Summary: Part of my Caragh series. Future. Written for 15 minute ficlets. The word was karma
Pairing: Buffy/Angel

He leaned on the rail of the crib and watched the infant sleeping inside. The nightlight cast a soft glow over the tiny cherub. He reached out and dusted his fingertips across the soft, dark, fluff on her head. A lump formed in his throat and he forced it back. He'd promised Buffy no tears and less brooding from now on.

It was the wee hours of the morning and Buffy was in bed. She couldn't see him brood right now. Only Caragh, their daughter, was witness to this. Angel gathered the sleeping infant into his arms and sat down in the rocking chair. The baby stirred and then settled back into sleep, as comfortable in her father's arms as she was in her crib, probably more so.

He was scared. This was the only time he could admit it, in the wee hours of the morning with his daughter's tiny, warm body against his chest, a chest that now beat with a human heart. He was scared because of the things he'd done, the things he'd caused. Sins of that nature had a heavy price. He was afraid one of these days the cost would be too high. He'd already paid so much. There was his son, Connor. He and Connor had a relationship of sorts now, but there were things he'd never get back, moments like this with Connor that were lost forever.

Angel was afraid because he believed in karma. What goes around comes around and he wasn't sure he could ever be heaped with enough to balance out the scales. Sure the Powers that Be had granted him his shanshu. They'd declared him redeemed, but as Buffy had said on a day that only he remembered, they could be pranksters. He was still waiting for the other shoe to fall.

"You're doing it."

He looked up at the sound of her voice, a smile flickered over his lips. "I can't help it. I don't want to miss a moment with her."

Buffy smiled and walked further into the nursery. She perched on the arm of the rocking chair. She reached out and stroked one finger along Caragh's cheek. "She's amazing isn't she?"

Angel smiled, finally tearing his gaze from their daughter and bringing it to rest on Buffy. "She's a lot like her mother that way."

"It's not going to happen, Angel. The table cloth is not going to be jerked out from underneath us. We earned this," Buffy whispered.

"I know, but sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night so scared I'm going to lose you two that I can't breathe," he confessed.

Buffy leaned in, placing a light kiss on his lips. "You can't lose me." She placed her hand over his heart. "I'm right here."

"That's the problem, I prefer you right here," he whispered and pulled her into his lap.

Buffy laughed softly. "Put your daughter back to sleep and I'll show you exactly where I prefer you."

Angel grinned. He got up, snuggled Caragh back into her crib and chased Buffy back to bed.

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