baby janeRating:PG
Posted: August 29, 2000
Notes:
1) Follows on from a previous "Brief Conversation"....Honey, I'm Home!.
2) Fluff and saccharine warning!
The Perries demon in Jane was dormant, or so Angel had said. Cordelia dabbed at some bubbly baby-drool and casually wondered how long it would be before Jane was using her half-demonic skills to read the minds of others. Cordelia decided she would have to make an effort to guard against lascivious Angel-type thoughts in the little girl’s presence, just in case.Jane, with a sparse mop of curly, dusky, hair; deep blue eyes; a roguish grin and wicked dimples, was now nine months old. The trio at Angel Investigations had kept in touch with the family of the baby, orphaned when her mother had been killed by a Fosor demon; rescued by Angel and Wesley and adored and cossetted by Cordelia for the three hours it had taken Wesley to locate the infant’s aunt.
There had been several combined ‘family’ visits and a few more recent excursions by Angel and Cordelia without Wesley. Cordelia did wonder why Angel bothered to accompany her to see Jane. He usually brushed off her inquiries with a vague 'getting myself used to people' explanation. After a polite hello and a complimentary stroke of the baby’s cheek, Angel could be relied upon to sit back and simply watch Cordelia and Hebe, Jane’s aunt, admire and play with the child. Not that Cordelia would ever quibble over the bliss of having Angel’s company, and he *did* always seem to be very mellow and content after the visits.
Today, Hebe had rushed breathlessly in to Angel Investigations, pushing Jane along in her brand new sapphire-blue City Jogger, the colour, of course, selected by Cordelia to enhance the occupant’s baby blue eyes. Hebe was running late for a solarium and manicure appointment and looking to replace her failed babysitter with Cordelia. With a quick exchange revolving around Jane’s next feed and the mysteries of the diaper bag, Hebe was gone.
Jane didn’t take long to make her presence felt in the office. The stinky aroma rising from the cute little denim overall was as deadly in its sudden advent as it was in its scent.
Cordelia, discussing the news of the day with Jane, was momentarily stunned but stout-heartedly called on the depths of her inner resolve. “Okay - I can do this....I cando this,” she muttered encouragingly. Jane was transported at arms length to the comfy couch in Angel’s office and plumped securely on the cushions.
When Angel sauntered up the stairs a few minutes later he found the reception area deserted and a gentle gurgling noise issuing from his office along with a vile odour. Used to seeing Cordelia in his office, picking up files, searching for a lost note or sitting comfortably reading a magazine, Angel was taken aback to find her on her knees in front of the couch with a wriggly, chuckling baby. Cordelia’s face, a study in seriously pale concentration, was averted from the white lumpy mass in her hand.
“Cordelia? What’s Jane doing here?” he asked in surprise.
“Ugh!” Cordelia wrinkled her nose in disgust, ignoring the question. “Take this away from me would you?”
“Um...sure. What is it?”
“Please, just put it in a plastic bag.”
“Yeah, but...”
“Now would be good, Angel. Ten questions later, okay?”
Angel disappeared with the bundle and Cordelia finished dressing an amused Jane.
He came back into the room slowly. “Cordelia - that...thing...was that...the smelly thing...was that....”
“A poohy diaper? Yes ... real, live, worse-than-any-slime-demon-I’ve-ever-met baby pooh!”
Angel looked at the smiling baby and down to his hands. “I’ll just go wash,” he murmured.
“Hurry up!” Cordelia called after the retreating vampire, “This little girl wants fed!” Cordelia picked up Jane and balanced the baby on her hip, wandering around the office until Angel returned.
“Where’s Hebe,” he asked.
“Solarium, then manicure and, if she can get in, a facial. She and Clive are going out tonight for their anniversary.”
“Oh. Are we....you.... looking after Jane this evening as well?”
“No. Hebe’s mom will do the honours.” Cordelia held Jane out to Angel. “Here, take Jane while I get her bottle ready.”
Jane gazed intently at Angel. Angel did his best to smile pleasantly back at her, gingerly sitting on the couch with the baby on one knee. She was far more wriggly than she had been the last time Angel held her, nearly seven months ago. At least, Angel reassured himself, if Jane fell she would have a soft landing on the cushions of the couch. Jane’s attention had been caught by Angel’s nose; she continued to gaze, wide-eyed. Angel, his smile now slightly frozen-looking, returned the regard.
“Okay, tucker-time, Jane!” cooed Cordelia, baby-bottle in hand. The fixed grin on Angel’s face made Cordelia stop, bottle mid-air. “Angel, you don’t have to smile all the time. You look like one of the those clowns at a the fair waiting for a ball to be shoved down your throat. Do you want to frighten Jane?”
“Um...no....sorry...” he started but was interrupted by the phone on Cordelia’s desk as it let out a muted cry.
“Ugh! Here, take this...feed her,” said Cordelia, putting the warm bottle into Angel’s unwilling hand. “You don’t have to do anything, just hold it in her mouth, Jane will do the rest,” and she pressed her hand against Angel’s broad shoulder, pushing him back into the cushions. “Let her lean on your chest...that’s right!”
Angel was alone, again, with Jane. The baby happily fed herself, relaxing against Angel’s body, two plump legs straddling one large thigh, her small foot bumping negligently against the side of his leg as she slurped at the bottle. He looked down at the top of the dusky head, wispy dark curls lightly covering the pale skin. Tentatively, Angel stroked the silky soft hair.
“Hey,” said Cordelia softly from the doorway, “now there’s a sight!” Angel glanced up with a reticent smile.
“Do you want me to take over?” Cordelia asked as she joined the pair on the couch.
“We’re good,” said Angel confidently. Jane indicated her satisfaction with the meal by plucking the teat from her mouth and throwing the bottle onto the floor.
Cordelia left the vampire and the half-demon infant to become better acquainted, sure that at the first sign of a quivering lip or a disgruntled frown, from either party, she would be called on to intervene.The high-pitched squeals were unexpected. Cordelia, curious, poked her head in to Angel’s office. At first she couldn’t see Jane or Angel, but another squeal and a muffled “gotcha” indicated the two were under the large desk. In a moment, with another cheeping squeal, Jane came hurtling at full crawl around the side of the desk, followed by a large growling man in black, shuffling along on his hands and knees.
Cordelia, eyes-wide, was torn between dashing for the cam-corder or staying to marvel at the scene. She stayed, hugging herself tightly and trying not to burst into laughter, or tears, or both.
Angel caught sight of Cordelia and brought the game of chase to an end by scooping up the gurgling baby.
“Do you want to see what we can do?” he asked Cordelia with a broad grin. “Ready Jane? Hold still,” and without waiting for a reply from Cordelia, he sat Jane on the palm of his hand, steadied her and slowly began to move the baby up and down at arm’s length. Entranced with the motion, Jane sat mesmerised until Angel raised her a little higher and let her drop with more speed, forcing another high-pitched squeal of delight, before gathering her up quickly in both arms.
“Angel!” Cordelia almost sqeaked, “Careful - she’s not ours - we have to give her back!”
“Not ours?” he repeated, the smile fading. He gazed down at Cordelia with a growing hunger, “Not....ours?”
“Well....not yours....” Cordelia corrected herself.
“I liked the implication behind ‘not ours’...” he said gruffly.
“Don’t...please,” asked Cordelia, not wanting to be reminded of the scroll’s very tenuous promises.
“You wouldn’t like children - someday?”
he persisted. Oh wouldn't she just! Angel's children that was, if it was ever possible, considering curses, scrolls and the years rolling by. “Someday might not happen - not in time - for me. Or you might change your mind if it does and...”
Angel grasped Cordelia’s waist with his free hand and crushed her talking mouth with a reckless kiss. A short, but very sweet, kiss as Jane, quickly bunched onto Angel’s hip, flapped at his cheek to remind this new idol of her all-important existence.
“Huh,” said Angel as he reluctantly released the misty-eyed Cordelia, “Jane’s not into sharing much!”
“You’re her new best friend,” she told Angel, proudly. Cordelia held her arms out to the child. “My turn,” she said with a valiant smile.
“Alright,” said Angel, relinquishing the little girl, “but I know you can’t make her laugh like I can.”
“Of course not! We have too many serious girl issues to discuss - like... the best brands of nail-polish...how to find a good man...” Cordelia carried Jane back to her stroller.
“You need to find a good man?” he asked, confused.
“Oh, no - I have one,” she looked back over her shoulder and threw him a smile, “but Jane needs some tips.”
“What if you have a son one day - what will you teach him?”
“Easy - I’ll show him how to be a good man!”
“Mmmm? How?”
“Just tell him to mind his daddy and learn from the very best good man I know!”
“Cordelia...when you talk like that...I, uh...I...I..”
Jane was buckled back into her stroller and her busy hands filled with a soft toy. Cordelia turned back to her stutteringly good vampire, wrapped him in a comforting embrace and soothed the burden from his voice with a calming kiss.
Jane waved the plump purple pig gleefully before throwing it to the ground with a happy squeal. Bad, irresponsible baby-sitters that they were, neither Cordelia nor Angel noticed.
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Disclaimer: The characters are Joss Whedon's, Mutant Enemy's and probably a heap of other people about
whom I know nothing.
I lay no claim to ownership of the characters, I simply like to ask them out to play now and then.