Our Lives Are Made In These Small Hours

[visiongirl]

Locked to Angel

Cordelia's woken up to this sound before -- the sound of a crying baby is a familiar sound these days. But she's been on the ship for weeks now, and she's almost forgotten to expect it. So when she jolts awake to the noise of a wailing baby it causes her heart to race a little. On the other side of her room was a crib, and inside it was a baby she would recognize anywhere. Connor. Distinctly not her child -- but one she might as well be the mother for. She's been helping Angel raise him for a while -- something they've never explicitly discussed much about, it's just something that happened.

She's not sure why he appeared in her room, but she's glad to see him. Even if maybe he would be better off back home -- she's selfishly glad all the same. She carefully gathers him from the crib, cradling him in her arms.

"Hey little guy, I know this might be scary, but it's going to be okay."

She coos and rocks him but she can't seem to get him to calm down. "You want your Daddy, huh?"

Connor wails again, which is ultimately answer enough. So dressed still in her sleep clothes (some flannel pants and a tank top) Cordelia makes her way out of her room and pads down a few doorways to Angel's. (They had made sure to get cabins near one another, just in case).

She doesn't bother knocking on the door and instead lets herself in. "Angel?" She calls out softly, amidst the sounds of the crying baby. She knows this is usually around the time he goes down for sleep (the sun is rising and all) but she figures he'd want to wake up for this.


Open to all

For the first few days Cordelia mostly leaves Connor with Angel, making sure to gather supplies they'll need for him like milk and food and diapers and whatever else he might need. But eventually she tells Angel the baby needs some fresh air and sunlight during the day which is why Cordelia can be found pushing a stroller down the halls of the ships -- later heading up to the deck as well.

Where did she find the stroller? She's Cordelia Chase, when she wants something she finds a way to make it happen, okay?

Comments

[kiss_evilgoodbye]

Buffy went from the end of the world to a cruise ship.

... It could have been worse.

Right now, she's not focusing on that, though. She is a woman on a mission, looking for two teenage girls. They should have all arrived there together so tracking them down should be easy enough. (It's a cruise ship. How hard can it be?) Before she knows it, she'll have obtained Allison and Lydia and they can come up with a game plan for figuring this place out. It's a good plan. She thinks it's a plan she should have stuck with.

What she actually finds is Cordelia. With a baby.

Does this qualify as worse?

She just sort of stares for a moment, unsure of what to say because while magical cruise ships don't seem to throw her, Cordelia acting maternal does. It's just not a thought that ever struck her as something that could happen. And ... there it is. Wow.

Words, Buffy. Use your words.

"Uh. Hi."

[visiongirl]

As far as Cordy knew she and Angel were the only people they knew from their world on the ship so she didn't really think about awkward run ins when she decided to take Connor out for a walk.

And yet here she is, running into Angel's ex while pushing his baby in a stroller. This might be the most awkward moment of her entire life. Which, all things considered, is kind of impressive in it's own right.

"Hey Buffy."

Good job, Chase. But what exactly is she supposed to say?

Hey Buffy, have you met Angel's miracle love child?

Yeah, that'll go well.

[kiss_evilgoodbye]

Yeah, super well. Because while Buffy has heard about Connor in the abstract, actually seeing him would be a completely different story. She pauses for a moment, trying to adjust to the idea of what she's actually seeing before glancing to the baby and back to Cordelia again.

"I feel like I'm missing something."

[visiongirl]

"Probably cause you are."

As far as Cordelia knows, Buffy doesn't know about Connor abstractly or otherwise. There's a first time for everything and she's not going to lie so...

"Buffy, I want you to meet Connor. Angel's son."

There's a story there but she'll let Buffy react first.

[kiss_evilgoodbye]

"Oh!" She's heard about Connor from Willow and Faith. From all interpretations, a little hot headed but a good kid. It's just that from what she heard he was. You know. Taller. Not ... portable.

So her face goes from recognition to confusion really quick.

"I thought he was less ... portable."

[visiongirl]

Oh timeline shenanigans. Cordelia is just going to...tilt her head in confusion on that one Buffy.

"What are you talking about?"

[kiss_evilgoodbye]

... Oh. Right. Timelines. Crap.

She works her mouth like a fish for a moment, trying figure out the best way to cover that, but really, she's got nothing. She can't say he sounded like a larger baby because really? Giant babies? Even for their universe that's a little ridiculous.

"Nothing. Clearly a little travel-by-rift confusion." Or something. "I only really heard about him through Faith and Willow, so. Not like I met him in person."

[visiongirl]

"...How did Willow know about him?"

She knows she never shared that in the few phone calls she's made to the witch for help. Faith knowing seems less strange, somehow, Angel visits Faith at the prison periodically. He might of told her about Connor. She never asks what they talk about, it isn't her business.

"Well, you're meeting him now."

[kiss_evilgoodbye]

" ... Long story."

Longer than she wants to get into right now. She just exhales slowly and nods for a moment. Right. Yep. Meeting your vampire ex-boyfriend's miracle baby. No big deal at all. Only it is, and while she's trying to play it cool this is a little weird.

Definitely weird, considering Angel wasn't there.

"So ... are you babysitting or something?"

[visiongirl]

Cordelia nods a little. "Pretty much. Connor needs to get some sunlight, and it's not like Angel can go out right now."

She doesn't add that she generally helps take care of the baby anyway -- she's not sure if that would make things more or less awkward.

Probably more.

[kiss_evilgoodbye]

Probably.

"That's true. It would probably be bad for Connor if dad suddenly got all crispy." Which is probably the weirdest thing she's ever said in relation to Angel. "But I should ... go learn my way around. And stop getting in the way of baby sunlight time."

[visiongirl]

"Right." Might as well not draw out this awkward moment longer than necessary.

"I'll see you later then."

[kiss_evilgoodbye]

"See you later."

And with that, she's going to flee. She's trying to not make it seem like she's fleeing, but there's definitely some hasty moving away happening. See you around, Cordelia, hopefully next time she'll be a bit easier to deal with.

[convents]

Over a week's worth of fighting the urge to turn in with the rising of the sun is enough to exhaust even a vampire his age. It has him leaving his clothes in a thoughtless pile at the foot of the bed and collapsing beneath the covers before the sun even starts to peek out from behind the horizon. He's fast asleep by the time Cordelia steps into his rooms, and so uncharacteristically lost to the void of sleep that the sound of his son crying has him lifting a hand and slapping the surface of the nightstand as if to grab (or smash) a nonexistent baby monitor.

It's not until his fingers fail to grasp anything does Angel rise, pushing himself up on the mattress and twisting around into a sitting position in a way that thankfully doesn't have the sheets slipping past his hips.

He blinks at her, his vampire senses still rooted in the darkness that the harsh light of day decks below was pushing back into the shadows. "Cén t-am é?" ...along with his ability to English, apparently.

[visiongirl]

"No idea what that means, and while the Irish is cute and all, I need you a little more awake right now." The sheets shift but keep him covered and she finds herself grateful for that. She remembers the stories Wes told about learning the hard way that Angel sleeps in the nude.

Which normally she'd just leave him alone, but this isn't normally.

"I woke up to a surprise in my room."

The crying infant still in her arms.

[convents]

The sound of Connor's crying, loud and in person as Cordelia approaches the bed, snap him into a state of full alertness. He almost — almost — jumps up from the bed to take his son from her, but the feel of the sheets against his upper thighs remind him of his pants-less situation.

"Uh, do you think you could—" Angel gestures at where his pants lay.

Mind tossing him his pants and stepping out of the room for a second?

[visiongirl]

"Right."

Pants.

He needs pants. Cordelia carefully shifts Connor into one arm while she grabs his pants with another and tosses it over to Angel.

"Let me know when you're decent."

And with that she steps back out of the room.

[convents]

It doesn't take him long to pull on his pants. He even manages to find a shirt and haul it over his head before he's dragging the door open, keeping himself safely obscured on the other side of it. This deck's below water level, but with the way the doors work, there was no telling when an errant ray of sunshine would threaten to fry him. He doesn't shut it until she's safely inside.

And then he's holding out his hands for his son. "Did you miss your daddy?"

[visiongirl]

As soon as the door is shut and he's safe from the sun she hands over the crying baby, smiling a little. She knows how hard it's been for Angel to be away from his son for so long. (it's hard for her too but she knows it's not the same).

"I think he did."

[convents]

Wearing a smile that hasn't shown its face since before they found themselves here, Angel takes his son from her, holding the crying baby up so Connor's forced to look down at him. It seems that all the infant needed was to see his father's image to convince himself that he was going to be okay, his tears halting the moment he fixates his gaze on Angel's face. He sniffles in that way that babies do, more of a hiccup-like noise than anything else, cooing and waving his arms up and down.

Angel draws Connor in to his chest, the baby's hands fisting in his shirt as Angel bounces softly on the balls of his feet in attempt to ease the baby to sleep — or, at least, a calmer state.

"Where did you find him?" He asks, his voice soft and gentle in attempt to avoid startling Connor further.

[visiongirl]

A warm, gentle smile spreads across Cordelia's face as she watches the two of them. She can only imagine how relieving it must feel for Angel to have his son here, finally.

"My bedroom," She answers, her own voice just as soft. "I woke up to him crying in there, we can move his crib in here later."

She assumes he'll want to keep his son as close as possible -- not that she won't occasionally take him out so he can see the actual sunlight and such.

[convents]

"Keep it in there," he answers in turn without hesitation. "You'll need to be with him during the day. We'll find something else to put in here for him."

Thankfully, they'd already had the daylight discussion back home and didn't need to go through that song and dance again here on the ship. Angel was well aware of the fact that he couldn't go out in the sun, but his son could. His son needed to. As long as they were on this ship, Angel was even more vulnerable to the sun's rays than he was back in LA. Cordelia would need to take him above deck while his father remained below.

[visiongirl]

"Okay."

She certainly doesn't object to keeping it in her room -- and he is right, she'll need to take care of him during the day more often than not. It's not like there are sewers here for Angel to go into when the sun's down. At least this is a conversation they've had before.

"I figured I would need to take care of him during the day."

Although Conner isn't her child Cordelia naturally finds herself stepping into the role as his mother -- or something close to it anyway. There are things Angel can't do -- like take his son out during the daylight, for instance -- and especially with only the two of them here on the ship she's more than willing to do whatever she needs to to help with things.