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Angel pondered over the file in his hand—a slime demon had attacked another homeless person. Putting the file away to read a little, he smiled at the sounds of Cordelia and Wesley with their nearly year old Hannah. The couple had fruitlessly been trying to get her to walk. "Ang…Ang…" Hannah gurgled as she crawled into Angel's office, demanding his attention. The baby clapped as the vampire scooped her up into his arms while Cordelia ran to answer the phone. "You're so good with her, you know?" Wes observed from the doorway while Hannah played with the picture that was in the binder of Angel's book.
"Uh…Angel?" Cordelia had tears in her eyes "the phone…um the phone is for you" the last part whispered. Handing the baby to her daddy, Angel picked up the phone. Wesley watched as his boss' face changed from surprise at the identity of the caller, to terror, and finally to blind grief over the situation. Hanging up the phone, Angel's eyes were filled with unshed tears "she's at rest now" said with eerie calmness. Without warning, the strong-willed, fearless Angel broke down sobbing like a cracked child. Cordelia swiftly moved to her best friend's side, holding his big form until his sobs subsided. "Why didn't I feel it…I should have felt it!"
The staff of Angel Investigations arrived at the home of Rubert Giles around 8:30 that night. "Ah…Angel, Cordelia, Wesley…so good to see you all. I only wish it were under different circumstances." Just then noticing Hannah, "now who is this little darling?" Angel's assistants smiled as they talked about their bundle. Giles noticed that Angel was sitting on the couch staring out into space. "Angel, Buffy made this before…well", handing him a video, "we'll just leave you alone to watch it. We are heading over to Joyce's, everyone is there just head over there when you are done". Still staring, Angel just nodded his head. Popping in the tape, he sat gazing upon his beloved's face that looked to be sitting in her old bedroom.
"Hi, I am making this tape as my divorce is becoming final. I needed to make sure that everything is taken care of in the case that my stint as the slayer expires. First off Angel, I never meant to hurt you that night. I only went to you for guidance, and as I woke up in your arms, I pondered what I had just done. It's not every day that you sleep with your soul mate less than a week before your wedding to another man. I was freaked, I guess. So I left, intending to never look back. Not knowing what would come of my selfish actions."
Angel was remembering that night as well…it was glorious and dream-like. He never wanted it to end. The next morning, as he woke and found her gone, he slowly realized that she possibly would never come back to him.
"When the doctor told me I was pregnant, I was thrilled and a little scared. Riley was beaming. Everything was going great. Avery Irene was born on February 14, 2002. Yep, a Valentine baby. The first thing about her I noticed was her dark hair, like my natural color and she had the darkest brown eyes I have ever seen. Neither Riley nor I have dark eyes so we both just chucked it up to an ancestor or something. Over the course of time, we started to see other things that caught our parental attentions. She learned to walk and talk earlier than her peers. One thing that upset Riley was that she never called him `daddy'. Oh she could say the word, but she would only call him `Riley'. I came home one day to find my baby girl, at the tender age of 2, crying. She had hugged her doll so hard that its arm ripped off. She is that strong Angel, and it broke my heart she didn't know how to control it. Another thing was when I would pick her up at the day-care, she would be already rea! dy to go, by the time I got there. I would walk into the building and she would be sitting in a chair in the front office with all her belongings in her backpack. The ladies there said that she would start to collect her things around ten minutes before I would walk through the door. I never came at the same time of the day either. I once sat Avery down and asked her about it and she pointed to her chest and said, "it told me you were coming". She can feel me, just like you and I could feel each other whenever the other was near. But the one incident that confirmed my suspensions was when I came into the day-care center and she was sitting in the front office, like she always does, but she was crying. She had apparently bitten another child, making two small holes in the boy's arm. Riley went crazy, demanding if I ever had an affair. He knew that Avery could not be his. I confessed, hoping that my loving, understanding husband would be forgiving of me. Hoping that his love f! or Avery and I would overshadow his jealousy over you and that MAYBE he wouldn't leave us. Well I was just asking for too much. He promptly started proceedings on divorcing me, telling me that he was leaving Sunnydale altogether. "
Absorbing all of this heartbreaking, bittersweet information, Angel sat there stunned listening to Buffy's confession of the existence of the child that they shared. Silent tears ran down his face as he took in her plight.
"Yes Angel, she is your daughter. Created out of the purest of loves and I am assuming, has a great destiny ahead of her. I so want to tell you, I am so ashamed of how I behaved after she was conceived. I swear, if I had known all of this was going to happen, I wouldn't have left your arms that morning. And if I had known that she was yours sooner, I would have contacted you on her existence. I am also a little leery of rushing with you into the picture so soon after Riley. I am making this tape in case something happens before I have a chance to tell you. I also had a will drawn up. As of now, Angel, upon my death, you will get sole custody of our daughter, Avery, who just turned 3. I'm sorry if you have to watch this. Please know that I will always love you. I know you will do right in raising her. Goodbye my Angel, take good care of our little girl."
Shock was an understatement at how Angel felt after the viewing of Buffy's video. He opted to walk to her old home, the house that held so many memories of her for him, pondering thoughts on his daughter. "What does she look like?" "Will she like me?""Do I deserve the happiness that I am sure she will bring me?" These were just some of the vampire's jumbled thoughts. Upon entering the house, he was greeted by Willow. Walking further into the house, Angel could see Giles and Oliva talking softly with Joyce. Coming from the living room were the sounds of delightful squeals of a little girl riding on Xander's back. Just then, the child tapped Xander's shoulder, asking him to let her down. Angel sat down on the couch as the toddler walked over to him, stopping just short of reaching his lap. Avery looking at the strange man curiously, climbed on to the couch, sitting herself in his lap. Angel's joy at seeing her was making his eyes water. She placed her hands on his cheeks and l! ooked into his eyes, "daddy" she whispered so softly that he would not have heard it had he been human. The little girl, just then, clutched her daddy, crying. Comforting her, he whispered loving endearments in her ear.
Opting to spend the morning with Avery instead of attending the funeral. Just being near his daughter seemed to give him strength that he thought, without Buffy, he wouldn't have. Playing board games and reading her children's stories instead of putting himself and his child through the service. Later in the afternoon, the house was filled with mourners paying their respects to Joyce. Some asking what will come of Avery. The girl in question was clutching her father. Angel was standing, talking with Oz, with Avery in his arms, her head lying lazily on his shoulder. It was then that she noticed a baby girl across the room being held by her daddy. Avery remembered seeing the baby earlier, before her father arrived. The little one looked over at Avery solemnly and waved a chubby hand at her. Seeing this kindness, she waved back at Hannah.
