I own none of the characters of Angel
Angel looked as his watch and sighed irritably,
"Where the hell is he?" Angel grumbled
"Hey relax, give him time." Cordy said as she squeezed his hand.
"Let me try." Fred said and she ran over to the top of the basement steps.
"Connor, Cordy, had vision. We are leaving in one minute." Giggling Fred ran back to her position. Seconds later they heard Connor running up the stairs.
"Good job Fred." Justine said
"Shhhh." Gunn said
"Here I am. Hey what the hell? Did they leave without me?" A confused Connor said to the empty lobby.
"SURPRISE" Angel, Cordy, Lorne, Justine, Gunn, Fred and Wesley all yelled as the jumped out of their respective hiding places causing Connor to jump.
"What is going on?"
"You may not realize this Connor, but today is your birthday." Wesley explained
"My what?"
"Today is the day that you were born." Cordy said.
"I wasn't born today."
"They don't celebrate birthday's in Cortaux." Fred began. "In this dimension, every year we celebrate the day that a person was born, on the day they were born every year after their birth."
"But, why? What is the purpose?"
"To remind ourselves how lucky we are that you are here and in our lives." Cordy said
"So how do we celebrate?"
"With cake, ice cream, and presents." Cordy shouted
Loren brought out a cake with two lighted candles. The whole gang began to sing. When they were done Connor just looked at them like they were insane.
"Now what?"
"You blow the candles out." Gunn said
"Why?"
"Because you can't make a wish unless you blow the candles out." Justine explained
"Wish?"
"Yes Connor, it's tradition, you make a wish and then blow out the candles."
"Well, ok, if you say so." He mumbled. He closed his eyes and blew out the candles. Everyone clapped when he was done.
"What kind of cake is it?" Connor asked
"Well, when your dad has actually been able to taste normal food, he really enjoyed chocolate, so hopefully like father like son so Lorne made you a chocolate cake." Wes said.
"Ok, well let's try it." Connor said cracking a small smile.
Justine and Fred dished out the cake and ice cream. They all watched anxiously as Connor took his first bite.
"God, this is good." Connor said and everyone laughed.
While they all were enjoying their cake Lorne came over to Angel and Cordy who were off by themselves whispering.
"Hey, you two. Congratulations on the bun in the oven." Cordy and Angel stared at Lorne in shock.
"How… did…you …know?" Angel asked. "We just found out ourselves."
"You two were singing Happy Birthday and believe me the happy baby vibes were just radiating from you guys. I couldn't help but read you."
"Uhh Lorne, we are planning on keeping this to ourselves for awhile. I haven't even been to a doctor yet. We just want to be sure before we tell anyone, especially Connor." Cordy explained.
"Of course my little sweet tarts. Your secret is safe with me." Lorne said as he winked and walked away.
"So how about the gifts for the boy?" Gunn yelled
"Yeah, how about some gifts for the boy." Connor echoed.
"All, right, all right." Angel said as he motioned for the gift giving to begin.
The first one he opened was from Gunn and Justine. They got him a bunch of CD's by different artists.
"Man, this rocks. These are great. Thanks so much."
"We know how much you love music so, this is just something to help you out." Justine said
"Here you go Connor, this is from Wesley and I. We hope that you like it." Fred said as handed Connor a large box.
Connor's eyes lit up as he pulled out a very beautiful antique Swacker Sword.
"Oh my God. She's beautiful."
"We thought that it was about time that you had your own weapon." Wes said
"I love it." He said staring at his sword.
"Here you go Connor." Cordy said as she handed him a box.
He quickly opened it and stared at the piece of paper enclosed.
"What is this?"
"It's your birth certificate, altered of course. If it was your real one, it would say that you are two years old, which you are, but unfortunately you look a little older then two, so I had to finagle it a bit."
"But what do I need this for?"
"Well you can't get that tattoo that you want unless you have this certificate that says you are of legal age."
"Really, I can get a tattoo?" He asked looking at Angel.
"Thank Cordy. She talked me into it."
Connor ran over to Cordy, gave her a huge hug, which lifted her off the ground.
"You are the best. Thank you so much for convincing my dad."
"You're welcome. Here is the cash that you'll need to pay for it." She said as she shoved some money in his hands.
"Ok, my turn now." Angel said. "This is so weird to me. It was only two years ago that you were born, but when I look at you I see a man, not a toddler and that has been very hard for me. Holtz took away your childhood, and Connor I am very sorry for that. I am sorry that I didn't hear your first word, see your first steps, or watch you destroy your birthday cake. I will always regret loosing those memories, but son, we are on the fast track to making new ones. I now am learning to look at you like the man you are, and not the little boy I lost so being that you are a man, here is a gift suitable for a man. Happy Birthday son."
With tears in his eyes, he handed a small box to Connor, who accepted it, with tears in his eyes also. Before he opened his gift he wrapped his arms around his father.
"I love you Dad."
"I love you Connor."
Connor slowly opened the small box and pulled out a key.
"Becoming a man in your eyes, earns me a key to the hotel?" Connor asked sarcastically.
"No, smart ass. It earns you a key to your own truck that is parked outside." Connor's mouth dropped.
"My own truck?"
"Gunn told me that he has been giving you driving lessons in his truck and he said that you really loved driving it and you were doing a great job."
"My own truck?" Connor repeated
"You can also use that birth certificate to get your drivers license."
"My own truck?" He repeated for the third time
"It's parked outside, go check it out." Angel said as he slapped Connor on the back.
Connor ran out the front door of the hotel. The gang quickly followed the excited "man". Gunn Wes and Connor examined the truck from bumper to fender. Fred and Justine watched and laughed. Due to the fact that is was the middle of the day Angel and Cordy stood inside the hotel at the door. They both watched with smiles on their faces. Angel wrapped his arms around her and placed his hand on her belly.
"Angel, people will see." She chastised
"Hon, the placement of my hand is not obvious. It just looks like we are cuddling."
"Ok, if you say so." She mumbled as she leaned against him.
They silently watched Connor and his new truck for a few minutes.
"What are you thinking?" She asked him
"I'm just thinking about how lucky I am."
"And?"
"And what?"
"There's more going on in that brain of yours."
Angel sighed.
"I was thinking about how lucky I am right now and it's killing me because I don't deserve to be this happy."
"Yes you do. The Powers obviously think that you do, or I wouldn't be standing here with your baby in my belly. So, get over yourself and just be happy."
Angel grinned and kissed Cordy.
"I'll work on it."
"You better mister."
Lorne stood behind the happy couple watching them. They were just overflowing with happy vibes. He knew that they were going to make wonderful parents.