Title: Immaculate Conception
Author: Sunscorched
Posted:
Email
Rating: R in parts, N-17 at end!
Category: Romance, Fluff and Humour
Content: C/A
Summary: Exactly where did that come from? The Sequel to House Guest
Spoilers:
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Distribution: AO, Cal, Lil and Lio’s place
Notes:
Thanks/Dedication:
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Part 1, Month 1!
Shrugging off her lateness, Cordelia put it down to the small stress she had over having to move out of her apartment so suddenly. Being a few days late was nothing to worry about as she hadn’t done anything to cause that worry which was a good thing as sex only led to trouble. Especially where her boyfriend was concerned, he got a moment’s happiness and she wouldn’t need to be worrying about her monthlies, she’d be bleeding enough for a year.
Tugging on the cord, she turned the bathroom light off just as she opened the door and left; she doubted Angel would mind if she left her used towels there till morning. “Angel?” Cordelia called out, her fluffy mouse-shaped slippers pitter-pattering across the wooden floor and the sounds of her tired breathing invading the silent response. “Aannggeell?” she called out again when she got no answer.
Raising his head from his hands, the vampire looked up to see his girlfriend approaching him from the direction of the bathroom he had worshipped her in only four days ago. The scent of her arousal still tinged the air with a delightfully sweet aroma that made his heart ache. It was all over her, even after her twice-a-day showering, and it was all over him; their shared experience coated everything they did and every word she said.
One of his robes hung generously on her smaller figure, the shoulders were almost hanging off of her and he couldn’t see her hands for the arm length. The hem of the robe reached just below her knees to kiss her calf muscles softly. Her hair was tossed over her shoulder and small droplets fell onto his floor. The pitter-patter of her mouse-encased feet almost caused him to smile a little as his eyes dropped to the floor too see the slippers.
Angel felt a genuine and unforced smile flicker on his lips as he watched her almost skip merrily to the table, joining him at the kitchen table. The chestnut silk he had seen caked in sand was now hung in damp, wavy curls that cascaded like a stream down her back. The skin he had seen shining in the sun was now clean and smelled of watermelons and not of the oceanic breeze it had the other day. Those eyes that had seen him in the daylight shone with no recollection of their time together and held no memories of his drawing their names in the sand.
“Hey baby” he greeted tiredly, “Enjoy that?” he referred to the very long and, if the steam was anything to go by, very hot shower. Now that he thought about it, a good and hot shower might be just what he needed. If only they hadn’t performed something that was once illegal in there.
“Mmm” Cordelia contentedly hummed her response, crossing her long legs into a lotus position she reached over intending to grab his glass of scotch when he slapped her hand. “Hey, what did you do that for?”
Raising his eyebrow at her sternly, “I love you Cordelia, but you’re not old enough to drink” Angel moved the small glass out of her little thieving hands before she could grab it.
He was not going to pull that line on her surely? “Oh come on Angel” she rolled her eyes, “How old were you when you had your first drink?” she asked with a knowing smirk and watched as he realised he had no room to talk. “Exactly, so gimme a taste. I’ve only ever had port, sherry or champagne before” she urged, her hair swishing with her nodding.
“Here” Angel pushed the glass towards her, watching and waiting for her to cough it up when the burn reached the back of her throat. His brown eyes were drawn to the column of her throat that moved in synchronisation with every swallow she made. His expression turned to a small amount of shock when he realised she wasn’t going to cough, splutter or say it was disgusting. “You actually liked that?” he asked with an amused half smile.
“It was okay, like Doyle says that isn’t single malt its poly malt!” Cordelia shrugged and passed him the measure that had been half drank. Leaning forward, she dropped her chin onto her crossed arms and studied the vampire opposite her. His dark eyes had seemed so sad lately, he was getting bags under his eyes and his shoulders had been slumped, he looked like he had lost something he cherished. “What’s up big guy?” she asked, turning her face to the side, “And don’t say nothing cus I know you and you don’t suit the matching luggage you’re getting… I have some cream for that” she added as an after thought.
Looking at her with a pained expression, Angel had swore he would never lie to her again but he found himself doing just that. “I-you know about me, my past” it came to something when he was blaming a part of him that hadn’t even been there when it happened and now he felt like he was blaming his brother or something.
“You’re missing brooding, am I right?” Cordelia supplied to him when he became lost for words, “Well, I have got the cure for that” she told him, raising her head from her arms and uncurling her body from the lotus position. “Why don’t you get smuggled into bed and I’ll bring you a nice, hot mug of O pos or coffee whichever you prefer. A nice relaxing night before you drift into the land of dreams is just what you need”
He just went along with it.
“Yeah” Angel sighed unnecessarily, stretching his arms out and yawning, he found that idea did seem like it was just what he needed. Another night next to the woman he loved and not being able to love her like he had done for that day and night. “Maybe you’re right Cor, I do need a good nights’ sleep. But you don’t have to make my…” why did he have to say that B word? “Blood” he was sure he was the only vampire who hated saying that word.
“Nah, I don’t mind Angel” Cordelia, completely unaware of all that had happened, she quickly thought of something. “Hey, if you’re a night person and this is like your morning then I’ll be making you breakfast in bed right?” a girl had a right to be pampered by her boyfriend sometimes and since she was due for her monthly PMS cycle, she deserved to be pampered before he endured the horror that was her.
It didn’t take Albert Einstein to see where this was going. His heart ache momentarily forgotten about, Angel eyed her knowingly and crossed his arms over his chest. “And this wouldn’t happen to do with you wanting me to make you breakfast in bed would it?” he deadpanned dryly.
“Where would you get an idea like that?” Cordelia wondered innocently, turning her hazel eyes towards the ceiling and tapping her nails on the table. If there was one thing bound to drive him into submission, it was the nail tapping. Five taps… Four taps… Three taps…
“Alright!” Angel half growled, God that was so irritating and drove him nuts, it didn’t help when his ears were extra sensitive either. All he heard was thud-thud-thud where a normal person heard tap-tap-tap. Cordelia’s heart-shaped and happy smiling face turned immediately towards him and he knew he wouldn’t have her any other way. “Omelette?”
“A-la vamp!”
***
This was the latest she had ever been in her life, counting the days in her head Cordelia realised she was running almost two weeks late and she had no idea why. Once again, she put it down to one of those things, after all there were girls in the world who’s cycles didn’t run like clockwork. “Do you mind?” she asked Doyle when he waltzed in, leaving the door wide open, “What? Were you born in a barn?”
“No” the Irishman replied, “Back of a car actually!” he added, making her lips quirk up in a tiny smile. Obediently, Doyle backtracked the few steps and closed the door. “Happy now Princess?” he drawled, “Angel around?”
“He’s still asleep actually” Cordelia replied, inspecting her manicure “I need my nails re-painting, the French manicure look went out with flares”
Not at all interested in what shade of polish was in or what shade was out, Doyle indulged her topic of conversation. “What’s in then?”
With a cheeky, little smile the brunette pulled her top drawer open and removed a small paper bag from her local chemist. “These!” she poured various shades out on her desk, “We have the newest chrome-shine from Maybelline and we have the Holographic shades from Revlon” Cordelia rummaged through the small pile of shades, trying to find one that suited her mood. She was in a surprisingly good mood that morning, she had never felt better in her life and she put that down to being nicely surprised at her lack of homicidal hormones. “I think I’ll go with the… Silver chrome-shine”
“Good choice” Doyle agreed, not really having the foggiest what she was talking about at all. “Any chance of a coffee this morning?” he glanced towards the machine hoping there would be some steaming away under the little nozzle. “Guess I’ll make it myself then”
“Oh that would be great, thanks” she sighed happily, this was so far a perfect day; new nail polish shade and some coffee made by Doyle. The only thing missing was Angel in a pair of tight black Calvin’s and someone bringing her margaritas while she relaxed on the tropical island of Martinique. Okay, so maybe that was more than one thing but who was counting?
Shaking his head at her, the seer went to employ the coffee machine when it looked like the person in charge of coffee making seemed highly unlikely to do it. “I might go down and wake the Broody One” Doyle mused, wanting some company that wasn’t a currently perky nineteen-year-old girl now clearing her nails of her French manicure. It wasn’t as if he could talk about his latest love interest with her was it?!
“You took the words right out of my mouth” Cordelia told him as she set about shaping her nails before applying the polish. “He might be awake by now, there’s only one way to find out and if he is awake can you tell him crazy cop lady called about half hour ago?”
“Why don’t you tell him when he gets up here?” he asked in confusion.
“Because you can tell him for me when you go down there” it wasn’t like she was secretly playing ‘pass my boyfriend a message’ with him and she wasn’t about to start asking Doyle to give Angel a kiss for her either. What was she turning into today?
Shaking his head, he refused to play the game any longer; he’d been doing it for days now and it was getting boring. It was always “Doyle, ask Cordy is she wants to see a movie tonight” or “Doyle ask Angel if he wants a donut” he’d had more than enough of their damn flirting and using him to do it. “If you’ve got something to tell him Princess, tell him yourself”
“Tell who what?”
Both Doyle and Cordelia jumped a mile and were now clutching the place where their hearts sat wildly pounding. “Do you have to do that?” she snapped at him, rubbing her hand lovingly over her chest and patting her heart calmingly. “I’m so gonna get you a bell on of these days before you do give me a heart attack”
“What Princess said” the seer agreed whole heartedly and gave the vampire a dirty look.
“Sorry” Angel stated unapologetically, carefully dodging the small beams of sunlight filtering through the blinds he walked towards Cordelia’s workspace, seeing all the nail polish bottles spread out on the desktop. “New?” he enquired, eyes flittering between the bottles and her face.
“Um-hmm, I needed to go into the chemist anyway so I thought I may as well bestow upon myself a nice little treat” Cordelia replied, was it her or was her mood getting better and better? “And its worked, I feel really good today. What about you? Did you have a good nights’ sleep?”
Not wanting to shatter the hopeful look in the hazel beams, Angel stretched the truth, “It was alright, no different to any other nights sleep” he saw her face fall a little and immediately felt bad. “But you’re breakfast in bed idea helped though”
It worked, he got that smile back and all was right again, well almost anyway. Now if he could just forget what it had been like to with her. “Anyway” he changed the subject from his sleepless nights to something he could live with. “I see Doyle has the coffee on…”
“How do you know it wasn’t me who put the coffee on?” Cordelia asked defensively with an indignant stare up at her boyfriend who merely shot a knowing look right back at her.
“Because I know you” Angel retaliated easily, this time not minding the way her expression changed, her scheme had failed. “As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, Doyle has the coffee brewing and you were about to tell me something”
Huffing loudly at the intrusion into her self-manicure, Cordelia pushed the pile of polish away from her pleased she had started painting yet. Wiping her hand across her forehead, she flicked a few stray strands of chestnut back “Crazy cop lady called, something about something”
Nodding at her, Angel tried to figure out what that something about something was exactly. “Did she say what?” he prompted encouragingly.
“Yeah, something but I can’t remember what” she looked up at him with her own version of the puppy eyes. “You don’t hate me do you Angel?” the lashes fluttered together, her cheeks went slightly round and the corners of her mouth curled up invitingly.
When she turned to look up at him, he couldn’t help but stare back down at her; her smile was as bright as ever but it seemed softer and a sweeter. Her skin had always had a healthy appearance but today she looked so pretty and beautiful Angel couldn’t help but smile back at her. It was times like this when he made the right choice not to tell what had happened.
God knows what happen if she found out he had lied to her about it.
Part 2, Month 2
Okay, now she was getting pretty worried about her late cycle; she was just over six weeks late and she hadn’t had any signs of cramping, irrational distress and not even a mood swing. That was the really worrying part, the lack of mood swings; for the last six weeks she’d been feeling warm, happy and generally good about herself.
The one good thing though, her good mood seemed to have rubbed off on Angel and Doyle; every time she walked into the room they looked at her and smiled. Maybe it wasn’t a good thing, the more she thought about it the more it scared her. “I could really enjoy a jam donut right about now” Cordelia stated with a breathy sigh, looking at the square, pink box that held the current keys to heaven.
“Doyle, can you ask…” she went to say to the Irish seer.
“The door to his office is open Princess, ask him yourself” he replied with a quirky grin at her. He watched as Cordelia practically bounced her way into the office, lately she’d been so happy and it was showing. Her skin was glowing with health, the hazel orbs were brimming with bliss and her hair, though always kept in prime condition, was like a luxurious cloud of silk. Getting up off his usual perch, Doyle couldn’t help but follow her into Angel’s office while she asked him if he wanted a donut.
The vampire was waiting for Cordelia to speak to him, looking up he saw his girlfriend unable to keep the smile off her face as she returned his gaze. “You want a donut?” she asked, biting her lower lip to try and stop her stupid grin from splitting her face.
Book forgotten about, Angel got up and rounded his desk, “Okay, we have any jelly left?” he looked at Doyle accusingly, he always had the jelly ones. Curling his arm around her shoulder the vampire guided Cordelia back to her seat and sat her down. “I’ll get you a donut and Doyle can make the coffee” he stated, tapping her softly on her button nose.
“I was already up” she pointed out, hazel orbs going back and forth between the seer and vampire suspiciously. “Is there something you two aren’t telling me?” she demanded with narrowed eyes.
“Yes” Doyle piped up dryly, “You’re the coffee making secretary not me. I never get a cup made for me these days” he glared at Angel, silently telling him just who was to blame for that. The vampire’s glum attitude seemed to be picking up lately, for a few weeks he had been a little withdrawn and overly broody. It seemed that the more than positive mood of Cordelia had done something good for the vampire, hell it had done something good for him too.
“That’s cus you always say I never get the mix of scotch in it right” Cordelia deadpanned, her cheek tilted down to rest on the back of Angel’s hand and she sighed happily. Life was just so good lately, she had a place to stay, a great boyfriend and a great best friend; what more could a girl ask for? Okay, so there were a few things she wouldn’t mind having like those gorgeous heeled black boots she saw in the shoe store opposite the chemist’s the other day.
She quickly realised that chemist’s was becoming her favourite place to look around in, they had everything there. Cosmetics to try out, matching sets of toiletries and other stuff like those cute little baby bibs that had ducks embroidered on in pretty yellow and blue. Shaking her head, Cordelia also realised she was grinning like a maniac again and forced herself to stop, her jaw was beginning to ache.
When she glanced up at Angel, he was grinning at her dreamy expression wondering what she was thinking about. A small part of him hoped she was somehow remembering their lost day and what they had done. “What?” Cordelia asked through her smile, eyes dodging between Doyle and her boyfriend.
“Nothing” the Irish half demon held up his hands protectively, “We should be asking you that”
Angel gave an agreeing nod, “Yeah, you’ve been like this for weeks” he removed his hand from under her cheek to stroke the nape of her neck softly. “Why are you so happy?”
Shrugging unknowingly, Cordelia shook her head “Someone has to be around here, there’s way too much doom and gloom; I think it’s just my mental way of spreading a little cheeriness”
“Or it could be the fact that you don’t have to drink your own coffee” Doyle exchanged a knowing glance with Angel. As he was half demon, all his senses were more acute, and unfortunately tasting being one of those more acute senses. That girl’s coffee could cause someone to suffer blocked arteries, he pitied the vampire at least he could escape but Angel had to live with her.
“Hey, my coffee isn’t that bad” Cordelia defended hotly, pushing Angel’s hand away from her she stood up with every intention of proving them wrong and making the best cup of coffee either of them ever had. “I’ll prove it to you” her chin raised up in defiance as she marched past the vampire and seer who watched with hidden grimaces as her hands reached for the percolator.
Her lips furled upwards as the smell of dried coffee infiltrated her nose, swallowing a little Cordelia made a point to ignore the worried glances Angel and Doyle were sending each other. Her coffee wasn’t that bad and she’d prove it to them, if only to stop their little looks. Pouring the ground-up coffee beans into the top of the machine, she swallowed again as the smell caused her stomach to feel like she was on a boat.
Seeing her face pale slightly, Angel ceased his silent teasing “Are you alright?” he moved to stand in front of the desk, she looked like she was ready to pass out or throw up.
This was the sign she’d been waiting for, the sign that signalled the end of her patience and good mood. “Oh yeah” Cordelia waved away his concern with a flourishing gesture of her hand, “I’m fine” she was not going into this with Doyle standing there and she didn’t feel like discussing this with Angel either. There were some things men didn’t need to know about.
Going back to the task at hand, the brunette subconsciously massaged her elevator-mimicking stomach and swallowed again. “Is this coffee past its sell-by date? Do coffee beans have sell-by dates?” she asked, grimacing as the smell seemed to get stronger and more nauseating. Backing away from the offending stuff, Cordelia shook her head “I can’t make that, it’s making me feel sick. Doyle, you make the coffee”
***
Curling up on the couch with her special Winnie the Pooh hot water bottle Cordelia popped a dry roasted peanut into her mouth and chewed carefully, wondering why mother nature hadn’t reared her ugly head. All day she’d been feeling nauseous but surprisingly with no cramping or irritating mood swings. Angel had been, well, an angel; she’d kind of hinted at what her problem was earlier that day and after the awkwardness, he had been so sweet.
Right now, he was in the kitchen making some delicious hot chocolate with melted marshmallows for her. Popping another peanut into her mouth, Cordelia began to miss her television; Angel didn’t have one and she missed those silly late night movies that came on. “Angel?”
“You don’t have to shout, I’m behind you!”
The peanut she was chewing on was soon spluttered all over the floor when she jumped a mile. Angel heard her heart beating a staccato inside her chest, her pulse was now hammering away under the delicate skin at her throat and the bag of peanuts joined the half eaten one on the floor. “How many times do I have to have a near heart attack before you get a bell or hum. Humming would be good” Cordelia barked, snapping her head back to look at the sheepish vampire.
As soon as he opened his mouth, she raised a silencing finger “Don’t you dare say you’re sorry because no amount of apologising can make me forgive you for my lost peanuts”
“Sorry” Angel solemnly told her, “You want your chocolate now?” holding his favourite mug up for her to take from him, hoping she would notice the small affectionate gesture. He’d been keeping himself busy all day trying to take his mind off the forthcoming human hell he was going to be put through. When they had just been friends, it would have been alright he’d just be his usual stoic self and pretend she wasn’t hormonal. But it was different now, she lived with him, she was his girlfriend and still his lover, even if she didn’t remember it.
He knew how this would affect him as a vampire and he’d been debating on how to explain it to her without either of them suffering any embarrassing awkwardness or discomfort. While he’d been thinking, he’d been playing the role of caring boyfriend as much as he could and he couldn’t put off the explanation any longer. Clearing his throat, Angel moved to sit down next to her and smiled slightly when she instantly shoved all her things to his side of the couch for her nightly ‘snuggles.’
Instantly responding to her little smile, Angel inclined towards her with the intention of kissing her. His lips descended down on the warmer, softer one belonging to Cordelia who responded equally. His tongue dipped inside her mouth, tasting the jelly from the pastry sweet she had earlier. Massaging her lips more firmly, he cupped her cheek and tilted her to face him, deepening the stimulation.
Her free hand came up to trace the outline of his defined jaw, stroking her fingertips softly down the contours of his throat until she curled her slender fingers around the nape of his neck. Angel moaned into her mouth at the light tickles and the response he was getting. Unknowingly, her body was reacting to the lips that had tasted her in the shower, remembering the heat and the love.
As the desire slowly escalated, Angel decreased the pressure on her mouth until he pulled away completely, leaving Cordelia touching her tingling lips with a little smile. Looking into her eyes, the vampire half hoped for a glimmer of remembrance but only saw love shining back. Years of practice had made him perfect the ability on how to push aside things that hurt in order to get on with it. Clearing his throat, he touched his lips once more to hers and got back to the topic at hand.
“That was nice” she murmured, then on seeing his expression go back to the uncomfortable one he wore before kissing her she enquired about the problem. “What’s up Broody?” Cordelia asked between arranging her hot water bottle so it wasn’t chaffing her uncomfortably and shifting her shoulders to allow his arm to drop around her. “You have ‘I wanna talk but don’t know what to say’ face on. Just spill” she urged.
How on Earth could he explain to his girlfriend of two months and eight weeks that he wouldn’t be able to leave her alone for the next week and a half because of her curse as she called her monthly cycle. “You know that you’re…” Angel glanced at her stomach she kept rubbing, off Cordelia’s nod he continued. “I’m a vampire and you’re…” he glanced down again, hoping he wouldn’t have to spell it out to her.
Following the direction of his gaze, she looked at her stomach trying to understand what he was finding so difficult to explain. “Bloated?” she offered with a helpful smile.
“When you with the, you know, and me with the vampire…” he gabbled frustratingly.
“Angel, why are you sounding like Willow?” Cordelia asked with a highly amused grin at his obvious awkward disposition. Figuring whatever it was must be a vampire thing, she shifted round to fully face him, “Angel, yes you are a vampire but it doesn’t matter. I maybe bloated and not my usual happy sweet self right now but I still love you. Whatever is eating you for a change…” she grinned cheekily at his sarcastic facial response to her little dig. “It doesn’t make any difference and I’m hoping for your sake that whatever my actions maybe in the coming three days won’t make any difference to you”
It was those three days that were the problem, all Angel could think about was how her body would get softer, slighter rounder; her breasts would increase in size and her scent would become addictive. That was one of the main things female vampires hated about mortal women, mortals had the one thing that could turn a male vampire from a killing machine into a completely loaded, fully automatic horny demon in the matter of seconds.
It seemed so unreal that he, a vampire so wicked, others of his kind feared him, was now sitting on his couch with his live-in lover fumbling his way through an explanation about why he wouldn’t be able to help being glued to her side for a week. Shifting uncomfortably, Angel contemplated giving up his hopeless attempt at explaining vampire behaviour and instead, he thanked those Oracles for small mercies. It could have worse; Buffy could still be here while he was explaining.
“It won’t” Angel replied, lying through his teeth again; he wondered how she would take his excess possessiveness. Noticing her restless manner, he swiftly changing the subject, he tugged her closer to him careful not to make her spill any of the hot chocolate she was holding in a near worshipful manner. “You seem bored?”
“I am” Cordelia answered, fidgeting with both the mug and her pyjamas, “Why don’t you have a T.V? You have weapons of slight destruction, you have books that the New York public library would pay big money for and you have all these expensive-looking antiques. Why don’t you have a T.V?”
“Because I don’t mind not having a T.V” Angel peered down at her with a look of growing suspicion. “You don’t watch those soap operas do you?” his voice showed his distaste for them. He remembered how the thorn in his side used to watch that Passions, the only reason he never tortured the damn T.V was because it kept him quiet for an hour and not because he secretly watched that programme too.
“Of course I do” she peered back at him, “They’re the perfect escape from reality”
He snorted, “Like love triangles aren’t in reality, what about the you, me, Buffy triangle? Or the you, Willow, Xander triangle? Or the you, me, Doyle triangle?” he purposely left out the him, Spike, Drusilla triangle.
Rolling her eyes at his point, “Alright” Cordelia resigned, “But we don’t have friends that conspire to poison us behind our backs, we don’t have ex-lovers that conspire to kill us and we don’t have all that cheesy romance going on”
“I remember when Giles gave Buffy that serum to take away her Slayer abilities for a time” Angel told her with a victorious smirk. “I conspired with Spike to kill Buffy and I conspired with Darla to kill Spike. And we have cheesy romance. No need for television”
“We do not have cheesy romance Angel, if we did then you’d bring me flowers everyday and proclaim your undying love for me as I cried tears of sheer joy” Cordelia remarked, pausing to take a tentative sip of her drink before taking a bigger drink when she realised it had cooled down. “I just want something to watch or something to do besides sitting here and snuggling with you. Not that there’s anything wrong with snuggling of course, that’s the highlight of my days, but don’t you want to play a game of cards or go out for pizza?”
Angel opened his mouth to reply when he saw her face lose all colouring, turning as pale as any vampire Cordelia began to shake a little as her body revolted at the idea of pizza. Shoving the mug of hot chocolate into his hands, she bolted from the couch and into the bathroom.
Grimacing a little, the vampire got off the couch to go empty the chocolate and set about pouring her a glass of cold water from the bottled spring water in the fridge. “No going out for pizza then” Angel muttered to himself, putting the glass ready on the kitchen table he went to see if she was okay.
***
Sitting at her desk, the good mood from yesterday was replaced with an ever-growing nauseating feeling that made her stomach slide slowly up before dropping back down. “Urgh” she groaned out, rubbing her rollercoaster-riding stomach, “When will this ever go away?” she asked no-one in particular.
“Why don’t you go lay down?” Angel asked in concern, he knew some women could this sort of thing quite bad but he wasn’t sure if physical sickness was part of the package. She was pale, her voice was hoarse with the amount of times she’d gone to the bathroom and no doubt her throat would be quite sore. “Do you need more water?”
Slightly dull hazel eyes opened up to look at him with love, gratitude and tiredness “Yeah, more water would be great” Cordelia smiled at him softly, her lips quirking up at the corners. “I must have picked up a bug from some inconsiderate person at that damn chemist
“There are reasons why people go to large chemists like that you know Princess” Doyle deadpanned, who in their right mind went to chemists to have a look around? Sure, this was one of them large stores that sold everything from electric shavers to grooming kits for men and those warm, fluffy socks. So he had been told anyway!
“If they’re so sick, why don’t they ask one of their healthy friends to go get their prescription?” she snapped at him and took a deep, none-calming breath. “Look, I’ll be fine, no mood swings and I’m just fine. Peachy” Cordelia stated in a half mocked sob.
“Go back downstairs baby” Angel told her sternly and caringly, “Get back into bed and get some rest. I’m sure Doyle and I can manage up here while you get some sleep” he looked to his seer for confirmation.
“He’s right Princess” the Irishman agreed, concern marring his devilishly handsome face, he’d never known her to be so sick or glum before, it was unnerving him a lot. “Let the Brood Meister take you down to the apartment, I can watch things up here for an hour or two. I’ll just holler out if I have a vision”
She shook her head, “Nah, if I lay down I’ll throw up in my head” Angel and Doyle grimaced at her phrasing. Cordelia looked at them gratefully, “I don’t feel like I’m tired or that I need rest. I just feel… Urgh” was the only way she could describe it. “Just please, please” she stressed firmly “Don’t drink coffee in front of me or bring pizza in here and I’ll be okay”
The battle lost with her firm words and firmer glare, Angel and Doyle backed off while they still had the chance to do so. “You want to come with me?” the vampire asked, nudging his head in the direction of his part of the office. “It might be a little warmer in there and its closer to the bathroom” he added with a smile.
“Yeah, Doyle can make coffee then and he can watch the phones while I get some much needed snuggles” Cordelia stated, to sick to care about Angel’s reputation with the half demon. Shrugging off the shawl around her shoulders, the brunette allowed the vampire to walk her into his office section, leaving the door open so they could converse with their new apposed secretary.
Settling on his knee, she sighed happily and relaxed into the solid chest she had no idea how well she knew. Curling up and resting her head in the crook of his shoulder, Cordelia ignored the growling noise her stomach was now making. “I’m not feeding you so go away”
Angel’s eyes glanced questioningly around the room, seeing who she was talking too when it hit him she was talking to her stomach. With the millionth half smile of the day springing across his face, the vampire let his arms lock securely around her to prevent her from sliding off his lap. “Maybe you should try some toast or something, that might help your stomach a little” he suggested, he’d heard that once from the grandma of an acquaintance he used to have.
“I don’t know, I don’t wanna hurl anymore”
“Can you just say the word ill instead of those really sickly words please?” he asked hopefully. Blow chunks, hurling, talking on the great white telephone, praying to the porcelain Goddess and her sudden move to upchuck city were some of the more colourful phrases she had been using since last night. Shuddering at the images those words gave him, Angel peered through the window and saw Doyle looking at Cordelia’s desk drawers in sly contemplation. “You don’t have anything private in your desk, do you?”
***
It was close to being eight weeks of being late and Cordelia was working herself up into a panic. She’d had the mood swings, she was sick every other day and she was getting small cramps in her lower abdomen, so why hadn’t the cycle been completed yet?
His face was unwavering and his posture taut with firmness, Angel looked at her sternly from opposite her at the kitchen table. “You’re going and that’s final”
Shaking off the urge to whine, stomp her foot and sulk, Cordelia kept up her own unwavering resolve. “I don’t need to go Angel” she countered, “My thing’s just a little late so its going to hit me harder than usual” okay so being eight weeks would normally be cause for alarm but considering how she hadn’t done anything to cause that alarm, she didn’t see why she had to go. “It isn’t unheard of for girls to be late you know”
“No but it is unusual to be ill for two weeks the way you have and not get any better” Angel argued back, raising his voice a little bit. For the last two weeks, he’d seen her go from being perfectly fine and she would be her usual cheerful self and the next minute, she’d be locked in the nearest bathroom for ten minutes. “You’re going” he repeated, “Even if I have to drag you there myself”
“Why? So the doctor can whisk me in, say ‘Take these miss Chase, they’ll cure anything?’ I think not” Cordelia’s voice to match his, she would not give in and that was final. “I don’t need to go” maybe they would give her a needle and now that she had effectively given herself a daytime nightmare, she was certainly not going.
“Yes Cordy, you do and you are” Angel’s loud voice lowered to the one he used when intimidating his opponents. Not that it would work on her but it was worth a shot.
“No, I’m really not”
“Yes, you are”
***
Grabbing her by the wrist as his other hand clamped around her mouth, Angel forced Cordelia into the doctor’s room. The room was filled with small bottles filled with clear liquid, files and pieces of notepad paper pinned to a notice board made of cork. There was a leather chair in front of the desk, two chairs for the patient and companion and an examination bed in the far corner.
“Gaahhh!” Cordelia gagged behind Angel’s hand when she saw the packaged needles and immediately turned to run for safety. She could feel them now, pricking her skin and the cold feeling of the liquid going up her arm and the inability to move for the split second it took for the anaesthesia to work. Her arms felt itchy, she felt sicker than usual and her entire body was crawling with sharp, metal snakes.
Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Angel turned the terrified girl back round to face the doctor. “Afternoon doctor” he greeted, still trying to maintain his hold on the struggling girl in his arms. He’d had the great plan of dragging her through the tunnels to the closest doctor which happened to be at Saint Matthews hospital; much to her disgruntlement.
“Miss. Chase?” the doctor referred to Cordelia after returning Angel’s greeting with a warm, assuring smile and nod. “I’m doctor De Seased, why don’t you take a seat?” he offered, gesturing to the chairs as he took his own seat. “What seems to be the trouble?”
