Title: A Perfect Christmas? Not at Angel Investigations
Author: Lexis
Posted: 12-25-2002
Rating: G
Email: glitterchicauk@yahoo.co.uk
Content: C/A, implied D/A
Summary: Cordelia and Angel think about their Christmas Day
Spoilers: Up till Dad
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Distribution: Nothing Fancy and anyone else that wants it. Just let me know where.
Notes: Angelic Black Queen gave her orders and I tried to comply. She wanted humor, with any rating with C/A and implied D/A in any time period. This is what I came up with.
Feedback:
Secret Santa Fic: For Angelic Black Queen“I love Christmas.” Cordelia grumbled.
Cordelia kicked off the heels she’d been wearing for the better part of the day and sat on the couch, tucking her feet up underneath her. The radio was playing carols softly in the background and the tree twinkled, lights slightly askew and several baubles littering the floor underneath it.
“So do I.” Her companion replied, completely missing the hint of sarcasm in her voice.
Angel -who was also sitting on the sofa- adjusted the baby monitor on the coffee table, turning it up to full volume.
They sat in companionable silence for a while, Cordelia occassionally sipping her glass of wine and Angel flicking through the book Fred had bought him for Christmas. The sweet natured Texan, along with Gunn and Wesley had headed out to a special screening of “It’s a Wonderful Life” at the local cinema. Neither Cordelia or Angel had wanted to go and with Connor sleeping peacefully in his crib, neither had the heart to disturb him.
“Today didn’t exactly turn out as planned did it?” Cordelia said with a sigh, placing her glass on the table.
Angel closed his book.
“Well…not quite.” He said, trying to be diplomatic.
Cordelia snorted. “Not quite? I don’t think that covers it.”
“It could have been worse.”
“How?” she challenged, eyebrow raised. “We had turkey SLICES bought at 2 o’clock this afternoon at the 24/7 because SOMEONE who shall remain green and horny-”
Angel smothered a smile just barely, realising any sign that he found her tirade-or her choice of words- remotely funny would result in a painful injury somewhere way to delicate to feel the wrath of Cordelia’s knee.
“-forgot to remove the giblets from and then SOMEONE ELSE who has a last name that is DESIGNED to scare people forgot to actually cook! How hard is it to turn an oven on? And then, to top it off, Fred nearly singed her eyebrows off when she emptied a WHOLE BOTTLE OF BRANDY over the damn pudding and then tried to light it!”
He smothered another laugh at the memory of Wesley and Gunn diving towards Fred, trying to rescue her from the flaming dessert.
“Well…” he stammered, searching for something that would make their day seem like the best Christmas ever. “It could have been like that time in Madrid with Darla when she gave me three virgins and a dagger to bleed them with.”
“OK, if that was meant to cheer me up you got it wrong. Very wrong.”
“I’m just trying to give you some perspective.”
She sighed again, sending a stay bit of hair flying upwards.
“I didn’t need an extract from Angel and Darla: The Killing Years.”
Angel realised his mistake quickly. Since Darla had returned pregnant with Connor, the two of them had barely had time to draw breath. The way he had acted when they first brought Connor home hadn’t helped. Now he thought about, the message he must have be sending her…
He reached over and placed his hand on her knee.
“I’m just trying to say that this has been the best Christmas I have ever had.”
“Really?” she asked suspiciously.
“Cordelia I had a great day. I had Connor and my friends…and you.”
“I get a separate category?”
“You deserve one.”
“Aren’t I honoured.”
The bite to her words was tempered by the smile that edged its way onto her face, displacing the frown of earlier.
“I suppose Wesley and Gunn knocking down the tree was kinda funny.”
“But it was funnier to see them grabbing their presents faster than Fred.”
Cordelia giggled. “You know, we’re the only ones who kept some level of dignity today.”
“Excuse me Miss Chase but were you not the woman who jumped up and down and almost strangled me when I gave you your present.”
“One more word and next time there won’t be any hugs.”
Angel stayed silent.
“Oh Charles! 3 buckets of regular popcorn, 2 bags of M&M’s and a packet of Oreos beat the giant tub and 3 bags of M&M’s.”
“I’m tellin’ you Fred, the giant tub and the M&M’s beat what you put in your mouth. There’s no shame in losing.”
“As an impartial observer, I think I can safely say that Fred ‘kicked your ass.’”
“Yeah…real impartial.”
As Fred, Gunn and Wesley came into the lobby, Cordelia stood up, causing Angel’s hand to fall from its place on her leg.
“Hey you guys. Did you have a nice night?” Cordelia asked, standing up and picking up stray pieces of wrapping paper and scrunching it into a ball.
“It was great Cordy. You should have come.”
Cordelia shook her head. “I wasn’t in the mood. In fact, I’m kinda beat.”
She yawned to illustrate her point. After she had given them all a hug and a kiss on the cheek, she hurried towards the stairs.
“You know, I’m kinda tired too. I think I might just hit the hay.”
He almost tripped over his feet as he hurried away from them.
“Hey Angel!” Gunn called.
Angel turned quickly, not wanting Cordelia to get to far ahead.
“What?”
“You’re under the mistletoe.”
“You gotta kiss Cordy. It’s tradition!” Fred grinned, clasping her hands together.
Cordelia lifted an eyebrow at her friend’s exuberence but reached towards Angel anyway.
To him, it felt like she was moving in slow motion. When her lips finally touched his he was shocked at the current of electricity that ran through him. He’d kissed her once before but then he’d been foolish and hadn’t realised what a truly amazing woman she was.
When she pulled back he couldn’t help a dopey grin spreading across his face.
She didn’t seem to notice the effect her kiss had continued up the stairs, Angel trailing behind her. When she reached the door to her room, she gave him one last hug.
“Night Angel.”
******
“Ah, Connor…the things that woman does to me.”
The sleeping baby wiggled slightly in his sleep and turned his head away from his chattering father.
Angel was struck by the resemblance to Darla. It was the nose that did it. He remembered Darla wrinkling her nose up at Spike and Dru’s activities much as Connor was now doing at his father’s.
He was in the process of tucking the blanket around him when he felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder.
“I got all settled in and then I realised I forgot to say goodnight to this little fella.”
She leaned over the crib and stroked Connor’s cheek. Immedietly his head turned to seek out the warmth of her hand, his nose unwrinkling and his muted grumblings ending.
“Sometimes I think he likes you more than he likes me.”
“Never. Who wouldn’t love a dad who wears cool clothes and kicks some serious ass? He just needs a woman’s touch now and then.”
They fell silent, marveling at the child in the crib who shouldn’t have been there but somehow was.
“Thank you.”
Cordelia frowned. “For what?”
“For being here. Not abandoning us when you found out I lied to you. For making this Christmas the best yet. For about a million things you do that I never thank you for.”
“You don’t have to. I kinda figure we’re even. What with all the saving of my life you do.” She laughed, nudging him with her shoulder. “Now lets go to bed.”
To his surprise, she shuffled towards his bed and got in, pulling the blankets over herself.
“Are you just gonna stand there like an idiot or are you going to get in?” she asked, eyes sparkling.
Mutely, he climbled in next to her and turned off the lamp by his bed.
Lying on his back in the dark, he listened to her breathing, afraid to move in case he touched something he shouldn’t.
Her left arm came around his waist and she leaned into him until he lifted his arm, allowing her to rest her head in the crook of his neck.
“You know what?” she whispered into the darkness, resting her hand on his chest.
“What?” he whispered back, allowing his to rest on her lower back.
“If we ever have a perfect Christmas at Angel Investigations, we’ll know we’ve all been replaced with pod people.”
He chuckled.
“We may be dysfunctional but at least we love each other.” She continued, ignoring his laughter.
After a while, her breathing evened out, indicating she’d fallen asleep.
“Yeah Cor…we love each other.”
End.