Rainy nights
The rain was softly falling as Angel laid in the bed he shared with Fred. He ran his cool fingertips up and down her arm as he watched the rain fall outside the window. He wanted to sleep, knowing they had to be up early the falling morning to take Sam to the doctor but he couldn’t. His thoughts were on Wesley. It’d been a little over a year since Wesley’s disappearance and death, and it was still hard to take.
Angel didn’t know if it was because he was helping Fred taking care of the son she’d had with Wes or if it was because he was now in love with Fred. He was the one who’d stood by her side, and comforted her in their time of grief. She had lost her soulmate and he’d lost his best friend. But, he never expected to fall for her and sometimes he felt as if he was tarnishing Wesley’s memory by taking his place in Fred’s and Sam’s lives.
Fred often told him he didn’t need to worry about it, but he did. He was the one who’d seen Wesley attacked by the demon in the sewer, and he was the one who had to tell Fred about it. He couldn’t deny what he felt for Fred for he’d felt it since she’d came back from Pylea, but he stepped aside for Wesley. Angel knew he would always love Fred.
Tilting his head to the side, he could hear Sam babbling in his crib. A smile crossed his face as he slipped out of the bed and went down the hallway. They’d been living in the house, one Angel had found abandoned knew the hills of Los Angeles, for several months. They had Lilah Morgan to thank for that since she’d hired someone to blow up the Hyperion Hotel. Thankfully, they knew it was going to happen beforehand.
“Hey,” he whispered as he stepped into the nursery. Sam was sitting up in his crib and giggled when he saw Angel. “What are you doing up?”
He went over to the crib and picked the small boy up, and snuggled him close. Sam looked up at him with big blue eyes, and Angel was reminded of all the times Wesley would give him the same look. Was he doing the right thing by slipping into the role Wesley once held with Fred and Sam?
“Dada?” Sam asked, his chubby finger poking Angel in the chest.
“I…” He trailed off and laid a kiss on top of Sam’s dark hair. He didn’t know if he could ever take the place of Wesley as Sam’s father but he did know he would do everything in his power to protect Fred and her son.