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 Dawn wakes up early the next morning with Maggie’s arm slung around her waist, the poor girl had woken up when they had attempted to put her to bed the night before and had refused to sleep in her own bed. “Dawn?” Maggie is awake as well. “Yeah Maggie?” Dawn asks sitting up in bed. “Alisa said that Wes said that we are meeting our mother today, is she telling the truth?” Dawn nods, “yes, you will be, is that okay?” Maggie thinks for a second, “other kids live with their mommies and daddies but I like where we live, she’s not going to take us away from here is she?” Dawn shakes her head, “we won’t let her do that.” Maggie nods, “alright then, it’s okay.” Dawn’s bedside phone rings than and leaning across Maggie she answers it, it’s Connor. “Hi, yeah everything is fine, Maggie just wasn’t feeling well. No she’s fine now, she’s right here. All right.” Holding the phone out to Maggie Dawn says, “Connor wants to talk to you.” “Hi Connor!” Maggie greets cheerfully. “No, I’m okay now. Okay. Bye Connor.” Maggie hands the phone back to Dawn. “Hi. No I can’t do anything today, the girls mother should be here early. Why don’t you come over after you go to church with your family tomorrow? You can have lunch with us and meet their mom. All right, I’ll see you then. I love you. Bye.” Within an hour the girls have been fed and dressed and everyone is waiting for the woman’s arrival, taking their various positions. She arrives exactly one time and Dawn takes in her appearance immediately, she looks like the girls with shortish brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, her facial features are very similar to the twins as well and the only different Dawn notices are that her eyes are dark, not the light blue of the twins. She’s obviously several years older than Dawn and posture and clothing give away that she is obviously upper class and well educated and she walks straight toward Angel. Placing her hand before her she shakes Angel’s hand, “you must be Mr. Angel, we spoke on the phone.” The girls giggle at this but Angel nods, “that’s right, and you must be Tracey James’.” She nods, “yes.” She gives no sign of nervousness but Angel is able to pick up on her pounding heart. “This is Dawn Summers and Winifred Burkle.” The woman all exchange glances and finally Angel turns to the girls, “and these two are Alisa Cordelia and Maggie Rose.” “I’m sorry to do this Ms. James,” Fred speaks up, “but I have a maternity test set up, we mean no offense but we don’t want to put the girls in any danger.” Tracey nods, “of course.” With her agreement Fred leads everyone to her office where Willow had set up the testing equipment that she had given Fred for Christmas. The test goes quickly and Fred easily confirms that Tracey is the biological mother of Alisa and Maggie. “All right guys,” Angel calls after Fred’s declaration, “you can come out.” Everyone files out from their various spots and Fred turns toward them, “Tracey this is Gunn, Wesley and Spike. Guys this is Tracey, we finished the test and she is the twins’ mother.” Everyone exchanges pleasantries and Dawn offers, “how about tea for everyone, give us a chance to get to know you Tracey.” Tracey nods, “tea would be great.” Everyone heads toward the dining room with Maggie and Alisa holding onto Dawn’s hands, dragging their feet as they walk a yawn or two escaping their mouths, “I’m sorry about the girls,” Dawn states, “they didn’t get a lot of sleep last night and they are a little less awake then they usually are. They may fall asleep.” Tracey nods, “I understand.” Once Dawn comes into the dining room with the tea and cookies she had prepared her prediction has come true, Maggie is in Gunny’s lap and Alisa has curled on Wesley’s, both asleep. “I don’t mean to be forward,” Wesley states once everyone is around the table, “but would you mind explaining to us how you came to bring the girls to us? It’s something we’ve ben curious about for years.” “It’s a long weird story that I don’t exactly understand it myself.” Tracey responds. “Believe me,” Gunn assures, “what seems weird to you might not seem as weird to us.” “All right,” Tracey nods, “well I found out I was pregnant at the end of my freshman year of college. Before I told anyone that I was pregnant a woman approached me and told me that my babies were fated to save the world and that when they were older they would be “special” with special powers. She told me that she knew some people who could take care of them like I couldn’t, so I didn’t tell anyone that I was pregnant.” Tracey takes a deep breath before continuing, “she stayed with my for seven months right up until the twins were born, and when they were old enough we brought them here and the instant we set foot on this property she was gone.” “Who was she?” Spike asks. “She never told me her really name, she just told me to call her Q.C.” Angel’s eyes narrow, “wha’d she look like.” “Pretty,” Tracey states, “very pretty. Brown hair and eyes, fairly tall maybe 5'7-5'8 and she was, how do I say it, unique. She was nice but could be temperamental.” “Cordelia.” Angel states simply standing up and walking out of the room, his face had all ready taken on it’s broody look. Instinctively Gunn and Wesley hug both girls closely, they were just another thing Cordelia had left them with and Fred gently brushes a tear off her cheek Spike putting a comforting hand around her shoulder. “I don’t understand.” Tracey confesses, “who’s Cordelia?” “Cordelia was a friend of the families,” Dawn explains, “she passed away six years ago.” “Well then this couldn’t be her because Q.C. wasn’t dead or, or a ghost.” “Was this her?” Angel reappears with a framed picture of Cordelia, Wesley, Fred and Gunn. Tracey stares at the picture, “well, yes.” “It figures,” Gunn remarks, “the PTB have Cordy working even when she’s dead.” The group is silent for awhile and then Dawn asks the question that has skipped everyone’s mind, “if you don’t mind my asking, where’s the twins’ father?” “He’s not in the picture.” Tracey responds simply, “he went to a different college and when I didn’t go home the summer after freshman year we split up. Because I knew that if he knew about the babies he would want to get married and he would have put his entire life on hold and I knew that Q.C. or Cordelia or whoever, was right and that I should let someone else raise the girls.” Before the conversation can progress and further Maggie begins tossing in Gunn’s arms and she wakes up with a screech, sweat dots her forehead and her face is pale. Maggie immediately holds her arms out to Dawn, “Dawnie I want you.” Dawn quickly takes the girl into her arms holding her tightly whispering soothing words to her and once Maggie has calmed down she asks, “what’d you see sweetie?” “A big,” Maggie holds her arms out to show the bigness, “big vampur at the big ugly building on the way to school.” “What else love?” Spike asks crouching down in front of Maggie. “He was gonna eat her!” Maggie cries. “All right, it’s all right Maggie they’re going to take care of it.” Dawn assures rubbing Maggie’s back. “We’ll be back.” Gunn, Spike and Angel head for the garage that houses the cars Angel had kept after his stint with Wolfram and Hart. “This is all a little to much for me,” Tracey states, “do you mind if I lay down for awhile?” “No of course not,” Fred shakes her head, she had been handed Alisa, who seems to be oblivious to her sisters pain in her sleep, “I’ll show you to your room.” When Fred comes back downstairs Maggie has fallen back asleep after Dawn has given her some children’s aspirin, Dawn’s shirt balled in Maggie’s fists. Fred had left Alisa in her bedroom while she was upstairs and she comments softly, “Cordelia’s visions nearly killed her before she became half demon.” Dawn stops rubbing Maggie’s back mid-rub at this, “do you think Maggie’s life is in danger?” “I’m worried,” Fred responds, “because as far as we know they are completely human. Unless there is something Tracey isn’t telling us about her family or the father’s. None of the tests have shown us that they are anything but human.” “But the powers they wouldn’t have sent her here with the visions...” Dawn stops mid-sentence because she knew that the reasons behind why the powers did things was never clear. |
