“The what:?” I stared at the paper envelope in my hand disbelievingly. I knew Lilah was good, but that she could work miracle was perhaps something I ought to have known as well. My hands were trembling for some odd reason. Which probably only was because this was so important to me. A new road to walk and one I was determined not to mess up. I wasn’t going to mess up the lives of the girls the way my live had been one big sodding mess.
“Girls behave toward Miss Morgan,” I murmured absentmindedly. I closed the door while still staring at the envelope as though it was going to bite me. After some hesitation I walked over to my desk and reached for my letter opener. And even then it took me some time to open the envelope.
“That costume was pretty hot,” Alicia admitted grudgingly. “But not as cool as Cordelia’s.” Nodding at the, she kept giving Lilah a weary glance. And me as well while I still stood there trying to force myself to look at the papers.
“What’s Cwustady?” I heard Marilee ask and from the corner of my eyes I saw her carefully tugging Lilah’s skirt while she looked up at the woman with those large blue eyes.
I watched Wes curiously, as he drifted in a daze over to his desk to get a letter opener. He looked terrified and exstatic all at the same time. A smile came to the corner of my lips as I watched him. It felt a little good knowing that something I did was the reason for it.
Oh my god. I did not just say that. Lilah Morgan did NOT just say that. What is it about this guy that could do that to me. I forced the smile off my face quickly. "It wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but your do-gooder record and a testamony from Beverly Tierny helped a lot."
The girls were speaking again. I lowered my gaze to Alicia and tried again not to smile as she told me my costume was "hot". "Well that was the point wasn't it? Hot, Devil. The two seem to be synonomus." Did little kids know that word? "Um," I blinked. "They go together..."
My skirt. It was caught on something. I swear if I get a snag in this $200 skirt on some stupid nail in Wesley's dark old apartment I swear I'll....okay. Not a nail. Marilee tugged gently at it while asking me what "Cwustady" was. I bent my knees, so that I was closer to her. But only to get her to stop tugging at my skirt. (At least that is what I told myself, it didn't have anything to do with her big blue eyes...)
"It means that Wes is going to take care of you..." I explained. "I got some papers for him that say no one can take you two away from him."
What is this? Some after school special? Jesus. I stood up quickly, and straightened my skirt.
“But he already takes are of us,” I heard Alicia say, she sounded confused. I glanced over my shoulder and smiled at her and Marilee as they looked over at me.
Marilee tugged on Lilah skirt again as I rummaged around for the brief opener. Funny, I could’ve sworn it was right here on this very desk this very morning. I finally spotted it and reached out, noticing my hands were trembling a little. I know I had asked for this, I know that I wanted this. To have the girls officially belong to me in a way. But the fact that it now *was* official was frightening.
What if I messed things up? Just like my father had. What if I did it wrong? What if Giles can’t give me a full time job? I can’t stay at Wolfram and Hart now, it wouldn’t’ be right for the girl. What if… ? Picking up the brief opener resolutely, I I took a deep breath and opened the envelope. Part of me was still wondering if this was some kind of trick. It would be like the old games Lilah and I used to play, but for some reason I didn’t think Lilah was playing games with me now.
“Why does need pawpers to take care of us?” Marilee asked in that soft voice of her when she got Lilah’s attention.
“Because he’s bookboy,” Alicia said, echoing Cordelia’s words, and if I’d look over she would’ve even added that trade mark eye roll as well. “Y’know, they’re like a pacifier to him. Right?” I could feel her eyes on me and glanced over as I plucked the papers out of the envelope.
“I do not, and I’m standing right here Alicia,” I muttered, unfolding the papers.
“Sorry,” she muttered, but I did notice her casting a curious eye at Lilah, as though she needed her conformation.
Wes looked like he was silently panicking in the corner by his desk while searching for god only knows what, leaving me with Mary-Kate and Ashley here.
How was I supposed to explain legal proccedures and laws to a six year old? I attempted to keep a semi-annoyed look off my face as I looked back down at Alicia. "Yeah, well even though he was taking care of you, someone still could have taken you away and put you in an orphanage if they wanted to...now because of those papers," I nodded in Wes's direction, "They can't do that anymore.
Despite Alicia's increasingly accurate impersonation of Miss Chase (so, I know she was all evil..but there are still some sour grapes. Sue me.) I had to laugh. She was right after all. Wes was "bookboy".
"Aw ya do too Wes." I said still laughing mildly. I was eying the two girls as warily as they were currently eyeballing me. I'm sure neither of us knew quite what to make of the other...
Clearing my throat, I looked at Wesley. "So, I just need your John Handcock on those, I'll makes some copies, and everything is official. Well, pending a meeting with you and," I looked at Alica and Marilee "the girls with Judge Reinholt at the end of the month."
The glare I tosses at Lilah when she agreed with Alicia, was out before I even realized it. “Don’t you start too. I recall you saying completely different….Errrr….” My eyes darted toward the girls who were looking at me with eyes that were far to innocent for this world and cleared my throat.
Right, papers. Quickly I turned around and sank into the desk chair, carefully reading the papers Lilah had brought with. I heard her explain what they were for to the girl and apparently Marilee had gotten enough information to gather in her only five year old brain. She padded over to where I sat and tugged on my arm long enough for me to hold it and then wriggled to sit in my lap. My arm circled around her protectively while I read the papers.
“So,” Alicia asked, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow at Lilah. “You two go like totally way back then? Did he pull your pigtails at school? Cause Tommy Davenport does that.” She leaned in and I pretended not to listen or hear her. “He so has the hots for me,” he told Lilah with narrowed eyes. “Ewww.”
“How did you get this done so fast, Lilah?” I asked, interrupting the moment of small confidence as I turned back to them. “No never mind, I don’t think I really want to know, do I? Wait, what? Why does this judge want to see me, and more specifically the girls?”
Well, he did pull my pigtails once, but I hardly think that is appropriate subject matter for Alicia here to be listening to. I hid a smile behind my hand as she leaned in close to me and whispered about Tommy Davenport. "It's tough being the girl that all the boys want." I whispered back.
I turned back to Wesley. "For your information Mr Wyndam-Pryce I did everything right. No bribes, no threats, everything was taken care of the good 'n plenty way. Girl Scouts honor. You just happened to have an exceptionally fabulous attorney, and a judge who was getting sick of my constant phone calls." I kept one eye on Alicia who was still eyeing me, and walked over to the desk where Wes was sitting with the smaller one. "It's a requirement baby doll." I said playing with my manicured nails.
"The judge needs to meet with you and the girls to make sure that they are recieving the proper care. Everything should be fine."
“Yeah,” Alicia nodded seriously, thought still doubtful about the fact if she should be sharing this with Lilah of all…women. “Like totally tough, and annoying and way with the eeew.”
I ignored the girl talk for now, still stuck on the fact that this judge wanted to see me and the girls soon. Did that mean I had to buy them ‘going to court clothes?’. And what if Alicia had one of her tamper tantrums right in front of the man? Would that make me an unfit…caretaker, guardian,…parent? And suddenly I was back to being nervous again.
My arms wrapped around Marilee as I got up and tightened just a tiny bit. I walked over to where Lilah was whispering with Alicia - and how disconcerting was that? - worry clearly in my eyes. “And what if he decides I’m unfit to take care of them after all then?” I asked her quietly.
“Can the juwdge take away my boo?” Marilee whispered, aiming those big blue eyes at Lilah as she clutched the ….wombat, hedgehog whatever that stuffed toy was, closer to her small body.
I looked Wesley straight in the eye. The worry behind his big browns was almost cute. "Look Pryce," I said moving closer to him out of habit, then moving quickly back again at the sight of the little girl in his arms. "Technically you and the girls should have been at the first hearing. But since I didn't think it would be such a great idea to drag these two into court so soon after..." I paused looking at Alicia and Marilee, "after everything, I convinced the Judge to grant temporary custody. All you will have to do is show the judge that these two aren't eating out of the trash can or wearing rags for clothes and everything will be fine."
I sighed. "He won't decide that you are unfit to care for them. Because he knows if he does, then he will have me contesting up his ass for years. Besides, you're obviously great with these two...you don't have anything to worry your little British head about...Boo?" I looked blankly at Wes as the littler one blinked her enormous blue eyes at me. "Is this some kind of kid-speak? What's a boo?"
When she called me Pryce in the past, I used to hate that. I still do, come to think of it. Probably because I refer to Pryce myself when I’m trying to talk some sense into me. Which happens a scaringly lot. So when Lilah called my Pryce, my eyes automatically narrowed and my jaw clenched. This was too important to me for any kind of joke. The lives of those two girls were at stake here, and quite possibly mine. I can’t really imagine mine without them any longer.
And to be honest, I was a bit taken aback by how thoughtful Lilah turned out to be. I gave her a small smile, because I knew it had to be there underneath that hard layer, that hard exterior she let everyone see. I’d seen it before, Hell she’s seen mine. Not that this matters now. But the fact that she had thought about how it would effect the girls in court didn’t really surprise me, only somewhat. The fact that she chose now to think of the girls, as they were near, made me smile.
I still was nervous about this judge wanting to see us though. Can’t someone from childfare come by and take a look? Or are they even worse? I mean, how can he ‘judge’ from just an hour of a talk? The girls will be nervous, I’ll be nervous and he owes Lilah I gather from her words. I really don’t want to know.
“Boo,” Marilee whispered, holding her up Boo proudly so Lilah could see the….thing.
“That’s a hedgehog,” Alicia clarified, as though this was a secret.
“Wobat!” Marilee insisted.
“It’s a very lovely Wombathedgehog and Marilee’s best friend. Don‘t worry sweetheart, they won‘t take Boo away from you,” I quickly added, hugging the little girl closer. Alicia grinned at me, resting her head on my hip while gazing up at Lilah. I put my arm around her small shoulder and tried to let this all settle down. They were really mine to take care off. God, I *really* needed that job with Giles now.
“He’s so easy…” Alicia grinned at Lilah. “Miss Cordy is…”
“Excuse me?” I glared down at the girl, raising my eyebrow. I’m not sure what worried me more, the she just called me a…that. Or the mention of Cordelia.
“Sorry,” Alicia shrugged. “Can I have a cookie?”
“What? Oh yes, of course. But only one, we’ve just had dinner.”
Alicia nodded, and then walked away giving Lilah a small wink. I turned to look at Lilah confused. What was all that about? Bloody hell, women. And I just gained two of them to raise.
I sucked in a breath at the semi-chaos that seemed to be surrounding me. I couldn't believe that Wesley was going to take on these two little girls. Wesley with his books and his perfectly ordered everything had just gotten custody of 2 children. Who would have thought? Well, I suppose it wasn't too large of a shock, what with the bleeding heart syndrome that he and the rest of the "gang" all seem to have. "I can make a few calls. See if I can have social services stop by instead. I'll let you know by the end of the week."
I blinked at the furry thing that had been shoved partially under my nose. Followed shortly by an argument as to the exact species of said furball. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.
"He's so easy..." At this I did allow myself to smile. Even this six year old had already figured out Wes's weaknesses. I grinned as she apologized then got the cookie she wanted anyway. I dropped a wink back at her as she flounced off toward the kitchen.
"Watch out Wes." I said, "I think you may have taken on more than you can handle with that one."
Have a social worker come here? I glanced around in a bit of a panic. I suppose I’d better clean up then. And get them two bed and…things. They were sharing the guestroom now, which had only one bed. I’d better tell this…person that we’re looking for a new place to stay as well. Where they can each have their own room. And toys and clothes and then there’s school. I need to get them to a different school, I really hate the old one. Reminds me a bit to much of my schools.
Oh god! I have so much to so! And of course Cordelia and Angel will be no help. They’re ‘connecting’ again, as they call it these days. I try not to think to much of this ‘connecting’ they may or may not do. They both know the risks. They’ll be careful. I hope. Christ.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed the panic away and glanced over at Lilah before staring over my shoulder at Alicia. I was? She was just like Cordy, I knew how to handle Cordy. So Alicia would be no…problem. Damn. I hate it when she’s right. “She’s a good kid,” I said, raising my eyebrow as Alicia grabbed two cookies. She gave me a sheepish look and then quickly handed one over to Marilee.
“See?” I said, glancing back toward Lilah with some pride. Of course I was well aware Alicia’s idea was to take both cookies. I wasn’t fooled *that* easily. Seriously now.
As I mentioned social services coming by his apartment, he once again looked utterly terrified. I just couldn't win with this guy. Was he this inconsistant when we were together? Jesus Christ.
"I never denied that she was a good kid," I said smiling gently at him. "I just said that you will have your hands full."
I watched the three of them for a moment. Wesley holding Marilee who was reaching her chubby hands out for the cookie that Alicia was handing her. They were there own little family now. And Wes seemed genuinely happy. I suddenly felt very claustrophobic. Let's just say that happy families were never my forte. I had helped Wesley out like I said I would, and I now felt very much the fifth wheel.
"I should go. I just wanted to give you the papers myself. If you have any other questions, just call my office."
I threw my purse strap over my shoulder and twirled my car keys around in my fingers. "See ya around Wes. Bye girls."
With that, I bolted for the door as fast as I could manage. Once I got outside in my car, I rolled the top down. I suddenly needed a lot of fresh air.
“Girls behave toward Miss Morgan,” I murmured absentmindedly. I closed the door while still staring at the envelope as though it was going to bite me. After some hesitation I walked over to my desk and reached for my letter opener. And even then it took me some time to open the envelope.
“That costume was pretty hot,” Alicia admitted grudgingly. “But not as cool as Cordelia’s.” Nodding at the, she kept giving Lilah a weary glance. And me as well while I still stood there trying to force myself to look at the papers.
“What’s Cwustady?” I heard Marilee ask and from the corner of my eyes I saw her carefully tugging Lilah’s skirt while she looked up at the woman with those large blue eyes.
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Oh my god. I did not just say that. Lilah Morgan did NOT just say that. What is it about this guy that could do that to me. I forced the smile off my face quickly. "It wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but your do-gooder record and a testamony from Beverly Tierny helped a lot."
The girls were speaking again. I lowered my gaze to Alicia and tried again not to smile as she told me my costume was "hot". "Well that was the point wasn't it? Hot, Devil. The two seem to be synonomus." Did little kids know that word? "Um," I blinked. "They go together..."
My skirt. It was caught on something. I swear if I get a snag in this $200 skirt on some stupid nail in Wesley's dark old apartment I swear I'll....okay. Not a nail. Marilee tugged gently at it while asking me what "Cwustady" was. I bent my knees, so that I was closer to her. But only to get her to stop tugging at my skirt. (At least that is what I told myself, it didn't have anything to do with her big blue eyes...)
"It means that Wes is going to take care of you..." I explained. "I got some papers for him that say no one can take you two away from him."
What is this? Some after school special? Jesus. I stood up quickly, and straightened my skirt.
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Marilee tugged on Lilah skirt again as I rummaged around for the brief opener. Funny, I could’ve sworn it was right here on this very desk this very morning. I finally spotted it and reached out, noticing my hands were trembling a little. I know I had asked for this, I know that I wanted this. To have the girls officially belong to me in a way. But the fact that it now *was* official was frightening.
What if I messed things up? Just like my father had. What if I did it wrong? What if Giles can’t give me a full time job? I can’t stay at Wolfram and Hart now, it wouldn’t’ be right for the girl. What if… ? Picking up the brief opener resolutely, I I took a deep breath and opened the envelope. Part of me was still wondering if this was some kind of trick. It would be like the old games Lilah and I used to play, but for some reason I didn’t think Lilah was playing games with me now.
“Why does need pawpers to take care of us?” Marilee asked in that soft voice of her when she got Lilah’s attention.
“Because he’s bookboy,” Alicia said, echoing Cordelia’s words, and if I’d look over she would’ve even added that trade mark eye roll as well. “Y’know, they’re like a pacifier to him. Right?” I could feel her eyes on me and glanced over as I plucked the papers out of the envelope.
“I do not, and I’m standing right here Alicia,” I muttered, unfolding the papers.
“Sorry,” she muttered, but I did notice her casting a curious eye at Lilah, as though she needed her conformation.
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How was I supposed to explain legal proccedures and laws to a six year old? I attempted to keep a semi-annoyed look off my face as I looked back down at Alicia. "Yeah, well even though he was taking care of you, someone still could have taken you away and put you in an orphanage if they wanted to...now because of those papers," I nodded in Wes's direction, "They can't do that anymore.
Despite Alicia's increasingly accurate impersonation of Miss Chase (so, I know she was all evil..but there are still some sour grapes. Sue me.) I had to laugh. She was right after all. Wes was "bookboy".
"Aw ya do too Wes." I said still laughing mildly. I was eying the two girls as warily as they were currently eyeballing me. I'm sure neither of us knew quite what to make of the other...
Clearing my throat, I looked at Wesley. "So, I just need your John Handcock on those, I'll makes some copies, and everything is official. Well, pending a meeting with you and," I looked at Alica and Marilee "the girls with Judge Reinholt at the end of the month."
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Right, papers. Quickly I turned around and sank into the desk chair, carefully reading the papers Lilah had brought with. I heard her explain what they were for to the girl and apparently Marilee had gotten enough information to gather in her only five year old brain. She padded over to where I sat and tugged on my arm long enough for me to hold it and then wriggled to sit in my lap. My arm circled around her protectively while I read the papers.
“So,” Alicia asked, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow at Lilah. “You two go like totally way back then? Did he pull your pigtails at school? Cause Tommy Davenport does that.” She leaned in and I pretended not to listen or hear her. “He so has the hots for me,” he told Lilah with narrowed eyes. “Ewww.”
“How did you get this done so fast, Lilah?” I asked, interrupting the moment of small confidence as I turned back to them. “No never mind, I don’t think I really want to know, do I? Wait, what? Why does this judge want to see me, and more specifically the girls?”
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I turned back to Wesley. "For your information Mr Wyndam-Pryce I did everything right. No bribes, no threats, everything was taken care of the good 'n plenty way. Girl Scouts honor. You just happened to have an exceptionally fabulous attorney, and a judge who was getting sick of my constant phone calls." I kept one eye on Alicia who was still eyeing me, and walked over to the desk where Wes was sitting with the smaller one. "It's a requirement baby doll." I said playing with my manicured nails.
"The judge needs to meet with you and the girls to make sure that they are recieving the proper care. Everything should be fine."
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I ignored the girl talk for now, still stuck on the fact that this judge wanted to see me and the girls soon. Did that mean I had to buy them ‘going to court clothes?’. And what if Alicia had one of her tamper tantrums right in front of the man? Would that make me an unfit…caretaker, guardian,…parent? And suddenly I was back to being nervous again.
My arms wrapped around Marilee as I got up and tightened just a tiny bit. I walked over to where Lilah was whispering with Alicia - and how disconcerting was that? - worry clearly in my eyes. “And what if he decides I’m unfit to take care of them after all then?” I asked her quietly.
“Can the juwdge take away my boo?” Marilee whispered, aiming those big blue eyes at Lilah as she clutched the ….wombat, hedgehog whatever that stuffed toy was, closer to her small body.
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I sighed. "He won't decide that you are unfit to care for them. Because he knows if he does, then he will have me contesting up his ass for years. Besides, you're obviously great with these two...you don't have anything to worry your little British head about...Boo?" I looked blankly at Wes as the littler one blinked her enormous blue eyes at me. "Is this some kind of kid-speak? What's a boo?"
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And to be honest, I was a bit taken aback by how thoughtful Lilah turned out to be. I gave her a small smile, because I knew it had to be there underneath that hard layer, that hard exterior she let everyone see. I’d seen it before, Hell she’s seen mine. Not that this matters now. But the fact that she had thought about how it would effect the girls in court didn’t really surprise me, only somewhat. The fact that she chose now to think of the girls, as they were near, made me smile.
I still was nervous about this judge wanting to see us though. Can’t someone from childfare come by and take a look? Or are they even worse? I mean, how can he ‘judge’ from just an hour of a talk? The girls will be nervous, I’ll be nervous and he owes Lilah I gather from her words. I really don’t want to know.
“Boo,” Marilee whispered, holding her up Boo proudly so Lilah could see the….thing.
“That’s a hedgehog,” Alicia clarified, as though this was a secret.
“Wobat!” Marilee insisted.
“It’s a very lovely Wombathedgehog and Marilee’s best friend. Don‘t worry sweetheart, they won‘t take Boo away from you,” I quickly added, hugging the little girl closer. Alicia grinned at me, resting her head on my hip while gazing up at Lilah. I put my arm around her small shoulder and tried to let this all settle down. They were really mine to take care off. God, I *really* needed that job with Giles now.
“He’s so easy…” Alicia grinned at Lilah. “Miss Cordy is…”
“Excuse me?” I glared down at the girl, raising my eyebrow. I’m not sure what worried me more, the she just called me a…that. Or the mention of Cordelia.
“Sorry,” Alicia shrugged. “Can I have a cookie?”
“What? Oh yes, of course. But only one, we’ve just had dinner.”
Alicia nodded, and then walked away giving Lilah a small wink. I turned to look at Lilah confused. What was all that about? Bloody hell, women. And I just gained two of them to raise.
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I blinked at the furry thing that had been shoved partially under my nose. Followed shortly by an argument as to the exact species of said furball. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.
"He's so easy..." At this I did allow myself to smile. Even this six year old had already figured out Wes's weaknesses. I grinned as she apologized then got the cookie she wanted anyway. I dropped a wink back at her as she flounced off toward the kitchen.
"Watch out Wes." I said, "I think you may have taken on more than you can handle with that one."
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Oh god! I have so much to so! And of course Cordelia and Angel will be no help. They’re ‘connecting’ again, as they call it these days. I try not to think to much of this ‘connecting’ they may or may not do. They both know the risks. They’ll be careful. I hope. Christ.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed the panic away and glanced over at Lilah before staring over my shoulder at Alicia. I was? She was just like Cordy, I knew how to handle Cordy. So Alicia would be no…problem. Damn. I hate it when she’s right. “She’s a good kid,” I said, raising my eyebrow as Alicia grabbed two cookies. She gave me a sheepish look and then quickly handed one over to Marilee.
“See?” I said, glancing back toward Lilah with some pride. Of course I was well aware Alicia’s idea was to take both cookies. I wasn’t fooled *that* easily. Seriously now.
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"I never denied that she was a good kid," I said smiling gently at him. "I just said that you will have your hands full."
I watched the three of them for a moment. Wesley holding Marilee who was reaching her chubby hands out for the cookie that Alicia was handing her. They were there own little family now. And Wes seemed genuinely happy. I suddenly felt very claustrophobic. Let's just say that happy families were never my forte. I had helped Wesley out like I said I would, and I now felt very much the fifth wheel.
"I should go. I just wanted to give you the papers myself. If you have any other questions, just call my office."
I threw my purse strap over my shoulder and twirled my car keys around in my fingers. "See ya around Wes. Bye girls."
With that, I bolted for the door as fast as I could manage. Once I got outside in my car, I rolled the top down. I suddenly needed a lot of fresh air.
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