Rating: Pg
Disclaimer: Don't own any of them, that bad, bad man Joss does.
Some Spoilers for IWRY.

Angel watched from the funeral from a distance. He was numb, he had been since he had found out that Buffy had died. He wasn't even going to come, too many people still had a grudge against him, but Cordelia had insisted.

He watched the service very closely taking a mental note of who all was there. The entire Scooby gang was there, huddled together. Giles was standing next to Buffy's mother, his arm around her in a comforting gesture. What confused Angel was the little girl latched onto Joyce's hand. She couldn't have been more than three years old. He was sure he would have heard from Cordelia if Joyce had had another child.

From that point on he was transfixed by her. He just couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her. She had thick dark brown hair that fell in a mass of curl around her small shoulders. A few times she looked in his direction with deep brown eyes, it was as if she could see him as clearly as he could her.

******

When the service was over Angel waited for everyone to leave before he made his way to the grave site. When he reached the headstone, his legs refused to support his weight any longer and he fell to his knees. He traced over his beloved's name as if he were touching her. Tears that he had refused to shed now freely flowed down his handsome face. Somewhere deep within him he had refused to believe that she was dead, but seeing this he was forced to face reality.

"Angel?" He raised his head and turned to face the voice.

Joyce got closer, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad you came."

"I didn't want to."

Joyce sighed sadly. "I know, Cordelia told me." There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. "I need to talk to you. Why don't you stop by the house later."

He just nodded his head and she left him to grieve.

***

Angel arrived at the house a little after nine. He rang the doorbell once and heard the door creak open. The three year old he had seen at the funeral poked her head through the slightly opened door, then pushed it open the rest of the way when she saw who it was.

"Daddy!" She squealed and hurtled herself toward him.

Angel, a little shocked, easily scooped the small girl up into his arms.

"Aisling Marie Summers how many times have I told you..." Joyce bellowed as she came around the corner, but stopped as soon as she saw Aisling in Angel's arms. The resemblance between father and daughter was uncanny.

"Ash, sweetie, why don't you go see if Spike will read you a bedtime story. Grandma has to talk to Angel."

"Kay." She answered brightly as Angel set her down. "SPIIIIKE!" She yelled as she headed off into the other room.

"She likes to annoy him." Joyce smiled slightly.

"Why don't we go into the den, we can talk in there."

"Why did she call me daddy?" Angel finally asked when they were safely in the den.

"Because you are."

"She can't be my daughter..."

"I don't understand it either, Angel, but she is." Joyce picked up a video and letter off the desk and handed them to Angel. "Buffy left these for you. I think she explains everything, or at least tries to."

"Can I..."

Joyce smiled. "I'll leave you alone."

When she left the room, Angel sat down in the leather arm chair and tore into the letter.

****

My dearest Angel,

I take it that if you are reading this letter, that I'm dead and you have met our daughter. She must come as a shock to you, figure out how I felt when I found out that I was pregnant. You see I couldn't imagine how that happened. I found out I was pregnant in January, five months after the last guy I slept with. You wouldn't believe the things that were going through my mind on how this could have happened. Then the dreams started, one of the two of us together. You were human, that was the thing I remembered the most was the sound of your heart-beat. And I knew that the baby had to be yours.

She's barely a week old when I am writing this. I don't know why I haven't called you or something to let you know, and I don't know if I will. You can be mad at me all you want, but please don't be mad at Ash.

I need you to look after her and protect her. Please Angel, I need you to do this. Mom is getting to old to raise her and so is Giles. I know you'll do everything in your power to keep her safe.

Love Always,
Buffy

****

Angel silently folded up the letter and sat back. He turned the tape over and read what was written on it, only to discover that it was a video tape of Aisling's birth. He had a world of emotions raging within him. All of which seemed to clam when his eyes came into contact with Aisling's.

She walked slowly over to Angel, dragging a sock monkey by it's arm behind her. When she was close enough to him, Angel pulled her into his lap. She snuggled into the soft fabric of his shirt. He ran his hand over her thick hair, before he kissed the top of her head.

"I wuv you daddy." She stuck her thumb into her mouth and quickly fell asleep.

*************

Angel watched Aisling from his position in the leather armchair. This was one of his favorite past-times since she had come to live with him, to just sit and watch her. They both were reading books, well Angel was reading his and Ash was looking at the brightly colored pictures that adorned the pages of an older copy of Kipling's "Jungle Book".

She was so happy right now. Angel wished he could preserve that happiness, because when she slept it was another story. A few days after they had arrived in LA, Ash began to have nightmares. She would thrash around on the bed entangling her tiny body in the sheets. When Angel would wake her up, she would mutter something about her mommy before slowly slipping back to sleep curled in Angel's arms. After the first few times it happened Angel would sit at the end of the bed watching her through the night making sure she would sleep peacefully through the rest of the night. Sometimes she would and sometimes she would dream again and Angel would hold onto her tightly.

Angel sighed and looked at the mantle clock. Seven-thirty. "Ash, sweetie, it's time to get ready for bed."

Angel quickly picked her up and carried her into the side room that they had turned into her room. He sat her on the on the bed and started to help her change. Ash put a small hand on his to stop him.

"I can do it." She insisted.

Angel chuckled at her independence. "Just like your mother." He kissed her lightly on the forehead.

She took the dark blue sleeper from her father and pulled it over her head. Angel check and made sure everything was in place before he placed her underneath the covers. As he tucked her in he silently hoped that no dreams would come tonight.

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