Five months later

Lindsey heard his daughter Beth begin to stir. She wasn't like Patty, who had made her presence known the instance she woke up, demanding loudly to be changed and fed. Beth woke up gently, quietly. Such an easy child. He slipped out of bed and tiptoed to the bassinette. She looked up at him in the soft glow of the night light. His daughter; his first-born child. Picking her up, he carried her to the changing table and began to unsnap her sleeper. Yes, she was his only biological child, but somehow that didn't mean anything. When she was born, he was prepared for the rush of joy which should have come when he finally had a child of his own, and it did. But it was no greater than the joy he felt when Patty was born, or when Mike was laid in his arms. He realized then that his children were all children of his heart, even if Beth was the only child of his body. And that was what counted.

Gently he changed her wet diaper, singing to her very softly so as not to wake Patty or Mike. He looked at her sweet little face, surrounded by a cloud of dark hair; Patty & Mike had been very blonde like their mothers. He thought about Angel then, surrounded by children, not one of whom was his. Cordelia's twins must be about a year old by now, and his niece Lindsay was five months; Alonna Gunn, named after the beloved sister that Charles had had to stake when she was turned into a vampire, was about three months. All those reminders of what he didn't have. On impulse Lindsey picked up the phone and called the Hyperion.

"Angel Investigations. We help the hopeless."

"Angel, it's Lindsey."

"Lindsey! Is something wrong with Mike?"

"No, he's fine. I just woke up with Beth and thought of you. How are you doing?"

"I'm okay, thanks. Busy. I'd almost think that there's a hellmouth here in L.A. How's Mike?"

"He's fine. Doing just beautifully. Last week his teacher called Kate & me in to ask if we'd let them move him up to first grade. He's one of the oldest in the class, just as Patty is one of the younger ones. But he can read and do basic arithmetic, so she felt he was not being challenged."

"What did you do?"

"We observed her class, we observed the first grade class he'd go into, and we talked to him. Finally we agreed that it was best for him to be moved up. He loves it."

"Anything else?"

"He's gone from t-ball to softball. He's grown at least an inch. He's just a great kid." Just then Lindsey had a vision of the COPS SUCK sign on the back of his truck. He had never retaliated for that. An idea struck him, putting that cocky grin on his face. "And he loves his ballet lessons. His teacher says he's got a lot of talent and he should take a couple of lessons a week. He may even be good enough to think of it as a future career."

"YOU'RE GIVING MY SON BALLET LESSONS?"

"Oops, I have to go. Beth's hungry. Talk to you later." Lindsey hung up the phone, waited a couple of seconds, and took it off the hook so Angel couldn't call back. He was laughing to himself as he carried Beth back into the bedroom. "Katy, Beth's hungry."

Smiling at her daughter, Kate sat up and put Beth to her breast. Lindsey headed for the kitchen and came back with a bowl of vanilla ice cream, which he proceeded to spoon-feed his wife, taking an occasional spoonful for himself. "You spoil me."

"You deserve to be spoiled, sweetheart." He told Kate about his conversation with Angel. "You should have heard him. I'll bet he woke everyone in the place."

Angel had indeed wakened several people. Cordelia came groggily down the stairs followed by Groo. "Who died?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Lindsey is going to as soon as I get my hands on him. He's giving Connor ballet lessons!"

"So? Why not? What kind of ballets can you have without male dancers. Gay Swan Lake?"

"I have heard that some of the mighty warriors of your National Feetball League take ballet lessons to improve their movement on the field. Perhaps it will help him when he learns to fight with the sword one day." Groo, as expected, saw it from a fighter's point of view.

"Connor? My son? In tights with all those girls!" Angel shook his head sadly.

"You are a sexist pig, Angel. Come on, Groo. Let's go back to bed."

"As you are awake, my princess, shall we com-shuck?"

"That's a great idea, my hero!" They retreated up the stairs. Angel sat in front of the television shaking his head. Ballet, indeed! And no support from his friends! What was the world coming to?

"Kate, I've been thinking. About Angel."

"I have too, Lindsey. We'll talk about it in the morning." Beth had slipped back into sleep. Kate got out of bed and gently placed her daughter in the bassinette, as Lindsey carried the ice cream dish and spoon into the kitchen. She started to straighten her nightgown when she heard the door close.

"Don't do that just yet, Katy." He slipped the nightgown down over her still slightly rounded abdomen and let it fall to the floor, followed by his boxers. "I'm wide awake."

"So I see! Maybe I should spoil you." She lay down on the bed and pulled her husband toward her.

Six months later.

"Angel, are you sure you don't want to come along?" Wes, Fred, and Lindsay were headed out to get ice cream.

"The sun's not down yet, Fred. Pile of ashes?"

"Oh, okay. We don't want to keep the little ones out too late. See you later." They headed out the door into the mini-van where Anne, Gunn, and Alonna were waiting. It was equipped with three infant seats so that they could take Anne & Gunn or Cordy and Groo along with them and safely seat three children.

Cordy and Groo had already taken off for the big sale at Kids R Us. "After all, we have two kids to dress, and then we pass Mandy's things down to Lindsay and Alonna, so we need all the sales we can get."

"Too bad there's not a Little Prince & Princess Boutique!" Fred had gently teased. Cordy tended to dress her children the way she had been dressed when her parents had money.

Angel sat down and turned on the tv news. It was a rare moment of peace for him with all those children around. He felt himself dozing off, to be wakened by the ringing of the telephone. "Angel Investigations. We help the hopeless."

"Angel, quick! Fire, smoke, burning flesh, a hungry green demon!" Cordy's voice sounded excited.

"Give me the address, Cordy."

She gave him a location out in one of the nicer suburbs of Los Angeles. "Call the others and meet me there. Fred or Anne can bring the babies back." He grabbed an armful of weapons, ascertained that the sun was indeed down, and headed for the convertible.

When he reached the address she had given him, he did see and smell smoke but no fire. It was actually quite peaceful. Maybe her vision had given her advance warning. He knocked at the door.

"Hello, Angel. Come in." Kate Lockley McDonald, holding her youngest daughter in her arms, greeted him. "Lindsey, he's here."

"Welcome to our new house, Angel." Lindsey, wearing an apron that said Kiss the Cook, appeared behind her, holding out his hand which contained a bottle of Irish beer.

"Surprise!!!!" Cordy, Groo, Fred, Wes, Gunn, Anne, and Lorne were gathered in the foyer. Lorne held a hot dog. That must be the hungry green demon!

"What's going on?"

"It's our housewarming. We moved to L.A. so that Mike could be closer to his father." Lindsey gestured at the boy, who was playing checkers with his sister Patty. "My boss contacted a friend of his who was willing to consider what I've done over the past five years rather than the three before it and hire me. And, of course, Kate can write anywhere. So we found a house in a good neighborhood with a good Catholic school as close to the Hyperion as we could. And there's a really good ballet school, too!" He looked as if he was ready to duck a blow from Angel.

"I don't believe you'd do this for me, Lindsey, after all that's been between us."

"For you and for Mike. You saved him from Wolfram & Hart and gave him back to me. I couldn't do any less for you. Why don't you go say hello to him? I've started telling him about you. He knows that you're his father, and he knows how much you love him. And I need to get back to the grill!"

"Kate, what did he mean about your writing?"

"My first novel is being published soon. I've autographed advance copies for everyone." She walked over to a table where several books were stacked and handed one to him. A red and black cover showed a sketch of a dark-haired man who looked very much like Angel. The jacket read Archangel, and the author's name was K.L. McDonald. "It's about a vampire trying to do good and save his own soul. Some of it is drawn from Lindsey's and my experiences, the rest is fiction. This allows me to stay home with the kids."

"Congratulations, Kate." He looked inside where he read the inscription: "To Angel with gratitude for everything you've done for our family. Kate McDonald." And below that he read, "And from me, too. Lindsey."

"Thanks a lot, Kate." She kissed his cheek.

"Go talk to your son, Angel. I need to put more food out. These guys haven't eaten in a week, or so it seems."

Angel strode over to where his son was playing with Patty just in time to see her jump six of his men. "I win!"

Mike shook his head. "I don't know why I can't ever beat you at checkers, Patty."

"You beat me at everything else, Mike. Don't be greedy." She started to put the checkers and board away and then went over to play with the little ones.

"Hi, Mike." Angel felt very shy, an unusual feeling for him. "How are you?"

"Hi. Dad told me that you are my father. Is it true?"

"Yes. Lilah, the mean woman who took you from your mom & dad, stole you from me when you were just an infant. But your mom & dad took such good care of you and loved you so much that I knew you belonged with them."

"I'm glad to see you. Dad's told me a lot about you."

"He told me about you, too." Angel swallowed hard. He had been browbeaten by all of his friends into accepting the fact that Mike liked ballet. "So how are your dancing lessons?"

Mike made a face. "I don't take dancing lessons! That's sissy stuff for girls. Patty takes dancing lessons. I take karate!"

I'll kill you, Lindsey! Angel thought, and then he started to laugh. Lindsey came in with a platter of hamburgers for those who preferred to be inside. "So that's how you got even for the sign?"

"I thought it was time to even the score. Truce?"

"Only if these hamburgers are any good!" He took two, handing one to Mike.

Everyone feasted on hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, coleslaw, and, of all things, delicious macaroni and cheese. "It's Mike's favorite," Patty told Angel. "Mine, too. Daddy really makes it delicious."

The little ones especially seemed to get along well. Beth was sitting up by herself, and Lindsay was walking. Alonna, under Gunn's watchful eye, was pulling herself up to a standing position with the help of the coffee table. Mike and Patty played with Adam and Mandy, pronouncing them more fun than their sister Beth because they could do so much more than she could. The twins chattered in a language all their own.

Later, as Kate and Lindsey took turns giving their guests the grand tour of their comfortable, homey residence, Mike took Angel up to his room. There was a single bed with a baseball spread, a Diamondbacks pennant on the wall, a desk and chair, a comfy armchair for reading, and lots of books. Although he had a small stereo, he didn't have a television or a video game system. "Dad likes us to watch television together when we watch. Usually we read or maybe play board games. He's trying to find a good Little League program for me."

"It's a very nice room, Mike." There were pictures on the wall of Lindsey, Kate, Patty, and Beth, and one or two certificates. One read Student of the Week and bore Mike's name.

"Dad told me that my mother died so I could live. Do you have a picture of her? I'd like one."

"No photographs, but I can draw her for you, if you'd like. She was very beautiful. You look a lot like her. And she loved you enough to give her life for you."

"I don't quite understand. Dad said as I got older you and he would explain more things to me."

"We will, Mike. I promise."

Downstairs Lindsey, Wes, Gunn, and Groo were playing darts in the rec room as the mothers kept the children out of danger. "You are the man, Wes, I have to admit," Lindsey said.

"Years of practice!"

Finally the evening was coming to an end. Everyone was stuffed. The few dishes were in the dishwasher and the paper plates had been thrown away. Kate took Beth out into the kitchen to feed her, joined by Anne, Fred, and Cordelia. The men sat in the living room. Mike was sitting by Angel, softly whispering together. Patty snuggled up close to Lindsey, fighting to stay awake. Groo bounced one twin on each leg as they chortled, "Go, horsie!" Wes rubbed noses with his daughter. Gunn held a sleeping Alonna in his arms, gently stroking her soft curls.

Lorne looked around him. There was Gunn, who had grown up fatherless, having lost his dad to a mugger as he was on his way home from work. Groo, who took after his "cow" mother, had been an embarrassment to his demon father and had been scorned until he became the champion of Pylea. Wes had been horribly abused, psychologically and perhaps physically, by his demanding perfectionist father. Lindsey had grown up with a drunken, unemployed father. And Angel had hated his father so much that he had delighted in killing him when he was turned. And yet there they were. All of them were wonderful fathers, taking great joy in their wives and their children. Lindsey, the former evil lawyer, adored Angel's son Mike and Kate's daughter Patty no less than his own Beth. It was amazing. I guess what it came down to in the end that each of them possessed a true father's heart. I wonder if I have one, Lorne thought. There was this very cute Lehnaun Shee that would occasionally come into Caritas. He had often thought that maybe he should ask her out, in spite of her wailing shriek of a singing voice. Maybe one day he could have a child of his own. Then he thought of his brother Numfar. That just might not be such a good idea. That's something to think about longer. . .a lot longer!

FINIS