. Spike came down just a minute later. Kathleen and her gang came right behind him. Fred and Wesley had already been up for awhile and had already dressed the boys for the day. They were still too small to be taking the stairs by themselves so Mommy and Daddy had to walk with them. As soon as they reached the floor they let go of their parent's hands and ran over to be with the other kids. Spike and Connor were reading the labels and handing them out to each child. They told them to wait to open them until everyone came downstairs. Wesley wasn't sure who was the biggest kid, Connor or Spike.

Angel and Cordelia came downstairs holding their twins. Buffy came down next carrying Anthony and Giles was carrying Billy. Dr. Martin had told them it was okay to take them out of the incubators now. Giles was just beaming he was so proud of his grandsons.

"What's going on here? We're supposed to have breakfast first." "Connor and Uncle Spike started handing out the presents Mommy." Kathleen told her right away. Spike gave her a dirty look. "Tattletale." Spike said. "Well it's true, but I told him 'You better wait Uncle Spike because Mommy said that we have to wait until after breakfast'." Spike and Connor just looked at her. "You little fibber come here and I'll tickle the truth out of you." Spike grabbed Kathleen and started to tickle her. After he had made her laugh for awhile he said "Are you going to tell the truth now?" "Yes, yes I'll tell the truth. I was only kidding Mommy I didn't really say that." Spike put Kathleen on her feet then. "I was only joking Mommy Uncle Spike didn't say that." She waited a minute then said "Connor said it." Then she went running around the Lobby as Connor chased her. She was laughing so hard though that she could barely run. She finally sat down and curled up so her brother couldn't start tickling her. She was curled up so tight Connor just picked her up like that and deposited her on Angels lap.

Hunter and Mike came down stairs next followed by Lillian and Joe. Willow and Tara were downstairs already and helping Connie with fixing breakfast but they came out to the Lobby when they heard all of the commotion. Xander and Joaquin had been outside working on the barbeque and getting the fires started. Anya was the last one to come downstairs.

The children were all around the Christmas tree and waiting for Cordelia to give the go ahead. "All right since you started you might as well finish it. Go ahead Spike and Connor and start handing the presents out." They all yelled 'Yippee'. Thirty minutes later the area at the bottom of the Christmas tree and all around it was empty except for a mound of wrapping paper in the middle of the floor. The Price twins were having more fun with the wrapping papers and boxes then they were with the presents they got. Wesley had bought a t-shirt for Fred like the one that Angel had given Cordelia. Fred had gone into the bathroom and put the shirt on then came out to model it. The T-shirt said 'Mine' over each side of her chest then underneath it said 'Her Husband – No Touch'.

Fred had bought Wesley a new Dell computer that was the latest model. Along with the computer she bought extra memory and every kind of software she could think of that he would need. Wesley was like a little kid opening his box of toys. She made sure that it was the last present that he opened because she knew that he would do exactly what he did. Wesley opened that box and immediately went to his office to set it up.

Everyone was waiting for Angel to give out his presents to Kathleen, Cordelia and Dr. Martin. Each year he had outdone himself with the previous years presents. When things had quieted down he called Kathleen to him.

"Yes Daddy." "I want you to go out to the back yard and you will find a big box out there. Connor would you go with her please and bring the box in?" Connor and Kathleen went out to the back yard that was fenced in. They found the big box with a big red ribbon on it and brought it in. Connor put it down in the middle of the circle of people. Kathleen knelt down in front of her father and the box. She heard something moving around in the box. She carefully lifted the lid. Looking up at her she saw two big brown eyes looking back at her. It was a German Shepard puppy.

"Oh Daddy he's beautiful." She reached in and picked up the puppy. The puppy started to lick her face all over. "What's his name Daddy?" "Her registered name is Princes Elizabeth Victoria. They call her Vicky." Kathleen hugged the puppy then gave her to her mother and turned and hugged her Daddy. "Thank you Daddy, thank you very much. I love you." "I love you to Princes. Connor will help you to train her as she grows so that she will be your protector along with Toby." Kathleen was so happy that she had tears falling down her cheeks. "Why are you crying Kathleen?" Cordelia asked. "I'm crying because I am so happy. Did you know about Vicky?" Kathleen asked her Mother. "Yes I did and in fact your Daddy and I went together to pick her out." "Thank you Mommy, thank you very much. I love you and Daddy so much." Kathleen gave her Mommy a kiss and hug also.

"Has Toby met her Daddy?" "Yes he has. Vicky spent the night with Toby and Connor last night. Kathleen see if you can talk to Vicky like you do Toby." Kathleen looked at Vicky and put a picture of Toby in her mind. Vicky looked at her new master and turned and looked for Toby then ran to him when she saw him by Connor. Kathleen turned to her Daddy and hugged him and her Mother again. "She's perfect. Did you like my present to you Daddy?" Kathleen had given her father a picture of her grandma, her mother and herself and had it put in a frame.

"Yes I love your present. Now everyday when I am in my office I can look at the picture and see all of my girls and I will never be lonely again. Thank you." He gave Kathleen a kiss and hug then put her down and she went running outside with Vicky and Toby so she could show her where to go potty.

Angel stood up then and handed out envelopes. "Please don't open these yet. I want everyone to come over to the TV and have a seat around it." When everyone was settled in front of the big screen TV Angel put a cassette into the VCR. He started the VCR and TV and took his place behind the couch. The film started with a view of Hawaii. The speaker was a Realtor. She began by talking about Hawaii and the other small islands. The jet she was on landed at Kauai, one of the smaller islands of Hawaii.

The realtor continued on with a description of the island and its typical weather and when the major Island holidays were celebrated and how. After 30 minutes of this the realtor drove off of the paved road she was on and traveled a short distance on a dirt road. Someone that was in the car with her had to get out and open a gate then they continued to drive for another 10 minutes. Finally as they turned a corner of beautiful flowers you could see a large two story house that overlooked a beach and the Pacific Ocean. For the next 15 minutes the realtor walked them through the house and showed them the private beach that was fenced in. Angel stopped the film and TV.

"I bought this property and house for all of us to use as we want. For those of us that need blood to survive we have located a local butcher. Each of you has a key to the property. Lorne once again has located a wonderful family of local Hawaiians that he knows. They will be like the Sanchez family is for us here. They will live on the property year round taking care of it. All we have to do is let them know several days ahead that we are coming. Mom and Giles since you never got to have a Honeymoon Cordelia and I have booked you two first class tickets for the next 3 weeks at our home in Kauai. I say three week because I am sure you will want to be back here for Connor and Lou's wedding. Connor and Lou if this is where you want to go you can spend several weeks there for your Honeymoon or else you can go to the big island if you want. Just let Cordelia know and she will make the arrangements. This is Cordelia's and my Christmas gift to all of you."

Dr. Martin and Giles both thanked them. Dr. Martin gave Angel and Cordelia a hug and kiss. She was so happy that she threw her arms around her husband and he whirled her around. Angel knew that his mother was very tired and needed a vacation.

When they all got through thanking him they all settled down again and Wesley stood up and came to Angel with a thin boxed package.

"Angel this is a gift for you that you might want to open in private because when you see it you will most likely need a whole box of Kleenex and you might want some privacy." Angel thought about it for a minute. "Everyone here knows everything about me and has seen me through more good and bad times then I care to count." He held out his hand. "I want you to sit down on the couch first Angel before I give this to you." Everyone that was sitting on the couch got up and let Angel sit down with Cordelia and Dr. Martin sitting next to him. Wesley sat on the coffee table across from him and gave him the package. Angel unwrapped the package. The package was a velvet covered box that when he opened it a picture in an old fashioned 2 sided frame was sitting inside. Angel's hands started to shake as he looked at the picture. He took it out of the box and held it up where he could see it more closely. He ran his fingers gently and lovingly over the glass covering the picture. The tears started to fall so much that he almost couldn't see the picture.

Angel tried to say something but he couldn't make himself heard. He cleared his throat and asked Wesley "How did you get this?" "Mr. Jenkins said that they found the original picture in a box in what looked like the master bedroom of your home in Ireland. The original picture was pressed between two pieces of glass and sealed in. There was a faded piece of paper with it. The only thing they could make out was the words The Martin Family. He sent it to me and I took it to a photographer that was able to copy it and enhance the faded parts. I had him make a copy of the original and then a picture of just your mother and enlarged it. Angels hand was still shaking as he gently ran his fingers over his mother's picture and the picture of his family. He gently touched the picture of his sister.

Angel turned to Cordelia and showed her the pictures. "Now you know where Kathleen gets her looks from. If it was in color you would be able to see her deep red hair that is just like Kathleen's hair. Angel gave Cordelia the picture and reached out for Wesley and hugged him.

"Thank you Wesley, this is the best Christmas present that I have ever received. Merry Christmas my brother." Wesley hugged him back and said "Merry Christmas Angel, Merry Christmas."

TBC……………………………………………………………………….

I haven't decided yet but either the next chapter or the one after it will be the end of the trilogy. Make sure that you buy plenty of Kleenex.