FIC: Connor's First Christmas! (Part 2)
Title: Connor’s First Christmas (Part 2)
Author:
lullaby_gg
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything related to Angel. Joss and the rest of the producers own it all.
Rating: PG-15 Warnings: Bad language and very mild discipline.
Notes: I’m very glad for the response I’ve gotten for the first part, so as I promised, here’s the second. Hope you like it and I really would appreciate any comments on this. Also I wanted to tell you that this will be probably updated until Saturday, because I’m going out of town tomorrow and don’t really know when I’m coming back. Also I apologize for any mistakes, since this is not beta-ed.
Additional Note : The beginning of this part explains Christmas and its origin according to Christian (or in my case, Catholic) religion. I however, have no intention to offend anyone’s beliefs so I hope you take this as a simple story and nothing else. It's not meant to bore you or anything :)
PART 2
“I’m so outta here!” Connor exclaimed a few seconds after he was left alone with his father only. The truth was, they still seemed to have some unresolved issues and he definitely didn’t want any alone time with dear ol’ dad. He then, started to walk towards the main entrance but was stopped when Angel grabbed his wrist.
“What do you think you are doing?” his father asked with a calmed voice. It was not a reprimand, but more of a real question.
“I told you, I’m outta here! I don’t know what the hell Cordy wanted us to do. But I’m certainly not doing anything anywhere near you!” he yelled at his father while trying to free himself from the strong grip that was holding him back.
“Connor, please, let’s just-” Angel knew it was going to be hard, but getting the kid to stay with him had always been an issue between them.
“I’m not going to stay until someone explains me what the hell is going on!” the kid screamed. And Angel realized the kid must be kind of frightened too. He remembered the first time the kid saw a radio, a TV or an answering machine. For him, they were all witchcrafts and evil. Maybe he was also a little scared of all the lights and the possibility of a weird ceremonial.
“I’m going to try to explain it all to you, Connor. I just don’t know where to start,” the vampire said calmly and putting a hand over his head to think.
“You can start at the beginning,” Connor said kind of sarcastically. The kid had learned a thing or two about that, too.
“Yes, I know I should start at the beginning, but the thing is the beginning was over two thousand years ago maybe even more,” Angel did his best to break it down as simple as it could be. And this was just the start. Damn it!
Connor barely opened his mouth to retort something when Angel spoke raising a finger to indicate that the kid should remain silent. “And before you say something like, ‘maybe you’ve lived two thousand years and saw it’. Since you’re always mocking my age. No, I wasn’t there when it happened but I will tell you what supposedly went on according to the Christians, alright?”
Connor only nodded, seeming fairly interested with what his father had to say. He never had the chance to be a kid and have bed-time stories read or told to him, so this was the first time he’d actually gotten that opportunity. And although he didn’t know why, it was very exciting. He sat on the lobby’s floor and looked up to his father with his bright blue eyes, listening carefully while Angel started his story seated on the round couch.
Well, how do I start? God! Why didn’t Cordy ask me to explain Halloween to him? I would have been far easier than this, he already knows about witches and monsters! Anyways…
“Well, son, you see… umm… once upon a time…” I’m not sure that’s the right way to start this story… “When Rome, which is a city, was a great Empire ruled by Caesar Augustus and Israel was governed by King Herod, in the village of Nazareth lived Joseph and Mary. Joseph was a carpenter and Mary was a young virgin who would become his wife,” Angel tried to explain as easily as un-humanly possible.
“What’s a virgin?” Connor asked all of a sudden; understanding everything but that word.
Great, now I have to tell him this story and have ‘the talk’ with him too. Great! Just great!
“Well, Connor, a virgin is someone that is pure. That hasn’t committed any sins…” Angel told him simply but paused a little. No way was he going to start talking about sex now, right? So not what he wanted to do. “… or has had sexual relations,” he felt himself muttering the last part through gritted teeth.
To his back luck Connor had as good enhanced hearing as he himself, so he actually heard his father’s last comment.
“So she hadn’t mated before?” Connor asked, trying to be sure he’d gotten the message right.
Mated? Where did he get that word? “Well, yes. Technically.”
“Ohh…” Connor responded and nodded in understanding and as a sign that Angel could keep going with the story.
“Anyways, Mary told Joseph of a dream in which she was visited by an angel who told her she had been chosen to bear the Son of God and his name was to be Jesus,” he continued; trying to use very simple words so that he didn’t have to answer any more awkward questionings from his offspring.
“The Son of God?” Connor asked incredulously. “But I thought you said she hadn’t mated before, so how did she get pregnant from God?” the kid bombarded his father with all sorts of questions that came to his mind.
“Technically, yes. And well, I think she got pregnant through the Holy Spirit,” Angel tried to reason something coherent to make his son understand.
“A spirit? Aren’t spirits evil? They haunt places and kill people don’t they?” Connor asked his father.
“Not all spirits are evil, I guess,” he told him, hoping this would satisfy this too-curious-for-his-own-good child. No such luck.
“But besides, to have children you must be married and she obviously wasn’t married to God, was she? She was married to that other man, right?”
“Well, yes, but she-” Angel felt overwhelmed with all his son’s questions and found out that he didn’t really know what to say, so instead of answering the kid, he asked him another question, “Who told you that to have children you must be married?”
“Holtz used to say that. That’s why I was so bad. Because you and mom weren’t married when I was born. I was a mistake,” Connor said, remembering with sadness all those times Holtz had told him he was evil and there was a monster inside of him because both of his parents were monsters.
Angel felt both rage towards Holtz and sadness for his son. How could he have told him he was bad for something he didn’t even do and wasn’t responsible for! He felt his hand travel to his chest in the place of his un-beating heart. Angel then stood up and reached down to help his kid to stand. He hugged him so tightly. And for the first time ever, Connor tried to hug back.
“I’m so sorry, Connor. I’m sorry we couldn’t get to you in time. I’m sorry for everything that’s happened between us, son. But the one thing that I can assure you is that you were definitely NOT a mistake. You are the most wonderful thing that ever happened to your mother and me,” he said breaking the hug and looking at Connor straight in the eye.
“My mother died because of me,” Connor said through watery eyes. “She knew I was bad so she killed herself!”
“You mother sacrificed herself for you. Because she wanted you to live; she wanted you to be happy,” Angel held his son close to his chest again, putting his chin over the kid’s messy hair.
“I… I don’t know,” Connor said a little frustrated.
“Well, what do you say if I continue with the story?” Angel said seating on the round couch and having Connor next to him.
Connor nodded between a little sniffle in order for Angel to move onto the story.
“Where was I? Oh yes… One day the emperor sent notice that all persons were to register for a new tax. They were instructed to return to the towns of their birth. Joseph and Mary left Nazareth for Bethlehem, because that’s where they were from. Mary, who was with child, and close to the birth, rode on a donkey while Joseph walked beside her. They traveled for many days and only rested at night,” his father kept going.
“They should have run. Donkeys are really slow,” came Connor’s enlightening comment.
“Well, yes, but not all people can run as fast as we can, you know? And besides Mary was pregnant so she couldn’t exactly run,” his father offered the best explanation he could think of. The vampire also tried not to laugh at the thought of the story being like ‘they ran all the way to Bethlehem’.
“Oh, okay,” Connor seemed to think about it too, and knew that his father was probably right. He hadn’t ever met anyone that was pregnant but was sure that they would be slower like when he ate too much and his stomach seemed to grow bigger.
“Anyhow, when they reached Bethlehem it was night. They looked for a place to rest but there were no empty rooms when they reached the inn. As they were being turned away Joseph mentioned his wife was with child and close to birth. The inn keeper took pity on them and told them of some caves in the nearby hills that shepherds would stay with their cows and sheep,” Angel continued explaining it to his son.
“So they stayed with all the cows and sheep?” Connor asked looking up.
“Yes, they did-” Angel barely said. “Joseph and Mary went up into the hills and found the caves. In one cave was a stable room. Joseph cleaned it and made beds of fresh hay in which they both slept for a little while. He found a feeding trough, which he cleaned and filled with hay to use as a crib,” Angel kept going with the story.
“Was the crib comfortable? It should have been if it was for a new-born baby, right?” Connor’s questions were so innocent.
“I think so,” Angel responded, wondering now the same thing himself. Where does he get all those questions? “And then the next night Mary gave birth to a son who they named him Jesus, as the angel had instructed them to.”
“That’s cool,” Connor said happily.
“Yeah, it is, son. And so, when the child was born a great star appeared over Bethlehem that could be seen for miles around. In the fields nearby shepherds were tending their flocks. An angel appeared to them surrounded by bright light. The shepherds were frightened and tried to run.” Angel exhaled loudly, preparing himself for the next round of questions.
“Was it a demon?” Connor asked immediately. “Did they kill it?”
“Oh, no, they didn’t kill it. It was an angel,” Angel told him.
“You are Angel and lots of people try to kill you,” Connor retorted. ‘Even me ’ he kept in his head.
“Yes, but I would never say I’m AN angel,” his father explained. “Mine is just a name, which is kind of ironic, by the way…”
“Huh?” Connor got lost somewhere in the explanation.
“I think we should get on with the story, shall we?” Angel offered seeing his confused son. “The angel told them they had nothing to fear and that a Savior who is Christ the Lord had been born that very day in Bethlehem,”
“So they didn’t kill him?” Connor asked again.
“No, of course not,” Angel said a bit annoyed. “Why do you want people to get killed in this story?”
“Because it’s cool. I like to hunt, maybe they did too,” Connor responded innocently.
Angel only sighed taking a deep unneeded breath. “Anyway, the angel told them to follow the star towards Bethlehem and find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. After the angel departed the shepherds set out for Bethlehem. When they reached the cave they found the stable and inside was the child wrapped in swaddling clothes,” Angel continued telling the tale.
“Sounds cool,” Connor interjected in a low voice.
“As the star shined over Bethlehem, in the east three kings would see it. They knew it was a sign and they set off to follow the star. There was Caspar - the young King of Tarsus, Melchior - a long bearded old man and leader of Arabia, and Balthazar - the king from Ethiopia. They traveled on camels for many days over the mountains, and through the deserts, and plains. Always following the bright star.”
“Oh… how cool. But if it had been me I wouldn’t have needed the star, I could just have found him by his smell,” Connor commented once more.
Angel stood there and bit a laugh thinking again if the tale had been like Connor described it, it would sound something like ‘The three kings smelled their way to Bethlehem’. He settled down a little and only said, “Yes, son, you are a very good tracker.”
“When they finally arrived in Bethlehem they found the child in the manger. The 3 kings bowed to their knees and offered gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They would stay the night in the cave and the next day returned to their lands to spread the news. The End,” Angel said and sighed loudly. This had been more difficult than he thought. He was too old for this.
“Wow!” Connor was a bit impressed by the story. “So that’s the religious stuff, right?”
“Well, yes. Christmas is originally a religious holiday,” Angel told his son who stood up immediately.
“What do you believe?” Connor asked his father.
“What do I believe of what?” Angel hadn’t understood the question.
“What’s your religion?” Connor rephrased it, to see if his father knew what he meant this time.
“Oh… well, I don’t really think I’m a religious guy anymore. So much has happened in my life. And well, there’s also the fact that I can’t step one foot in any church, which makes the whole deal kind of difficult,” Angel tried to make his son understand, but it only seemed to make the kid more and more confused so he decided to add, “I guess deep down I’m still somehow Christian.”
Connor’s face lit up a little. “Sounds good,” he said.
Angel suddenly relaxed a bit and looked at the clock just to feel new stress coming over to him. It was already 8pm! And they hadn’t arranged the Christmas tree and he was sure Cordelia would be back any second and if she found out they hadn’t decorated the tree, she’ll kill him. She’ll think he didn’t want to help and he just would never hear the end of it. They had to hurry.
“I think it’s time we set this thing up, don’t you think?” Angel told Connor while pointing at the tree that was standing right in the middle of the lobby.
“Up where?” Connor asked really confused. He really didn’t understand why they had brought a tree inside the building. Wasn’t it enough with the backyard garden for Cordy?
“No, not up-up. I meant to decorate it,” Angel said calmly. And here he was thinking that the awkward comments would be done with the story. No such luck.
“Why should we decorate it?” Connor asked once again. “That three is going to die. They cut it off instead of leaving some roots. It’s ruined.”
“Well, that’s how it’s supposed to be,” Angel explained. “The three is supposed to last just for the Christmas season…”
“It’s stupid to kill a tree and decorate it, just to let it die at the end of the season,” Connor snorted. He found that tradition ridiculous.
“Well, I guess it is, but that’s how it’s done. So, could we please just decorate it?” Angel sighed deeply. He was really tired and this was just too much. Explaining all the facts of Christmas to a kid wasn’t this hard but to break it down to a know-it-all teenager; that was a true challenge.
“Connor, just this once, could you please do what I ask you to do?” Angel slightly begged.
“No,” answered the teen flatly and rudely, turning around to go as he did so.
Where did the lovely boy who listened to his Christmas story go? Oh he forgot, the kid’s a teenager, they’re bound to change moods in like three seconds.
“Connor,” Angel said with a little more gruff voice and a hint of a warning.
“I said I’m not doing it!” Connor told him with a tone that was a little below a yell. “I don’t even see the point in it! It’s stupid!”
“But I’m asking you to do it, please. Not for me but for Cordy and the guys. They’ll be expecting to have a decorated Christmas tree when they all come back,” Angel tried reasoning with his unruly child, but the kid seemed determined to make him lose his patience. “I know they’ll be disappointed if we don’t do it.”
“They can be disappointed for all I care!” Connor was frustrated. He wasn’t sure why he was acting this way. He did care about the guys but he was a massive mound of mixed feelings that he didn’t even know if he wanted to celebrate Christmas or not. He’d missed all those moments of his childhood and yes, it all was his father’s fault, right? He had lived sixteen years without celebrating it or even knowing it existed, so maybe it wasn’t all that good.
“Connor, c’mon don’t say that,” Angel quietly chastised. He didn’t know where the kid had gotten that attitude, but he was pretty sure he wanted it gone.
“I can say all I want if I want to!” Connor retorted bitterly. He wanted to see how far he could push his father. This was surely a test, without him even knowing it.
“Son, please -” Angel had started to reason once again with his son but his efforts were in vain.
“Fuck you!” Connor suddenly yelled. “Fuck you! Fuck this stupid tree! And to hell with stupid Christmas!” he said while kicking the tree so it fell on the floor and before he got the chance to kick it again once it was down, Angel grabbed his left upper-arm and marched him away from the tree.
“I really don’t know what’s gotten into you,” Angel scolded firmly and then brought his hand to land a very hard swat on Connor’s backside. “But that is not acceptable language,” he kept the reprimand and this time landed three thunderous spanks on the jeans-clad butt. “And kicking the tree wasn’t nice either.” Two more powerful swats came and Connor felt an urge to cover his butt with his hand, but he didn’t. “So, are you done with your tantrum, or do you want a full spanking?” Angel didn’t release him but took a tiny step back so there was more distance between he and his son.
The vampire noticed that his son was lightly sniffling and had hung his head, deciding that looking at his snickers was way better than looking at his father right now. He wanted the kid to make eye contact with him so he put his hand in the boy’s chin and lifted it softly. “I asked you a question and I’m waiting for my answer.”
Connor only nodded and dropped his gaze again.
“Is that a ‘yes I want a full spanking’?” Angel took advantage of the situation in order to make the kid talk.
Connor shook his head frantically and tried to release himself from his father’s grip.
“Well, I didn’t hear your answer, so…” Angel began to march them both to the round couch in which Connor knew from experience nothing good could happen when his father was in this horrible mood so he decided to speak once and for all.
“Wait, No!” Connor said whimpering.
“No what?” Angel asked the confused kid he was holding, but stopped his pace towards the couch.
“It’s over, I promise.” Connor said trying to convince himself as well as his father.
“It better be. I really don’t want to have to do that being this time of the year, okay?” Angel was sincere. His kid was everything he had and he wanted to spend a great time with him and the guys on the holidays.
“’kay” mumbled Connor, really happy he had dodged that close call.
“Okay so, shall we start decorating that tree once and for all?” Angel asked more to be polite than to really ask if Connor wanted to do it, since it was obvious they both were going to have to. “You know, before Cordy gets here and we never hear the end of it.”
“Alrig-” Connor didn’t even get to finish the word when a loud sound made them both turn to the main entrance of the hotel’s lobby and there he was.
A blond, make it more like bleached, vampire stood on the first step of the lobby. He looked confident as always, smelled a little like alcohol perhaps, and wore a trench coat that reminded Connor of his father’s.
“Hello, mates,” he said with a drunken tone and an evil grin. “Santa’s here, boys!” he paused and went down, stopping just at the foot of the few steps “So, who’s been naughty this year, huh?” he said at no one in specific.
And Angel’s jaw just dropped. What in the name of hell was Spike doing there? And why did the Universe hated him so much? ‘Damn Powers That Be, they most have a blast seeing me suffer, right?’
Now everything was lost. They hadn’t decorated the tree, so Cordelia would be furious. His son was still reluctant to all the celebrations and on top of everything he had his strong-willed pretty much hated childe right across the room. There was no way this could possibly get any worse, could it? Nah, never!
But as most people know, you should never say never.
* To.Be.Continued *
Any comments would be great! Thank you all! You rock!
Author:
lullaby_gg
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything related to Angel. Joss and the rest of the producers own it all.
Rating: PG-15 Warnings: Bad language and very mild discipline.
Notes: I’m very glad for the response I’ve gotten for the first part, so as I promised, here’s the second. Hope you like it and I really would appreciate any comments on this. Also I wanted to tell you that this will be probably updated until Saturday, because I’m going out of town tomorrow and don’t really know when I’m coming back. Also I apologize for any mistakes, since this is not beta-ed.
Additional Note : The beginning of this part explains Christmas and its origin according to Christian (or in my case, Catholic) religion. I however, have no intention to offend anyone’s beliefs so I hope you take this as a simple story and nothing else. It's not meant to bore you or anything :)
PART 2
“I’m so outta here!” Connor exclaimed a few seconds after he was left alone with his father only. The truth was, they still seemed to have some unresolved issues and he definitely didn’t want any alone time with dear ol’ dad. He then, started to walk towards the main entrance but was stopped when Angel grabbed his wrist.
“What do you think you are doing?” his father asked with a calmed voice. It was not a reprimand, but more of a real question.
“I told you, I’m outta here! I don’t know what the hell Cordy wanted us to do. But I’m certainly not doing anything anywhere near you!” he yelled at his father while trying to free himself from the strong grip that was holding him back.
“Connor, please, let’s just-” Angel knew it was going to be hard, but getting the kid to stay with him had always been an issue between them.
“I’m not going to stay until someone explains me what the hell is going on!” the kid screamed. And Angel realized the kid must be kind of frightened too. He remembered the first time the kid saw a radio, a TV or an answering machine. For him, they were all witchcrafts and evil. Maybe he was also a little scared of all the lights and the possibility of a weird ceremonial.
“I’m going to try to explain it all to you, Connor. I just don’t know where to start,” the vampire said calmly and putting a hand over his head to think.
“You can start at the beginning,” Connor said kind of sarcastically. The kid had learned a thing or two about that, too.
“Yes, I know I should start at the beginning, but the thing is the beginning was over two thousand years ago maybe even more,” Angel did his best to break it down as simple as it could be. And this was just the start. Damn it!
Connor barely opened his mouth to retort something when Angel spoke raising a finger to indicate that the kid should remain silent. “And before you say something like, ‘maybe you’ve lived two thousand years and saw it’. Since you’re always mocking my age. No, I wasn’t there when it happened but I will tell you what supposedly went on according to the Christians, alright?”
Connor only nodded, seeming fairly interested with what his father had to say. He never had the chance to be a kid and have bed-time stories read or told to him, so this was the first time he’d actually gotten that opportunity. And although he didn’t know why, it was very exciting. He sat on the lobby’s floor and looked up to his father with his bright blue eyes, listening carefully while Angel started his story seated on the round couch.
Well, how do I start? God! Why didn’t Cordy ask me to explain Halloween to him? I would have been far easier than this, he already knows about witches and monsters! Anyways…
“Well, son, you see… umm… once upon a time…” I’m not sure that’s the right way to start this story… “When Rome, which is a city, was a great Empire ruled by Caesar Augustus and Israel was governed by King Herod, in the village of Nazareth lived Joseph and Mary. Joseph was a carpenter and Mary was a young virgin who would become his wife,” Angel tried to explain as easily as un-humanly possible.
“What’s a virgin?” Connor asked all of a sudden; understanding everything but that word.
Great, now I have to tell him this story and have ‘the talk’ with him too. Great! Just great!
“Well, Connor, a virgin is someone that is pure. That hasn’t committed any sins…” Angel told him simply but paused a little. No way was he going to start talking about sex now, right? So not what he wanted to do. “… or has had sexual relations,” he felt himself muttering the last part through gritted teeth.
To his back luck Connor had as good enhanced hearing as he himself, so he actually heard his father’s last comment.
“So she hadn’t mated before?” Connor asked, trying to be sure he’d gotten the message right.
Mated? Where did he get that word? “Well, yes. Technically.”
“Ohh…” Connor responded and nodded in understanding and as a sign that Angel could keep going with the story.
“Anyways, Mary told Joseph of a dream in which she was visited by an angel who told her she had been chosen to bear the Son of God and his name was to be Jesus,” he continued; trying to use very simple words so that he didn’t have to answer any more awkward questionings from his offspring.
“The Son of God?” Connor asked incredulously. “But I thought you said she hadn’t mated before, so how did she get pregnant from God?” the kid bombarded his father with all sorts of questions that came to his mind.
“Technically, yes. And well, I think she got pregnant through the Holy Spirit,” Angel tried to reason something coherent to make his son understand.
“A spirit? Aren’t spirits evil? They haunt places and kill people don’t they?” Connor asked his father.
“Not all spirits are evil, I guess,” he told him, hoping this would satisfy this too-curious-for-his-own-good child. No such luck.
“But besides, to have children you must be married and she obviously wasn’t married to God, was she? She was married to that other man, right?”
“Well, yes, but she-” Angel felt overwhelmed with all his son’s questions and found out that he didn’t really know what to say, so instead of answering the kid, he asked him another question, “Who told you that to have children you must be married?”
“Holtz used to say that. That’s why I was so bad. Because you and mom weren’t married when I was born. I was a mistake,” Connor said, remembering with sadness all those times Holtz had told him he was evil and there was a monster inside of him because both of his parents were monsters.
Angel felt both rage towards Holtz and sadness for his son. How could he have told him he was bad for something he didn’t even do and wasn’t responsible for! He felt his hand travel to his chest in the place of his un-beating heart. Angel then stood up and reached down to help his kid to stand. He hugged him so tightly. And for the first time ever, Connor tried to hug back.
“I’m so sorry, Connor. I’m sorry we couldn’t get to you in time. I’m sorry for everything that’s happened between us, son. But the one thing that I can assure you is that you were definitely NOT a mistake. You are the most wonderful thing that ever happened to your mother and me,” he said breaking the hug and looking at Connor straight in the eye.
“My mother died because of me,” Connor said through watery eyes. “She knew I was bad so she killed herself!”
“You mother sacrificed herself for you. Because she wanted you to live; she wanted you to be happy,” Angel held his son close to his chest again, putting his chin over the kid’s messy hair.
“I… I don’t know,” Connor said a little frustrated.
“Well, what do you say if I continue with the story?” Angel said seating on the round couch and having Connor next to him.
Connor nodded between a little sniffle in order for Angel to move onto the story.
“Where was I? Oh yes… One day the emperor sent notice that all persons were to register for a new tax. They were instructed to return to the towns of their birth. Joseph and Mary left Nazareth for Bethlehem, because that’s where they were from. Mary, who was with child, and close to the birth, rode on a donkey while Joseph walked beside her. They traveled for many days and only rested at night,” his father kept going.
“They should have run. Donkeys are really slow,” came Connor’s enlightening comment.
“Well, yes, but not all people can run as fast as we can, you know? And besides Mary was pregnant so she couldn’t exactly run,” his father offered the best explanation he could think of. The vampire also tried not to laugh at the thought of the story being like ‘they ran all the way to Bethlehem’.
“Oh, okay,” Connor seemed to think about it too, and knew that his father was probably right. He hadn’t ever met anyone that was pregnant but was sure that they would be slower like when he ate too much and his stomach seemed to grow bigger.
“Anyhow, when they reached Bethlehem it was night. They looked for a place to rest but there were no empty rooms when they reached the inn. As they were being turned away Joseph mentioned his wife was with child and close to birth. The inn keeper took pity on them and told them of some caves in the nearby hills that shepherds would stay with their cows and sheep,” Angel continued explaining it to his son.
“So they stayed with all the cows and sheep?” Connor asked looking up.
“Yes, they did-” Angel barely said. “Joseph and Mary went up into the hills and found the caves. In one cave was a stable room. Joseph cleaned it and made beds of fresh hay in which they both slept for a little while. He found a feeding trough, which he cleaned and filled with hay to use as a crib,” Angel kept going with the story.
“Was the crib comfortable? It should have been if it was for a new-born baby, right?” Connor’s questions were so innocent.
“I think so,” Angel responded, wondering now the same thing himself. Where does he get all those questions? “And then the next night Mary gave birth to a son who they named him Jesus, as the angel had instructed them to.”
“That’s cool,” Connor said happily.
“Yeah, it is, son. And so, when the child was born a great star appeared over Bethlehem that could be seen for miles around. In the fields nearby shepherds were tending their flocks. An angel appeared to them surrounded by bright light. The shepherds were frightened and tried to run.” Angel exhaled loudly, preparing himself for the next round of questions.
“Was it a demon?” Connor asked immediately. “Did they kill it?”
“Oh, no, they didn’t kill it. It was an angel,” Angel told him.
“You are Angel and lots of people try to kill you,” Connor retorted. ‘Even me ’ he kept in his head.
“Yes, but I would never say I’m AN angel,” his father explained. “Mine is just a name, which is kind of ironic, by the way…”
“Huh?” Connor got lost somewhere in the explanation.
“I think we should get on with the story, shall we?” Angel offered seeing his confused son. “The angel told them they had nothing to fear and that a Savior who is Christ the Lord had been born that very day in Bethlehem,”
“So they didn’t kill him?” Connor asked again.
“No, of course not,” Angel said a bit annoyed. “Why do you want people to get killed in this story?”
“Because it’s cool. I like to hunt, maybe they did too,” Connor responded innocently.
Angel only sighed taking a deep unneeded breath. “Anyway, the angel told them to follow the star towards Bethlehem and find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. After the angel departed the shepherds set out for Bethlehem. When they reached the cave they found the stable and inside was the child wrapped in swaddling clothes,” Angel continued telling the tale.
“Sounds cool,” Connor interjected in a low voice.
“As the star shined over Bethlehem, in the east three kings would see it. They knew it was a sign and they set off to follow the star. There was Caspar - the young King of Tarsus, Melchior - a long bearded old man and leader of Arabia, and Balthazar - the king from Ethiopia. They traveled on camels for many days over the mountains, and through the deserts, and plains. Always following the bright star.”
“Oh… how cool. But if it had been me I wouldn’t have needed the star, I could just have found him by his smell,” Connor commented once more.
Angel stood there and bit a laugh thinking again if the tale had been like Connor described it, it would sound something like ‘The three kings smelled their way to Bethlehem’. He settled down a little and only said, “Yes, son, you are a very good tracker.”
“When they finally arrived in Bethlehem they found the child in the manger. The 3 kings bowed to their knees and offered gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They would stay the night in the cave and the next day returned to their lands to spread the news. The End,” Angel said and sighed loudly. This had been more difficult than he thought. He was too old for this.
“Wow!” Connor was a bit impressed by the story. “So that’s the religious stuff, right?”
“Well, yes. Christmas is originally a religious holiday,” Angel told his son who stood up immediately.
“What do you believe?” Connor asked his father.
“What do I believe of what?” Angel hadn’t understood the question.
“What’s your religion?” Connor rephrased it, to see if his father knew what he meant this time.
“Oh… well, I don’t really think I’m a religious guy anymore. So much has happened in my life. And well, there’s also the fact that I can’t step one foot in any church, which makes the whole deal kind of difficult,” Angel tried to make his son understand, but it only seemed to make the kid more and more confused so he decided to add, “I guess deep down I’m still somehow Christian.”
Connor’s face lit up a little. “Sounds good,” he said.
Angel suddenly relaxed a bit and looked at the clock just to feel new stress coming over to him. It was already 8pm! And they hadn’t arranged the Christmas tree and he was sure Cordelia would be back any second and if she found out they hadn’t decorated the tree, she’ll kill him. She’ll think he didn’t want to help and he just would never hear the end of it. They had to hurry.
“I think it’s time we set this thing up, don’t you think?” Angel told Connor while pointing at the tree that was standing right in the middle of the lobby.
“Up where?” Connor asked really confused. He really didn’t understand why they had brought a tree inside the building. Wasn’t it enough with the backyard garden for Cordy?
“No, not up-up. I meant to decorate it,” Angel said calmly. And here he was thinking that the awkward comments would be done with the story. No such luck.
“Why should we decorate it?” Connor asked once again. “That three is going to die. They cut it off instead of leaving some roots. It’s ruined.”
“Well, that’s how it’s supposed to be,” Angel explained. “The three is supposed to last just for the Christmas season…”
“It’s stupid to kill a tree and decorate it, just to let it die at the end of the season,” Connor snorted. He found that tradition ridiculous.
“Well, I guess it is, but that’s how it’s done. So, could we please just decorate it?” Angel sighed deeply. He was really tired and this was just too much. Explaining all the facts of Christmas to a kid wasn’t this hard but to break it down to a know-it-all teenager; that was a true challenge.
“Connor, just this once, could you please do what I ask you to do?” Angel slightly begged.
“No,” answered the teen flatly and rudely, turning around to go as he did so.
Where did the lovely boy who listened to his Christmas story go? Oh he forgot, the kid’s a teenager, they’re bound to change moods in like three seconds.
“Connor,” Angel said with a little more gruff voice and a hint of a warning.
“I said I’m not doing it!” Connor told him with a tone that was a little below a yell. “I don’t even see the point in it! It’s stupid!”
“But I’m asking you to do it, please. Not for me but for Cordy and the guys. They’ll be expecting to have a decorated Christmas tree when they all come back,” Angel tried reasoning with his unruly child, but the kid seemed determined to make him lose his patience. “I know they’ll be disappointed if we don’t do it.”
“They can be disappointed for all I care!” Connor was frustrated. He wasn’t sure why he was acting this way. He did care about the guys but he was a massive mound of mixed feelings that he didn’t even know if he wanted to celebrate Christmas or not. He’d missed all those moments of his childhood and yes, it all was his father’s fault, right? He had lived sixteen years without celebrating it or even knowing it existed, so maybe it wasn’t all that good.
“Connor, c’mon don’t say that,” Angel quietly chastised. He didn’t know where the kid had gotten that attitude, but he was pretty sure he wanted it gone.
“I can say all I want if I want to!” Connor retorted bitterly. He wanted to see how far he could push his father. This was surely a test, without him even knowing it.
“Son, please -” Angel had started to reason once again with his son but his efforts were in vain.
“Fuck you!” Connor suddenly yelled. “Fuck you! Fuck this stupid tree! And to hell with stupid Christmas!” he said while kicking the tree so it fell on the floor and before he got the chance to kick it again once it was down, Angel grabbed his left upper-arm and marched him away from the tree.
“I really don’t know what’s gotten into you,” Angel scolded firmly and then brought his hand to land a very hard swat on Connor’s backside. “But that is not acceptable language,” he kept the reprimand and this time landed three thunderous spanks on the jeans-clad butt. “And kicking the tree wasn’t nice either.” Two more powerful swats came and Connor felt an urge to cover his butt with his hand, but he didn’t. “So, are you done with your tantrum, or do you want a full spanking?” Angel didn’t release him but took a tiny step back so there was more distance between he and his son.
The vampire noticed that his son was lightly sniffling and had hung his head, deciding that looking at his snickers was way better than looking at his father right now. He wanted the kid to make eye contact with him so he put his hand in the boy’s chin and lifted it softly. “I asked you a question and I’m waiting for my answer.”
Connor only nodded and dropped his gaze again.
“Is that a ‘yes I want a full spanking’?” Angel took advantage of the situation in order to make the kid talk.
Connor shook his head frantically and tried to release himself from his father’s grip.
“Well, I didn’t hear your answer, so…” Angel began to march them both to the round couch in which Connor knew from experience nothing good could happen when his father was in this horrible mood so he decided to speak once and for all.
“Wait, No!” Connor said whimpering.
“No what?” Angel asked the confused kid he was holding, but stopped his pace towards the couch.
“It’s over, I promise.” Connor said trying to convince himself as well as his father.
“It better be. I really don’t want to have to do that being this time of the year, okay?” Angel was sincere. His kid was everything he had and he wanted to spend a great time with him and the guys on the holidays.
“’kay” mumbled Connor, really happy he had dodged that close call.
“Okay so, shall we start decorating that tree once and for all?” Angel asked more to be polite than to really ask if Connor wanted to do it, since it was obvious they both were going to have to. “You know, before Cordy gets here and we never hear the end of it.”
“Alrig-” Connor didn’t even get to finish the word when a loud sound made them both turn to the main entrance of the hotel’s lobby and there he was.
A blond, make it more like bleached, vampire stood on the first step of the lobby. He looked confident as always, smelled a little like alcohol perhaps, and wore a trench coat that reminded Connor of his father’s.
“Hello, mates,” he said with a drunken tone and an evil grin. “Santa’s here, boys!” he paused and went down, stopping just at the foot of the few steps “So, who’s been naughty this year, huh?” he said at no one in specific.
And Angel’s jaw just dropped. What in the name of hell was Spike doing there? And why did the Universe hated him so much? ‘Damn Powers That Be, they most have a blast seeing me suffer, right?’
Now everything was lost. They hadn’t decorated the tree, so Cordelia would be furious. His son was still reluctant to all the celebrations and on top of everything he had his strong-willed pretty much hated childe right across the room. There was no way this could possibly get any worse, could it? Nah, never!
But as most people know, you should never say never.
* To.Be.Continued *
Any comments would be great! Thank you all! You rock!