Disclaimer: See Part 1
Summary: Lewis and Angel bring their son home. Drew and Oswald
make a disturbing discovery...
Rating: PG
Author's Note: Just to let you know, the whole scene with Drew and
Oswald is written in the spirit of DCS. I'm sure you can figure that out
but just in case anyone takes it seriously...don't! It's supposed to be
funny! It may not be...comedy isn't exactly easy to write...but I tried! This
one is a bit longer than the others but I had a lot I wanted to cover. Please
enjoy! And give me feedback! I love feedback!
Angels
Part 15 - With Arms Wide Open
by Ruth
Wednesday
Deaconess Hospital
Lewis sat patiently in a chair next to Angel's bed. He had been waiting
for his newborn son to finish nursing so that he could finally hold him, but
a nurse walked in just as the little baby had finished and took him from Angel's
arms.
"You're not taking him back to the nursery are you?" Lewis asked quickly.
The nurse set the baby boy down in what served as a bassinet in a hospital
and then turned to look at Lewis.
"No, he'll be staying right here. It'll be up to you to bring him to your wife
when he gets hungry," the nurse smiled. Lewis smiled and looked eagerly at
his son. The baby yawned and stretched a little. "Just press the buzzer if you
need anything," the nurse said to them both as she left the room.
"Lewis." It was Angel. She spoke with a soft, tired voice. He looked at her
and scooted his chair closer so he could grab her hand and hold it. He kissed
her on the forehead.
"You did good," he whispered. "A beautiful, healthy boy." Angel smiled
weakly.
"You haven't held him yet," she said. "Why don't you go pick him up?"
Lewis looked from her to the baby and back. "I'm afraid I'll drop him," he
said, swallowing nervously.
"Hey, you're right," Angel teased. "You could drop him and then he'd end
up just like you."
"Ha, ha, smartass," Lewis said as he stood. He walked slowly over to the
baby and looked down. He was so tiny. Lewis reached down and noticed his
hands were almost as big as the whole baby. He closed both hands into fists
and looked over at Angel, his eyes wide. "He's so small," he said sounding
unsure of himself..
"Go ahead," Angel urged. "Just be gentle. You won't break him."
Lewis looked back down at his son. He gently slipped one hand under him
and up to cradle his head and back, and the other he slipped under and down
to cradle his bottom. He slowly lifted the baby up and cradled him next to
his chest. He walked carefully back to the chair and sat down, careful not to
jar the tiny person in his arms. Lewis stared down at his son and watched as
he opened his eyes. He looked at his father, his eyes seeming a bit unfocused,
and one tiny arm came up and tapped Lewis on the chest. Lewis chuckled and
put his finger in the baby's little hand. The fingers curled around Lewis' reflexively
and held on tight.
Angel watched, a small grin tugging at her mouth. She noticed a tear starting
to run down Lewis' cheek and she reached out to wipe it away. He looked up
at her touch and she noticed the unshed ones still in his eyes. He blinked a
couple of times and more tears fell.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Angel asked as she wiped more tears away.
"He's perfect," Lewis said raggedly. "Thank you," he whispered.
"Hey, I didn't do it all by myself," Angel replied. She ran her hand down the
side of Lewis' face. He nodded his head.
"Yes," he said softly. "Yes, you did. One cell. That's all I contributed. But
you...you carried him, he grew in you. You gave him life." Lewis looked at Angel
with awe. "You created a miracle."
"*We* created a miracle," Angel corrected. "*We* did. Don't sell your part
short, Lewis. The miracle couldn't have even begun with out you." Lewis only
nodded and looked back down at his son. "So...what are we naming him?"
Lewis looked up again.
"Naming him?" he asked.
"Yes," Angel sighed. We agreed months ago, if it was boy, you get to pick
the name, a girl and I get to pick. Well...seems that you get to pick, my darling."
Angel smiled. Lewis' eyes lit up.
"Oh yeah," he said excitedly. "I did come up with a couple."
"I can't wait," Angel said as she smirked. She sat herself up straighter
and crossed her arms over chest. "Go on. Whatcha got for me?"
"Well...you know how I love Babylon 5, right?" Lewis asked. Angel raised
an eyebrow.
"Yeah..." she said hesitantly.
"I thought we could name him after the creator of the show," Lewis said
quickly. Angel continued to look at Lewis skeptically.
"Which is..." she said, trying to coax it out of him.
"Joseph Straczynski." Angel was silent for a moment.
"Joseph Straczynski," she said finally. Lewis nodded. "Joseph Straczynski
Kiniski," she said flatly. Lewis nodded again. "Are you insane?" Angel asked
seriously.
"No," said Lewis. "It's perfect! Besides, I already filled it out on the birth
certificate."
"What?!" Angel's eyes were wide with terror. "You did what?! Oh my God,
he'll be teased mercilessly! I can't believe you would d-" Angel looked at Lewis
and found him chuckling quietly. "You're bull-shitting me aren't you?"
"Gotcha," Lewis teased. Angel smacked him in the arm. "Hey, watch it!
I don't want our little Kevin to grow up in a violent household!" joked Lewis.
Angel froze for a second.
"Kevin?" she said.
"Yeah," said Lewis. "That's the other name I came up with. Kevin.
Kevin Alexander Kiniski." Lewis watched Angel and waited for some sort
of response. She raised an eyebrow again and looked at their son. She
seemed to be saying the name over and over under her breath.
"Kevin, huh?" she said. "Kevin Kiniski. It's a little cheesy but..."
"But..."
"But I like it," Angel said with a smile. "Kevin Alexander. Yeah...I like it."
Lewis rewarded her with a smile that lit up his whole face.
"Hear that?" he said softly to Kevin. "Mommy likes it!"
"Oh wow," Angel said.
"What is it?" Lewis looked at Angel with concern.
"'Mommy'. That's going to take some getting used to!" Angel giggled
nervously.
"You'll be great," Lewis said as he stood up and placed their now sleeping
son in his "bassinet".
"I hope so," Angel said quietly.
"I have no doubt," Lewis said, coming back and kissing Angel full on the
lips. When he tried to pull away, Angel grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled
him back for more. Lewis was surprised a woman who had just given birth
could have so much strength! He resisted the urge to crawl into bed with
her and finally managed to back away. "Whoa, baby! At least wait till we get
home," he said, chuckling lightly.
Angel licked her lips. "Sorry," she said with a wicked grin. "It's just been
so long. And it's going to be even longer."
"I'm sorry, longer?" Lewis said as he sat back down. "How much longer?"
"We've been over this, remember? At least six weeks."
"Six weeks?!" Lewis exclaimed. "I must have chosen to forget that."
Lewis sighed and closed his eyes.
"They made up the bed over there for you if you want to get some sleep,"
Angel said quietly. "It's been a long day. Kevin should sleep for a couple
hours before he's hungry again."
Lewis opened his eyes and looked at the other bed in the room. "Not a
bad idea," he said as he stood up. He walked over to the other bed and stood,
staring at it for a moment. Just as Angel was going to ask him what he was
waiting for he began to shove the bed closer to hers. He stopped when they
were right next to each other. Angel smiled and shook her head.
"You're crazy!" she laughed.
"Hey, I haven't spent a single night without you next to me since the first
night we ...were together," he said, his eyes burning with the memory. "I'm
not about to start now." Lewis climbed into the bed and leaned over to
plant a kiss on his wife. Angel accepted the kiss gladly.
"Good night, Daddy," she whispered. Lewis chuckled.
"Good night, Mommy," he whispered back.
Later that same night
Lewis and Angel's new house
"Man, Lewis is gonna be surprised when he gets back to the
apartment and sees what we've done!" Oswald said as he put down
the last box. Drew groaned and sat down on the couch.
"Yeah, he better appreciate it," Drew moaned. "My back is gonna
be screaming at me for a week!"
"I'll grab us a couple of beers and then we can unpack some stuff for
them," Oswald said excitedly as he dashed into the kitchen.
"There's beer here already?!" Drew yelled after him. Oswald walked out
of the kitchen holding a Buzz Beer in each hand.
"Sure!" he said. "It was the first thing I brought in! Been getting cold in
the fridge for a couple of hours now!" Drew gratefully took the beer from
Oswald and opened it up.
"Oswald, you think of everything," he said after a long drink. "Oh,
that's good." Oswald sat down next to Drew and they both drank silently for
a few minutes. "So how was Kate when you left?" Drew finally asked.
"Oh, not too bad," said Oswald. "I told her what you and I were doing and
so she thought she'd go see if Briana wanted any help with Matthew. You
know, offer to watch him so Briana could take a nice long bath or something.
She said it would help take her mind off things for a couple hours."
Drew nodded as he took another sip of beer. "Good, good. I'm sure
Briana will love that. I haven't been around as much as I would have liked to
because of Kate's Mom and all. Thank God she's an understanding woman."
Neither of them spoke again until they were finished with their beer. At
that point Drew stood up and took the empty bottles to the kitchen.
"Well, let's unpack some of this stuff, shall we?" Oswald yelled to Drew.
Drew came out and took a look around.
"Yeah, Lewis had mentioned that all the boxes were labled," said Drew.
"They should all be self explainatory." Oswald walked over to a box on the floor.
"Well, what about this one?" Oswald asked. "It just says, 'Lewis'." Drew
glanced over at the box as he made his way to a box marked "Kitchen".
"I'd guess his office," Drew said. "His is over there. Angel has an office
upstairs. You can always open it and double check."
"Oh, good idea," Oswald said as he hefted the box up. "Damn, this thing's
heavy!" he exclaimed. He carefully moved the box to the table in the breakfast
area and set it down. He opened the box and peered in. "Oh my God..." he
said, a look of horror and confusion on his face. He backed slowly away from
the box. Drew looked out at him from the kitchen.
"What's wrong?" he asked. "What's in there?" Oswald turned his head
toward Drew, wide eyed.
"Are you sure we have the right boxes?" he asked.
"Of course I'm sure!" Drew said irritably. "Who else's are they gonna be?
What the heck is in there, Oswald? Jars filled with severed heads? Dead
animal carcasses? Strange sexual toys? And would any of those things
really surprise you?"
"No," Oswald said as he shook his head. "But *those* do!" Drew gave
in and walked over to where the box sat. Slowly he leaned forward and peeked in.
"I don't get it," Drew said, confused as Oswald at this point. He laughed.
"You must have Angel's box, not Lewis'!" He closed the flaps of the box and
saw that it was clearly marked "Lewis". "Oh my God."
"That's what *I* said!" Oswald stated. "It's filled! Filled with...books!"
Oswald nearly choked on the word.
"It can't be," Drew said. He walked over to another box labled "Lewis"
and opened it. There were more books. Drew opened another and another,
revealing more and more books and becoming more and more agitated with
each one. "Dickens!" he said. "Shakespear! Stephen King! Jane Austin!"
"Stop!" Oswald yelled. Drew turned quickly and looked at him. "No more!
Oh, no more!" he cried. Drew walked over to Oswald and placed a hand on
his shoulder.
"I think we're witnessing the beginning of the Apocalypse," Drew said
matter-of-factly.
"Hold me!" Oswald whimpered as he buried his face in Drew's chest.
Drew put his arm around Oswald.
"There, there," he said. "It'll be all right."
"No it won't!" Oswald whined. "He's changed in my eyes! He's not the same to
me anymore!"
"It doesn't have to be that way, Oswald!" said Drew, trying to comfort
himself as much as Oswald. "We can...we can just close up the boxes!
Yeah! We'll close them up and pretend it never happened! We'll just put
them in the office and walk away. We'll just...forget."
"I don't think I can do that, Drew!" Oswald sniffed. "I'll never be able to
get that picture out of my mind. The open box...the...books! I'll see it, over
and over again in my nightmares! Books, books and more books! And
Lewis! Pointing and laughing and...and reading! One after another and
throwing each finished book at me! He'll..." Oswald's words were coming
out as unintelligable sobs now. Drew grabbed Oswald by both shoulders
and shook him.
"Get ahold of yourself, man!" he yelled. When Oswald didn't stop, Drew
slapped him across the cheek. Oswald stopped and looked at Drew, his
eyes wide with shock. After a moment, his shoulders slumped and he looked
down at the ground.
"You're right Drew," he said softly. "I'm sorry. Thank you." He patted
Drew on the shoulder and looked around at the open boxes. "We'll do as
you said. We'll close up the boxes and act as if everything is fine. But don't
expect me to forget, Drew! I can't do that!"
"Fine, fine," said Drew as he began closing up the boxes. "Let's just
move these to the office. It'll be ok, you'll see." Oswald nodded his head.
The rest of the night had a somber tone as Drew and Oswald silently moved
boxes and unpacked a few things for Lewis and Angel. When they were
done, Drew left for home and Oswald crashed on Lewis and Angel's couch,
too tired to attempt the drive home. He fell asleep to fitful dreams of books...
Thursday
6:00am
Deaconess Hospital
Lewis was awakened by the sound of a baby crying. He moaned
and rolled over, cracking his eyes open to look at his watch.
"6am," he mummbled. He had heard about the 2 o'clock feedings
but everyone had failed to mention the midnight, 4 o'clock and 6 o'clock
feedings. He groaned again and sat up, blinking the sleep from his eyes.
When he focused he saw Angel standing over their son, picking him up.
She was humming softly. "Honey," he said, his voice still rough from sleep.
"What are you doing? You shouldn't be up." Angel looked at him as she
walked back to her bed with Kevin in her arms.
"I'm fine, Lewis," she said softly. "Go back to sleep." Lewis yawned and
stretched, trying to get some circulation in his long limbs.
"No, that's all right," he said. "If you're really doing ok I should go finish
moving the rest of our things. I promised it'd be done by the time you and
Kevin were ready to come home. Which will probably be this afternoon."
Angel smiled.
"I'm doing just fine, I swear," she said. "You go do what you have to do
and we'll be here waiting for you to come back. Won't we, Kevin?" Angel
said as she looked down at her nursing son. Lewis got up and walked
around to Angel's bed. He kissed her lightly on the lips and then bent down
and kissed the top of his baby's head. He looked back up at Angel and
smiled.
"You did a great job, Mrs. Kiniski," he whispered. Angel smiled at him
and then waved him off.
"Go on," she urged. "You have lots to do. Go."
"All right, all right," Lewis laughed. With that, he headed out the door,
taking one last peek back at his son.
Same day
6:32am
Lewis and Angel's apartment
Lewis walked into the apartment and stopped dead. It was empty.
Completely empty.
"What the...?" He looked around in shock. "Robbed," he said
quietly. "Robbed! They took everything! It' all gone! Oh God, Angel
will never forgive me! I must have left the door open!" Lewis continued
to ramble loudly in his doorway when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"AAAHHH!!" Lewis jumped and turned quickly around. An older woman
stood there, looking frightened out of her skin.
"Good heavens!" she exclaimed. Lewis put his hand on the door
frame for support and took a deep breath.
"Oh...Mrs. Schwartz!" It was the neighbor across the hall. "I'm sorry!
You scared me!"
"*I* scared *you*?!" she retorted. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"I'm really sorry," Lewis said again. He threw her his puppy dog eyes
and she couldn't help but smile.
"That's all right," she said. "I just wanted to tell you that your two friends
were here last night. They said they were moving everything to your new
house." Lewis' eyes grew wide with understanding.
"Was there a big, dumb one that smelled like beer and a portly guy
with an outdated haircut and glasses that smelled like beer?" Lewis asked.
Mrs. Schwartz nodded.
"Yes, those were the two," she said. "They said it was a surprise for
you. I guess it worked." It was Lewis' turn to nod.
"It did," he said. "Thank you, Mrs. Schwartz."
"You're welcome," she said as she turned back toward her apartment.
"Oh!" she said, stopping. "You make sure you bring that new baby over to
see me!"
"I will," said Lewis, smiling. He waited until Mrs. Schwartz was back in
her apartment before he turned back to his and closed the door. He walked
to the kitchen and found a note there. It read:
Dear Lewis,
Thought you could use a little help moving. We left our copies of your
apartment key on the
kitchen counter next to your house key that we lifted off of you when
you weren't paying
attention. Just make sure you make copies for us!
Drew and Oswald
Lewis reached into his front pants pocket and searched in vain for the
house key that had been there.
"How the hell did they do that?" he wondered aloud. He shrugged his
shoulders and grabbed up the keys off the counter and headed out the door.
He took one last look at the place and shut the door behind him.
Same day
7:05am
Lewis and Angel's house
Oswald was awakened to the sound of the door opening. He opened
his eyes and sat up to find Lewis coming through the door. Lewis closed
the door and spotted Oswald as he walked into the livingroom.
"Hey, Oswald!" Lewis said. "Sleeping in my house before I even get a
chance to?" he teased. Oswald yawned.
"Yeah, I was just too tired to drive home," he said. "The past few days
have been exhausting."
"Tell me about it," Lewis said as he plopped down next to Oswald.
Oswald suddenly remembered his "findings" the night before. He scooted
away from Lewis. "You all right?" Lewis asked, giving him an odd look.
"Fiiiine," Oswald said. "We, uh, unpacked most everything except the
stuff for your office and Angel's. We just put those boxes in their rooms."
"Did you open any of them?" Lewis asked, looking and sounding a bit
paranoid.
"No!" Oswald answered, a little too quickly. Lewis' eyes narrowed.
"Riiiight," he said. "Good." Oswald was looking uncomfortable as he
stood up.
"Well, I should go," Oswald said. "There's food and books, er, beer, in
the fridge." Lewis stood and looked at Oswald in silence for a moment. He
opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind.
"Thank you," was all he said after another moment. Oswald nodded
and headed for the door. "Hey, Oswald?" Oswald turned around.
"Yeah, Lewis?" Oswald looked hopeful. Lewis wasn't sure what
Oswald was hoping he'd say but he went on.
"You know," he said hesitantly, "I never told you this. It's been a secret
of mine but it's time I let you in on it." Oswald swallowed.
"What's that?" he asked.
"Well..." Lewis thought a moment. "I discovered something that girls
really like." Oswald cocked his head to one side. This wasn't what he
expected to hear. "Yeah. It gets 'em every time. Books!"
"What?" Oswald said, clearly taken aback.
"Yeah!" Lewis continued. "They love to think you're well read. It makes
you look smart!"
"Really?" He was falling for it.
"Really!" said Lewis. "I have a bunch! I don't need them any more and
I thought maybe you'd like them. Put them around the place and in your room."
"And women like that?" Oswald asked. He was intrigued by this point.
"Chicks dig it!" Lewis responded. "The only catch is that you have to
read a few so you can talk about it with her."
"Hey, I never thought of that!" Oswald said excitedly. His smile soon
died away. "Oh..."
"What?" Lewis asked.
"I don't think I'll need them," said Oswald. "I think Kate and I are gonna
stick together this time. But thanks anyway, Buddy." Lewis faked disappointment.
"Sure, Oswald," he said. "They're here if you ever need them." Oswald
grinned and threw his arms around his friend.
"I'll see you later!" he said and headed for the door. "Oh, one more
thing!"
"What's that?"
"What did you guys name the baby?" Oswald asked. Lewis smiled.
"Kevin. Kevin Alexander."
"Kevin Kiniski," Oswald said. "That's cute!" Lewis smiled again and
watched Oswald walk out the door. He sat heavily on the couch and sighed
deeply.
"Close one..." Lewis said to himself.
Same day
5:00pm
Angel and Lewis' house
Lewis opened the door and let Angel walk in first, carrying their
newborn son.
"Why don't you let me take him for a second so you can kick your
shoes off," Lewis offered. "I know you don't want to track dirt on the new
carpet."
"Oh, thank you," Angel said, carefully handing Kevin to his father.
"You're very welcome," Lewis replied.
When the transfer was complete, Angel was startled to see several
people jump out yelling "Surprise!"
"Oh!" Angel gasped. "Holy shit!"
"Hey, no swearing in front of the baby!" Kate joked. Oswald stood
next to her. Drew, Briana and little Matthew were there as well as Angel's
parents. Angel's parents were holding a banner that said "Welcome home
Kevin Alexander".
"This is so sweet!" Angel gushed. "Was this your idea, Lewis?" Lewis
shook his head.
"Kate's, actually," he said. "I didn't think you'd mind a little company
for a couple of hours."
"Mind *this* company?" Angel said, smiling at her friends. "Never!"
Angel went to her guests for hugs as Lewis walked to them with the baby.
"All right, hand that little bundle over here!" Angel's mother, Maggie
said. Lewis passed the baby to his Grandmother and then stood back
and watched. The life he never thought he'd have was spread out before
him: A gorgeous wife, a beautiful son being fawned over by loving grandparents,
his friends happy and laughing in a house of his own. He wasn't sure what
he had done to finally deserve all these things but it must have been damn
good. Angel gestured for Lewis to join her by everyone. He walked to them
and Angel put her arm around his waist.
"I hear you came into the world with a real bang!" Angel's father,
Keith, was saying.
"Yeah," said Drew. "Only the arrival of Lewis' offspring could cause on
actual disturbance in The Force. I wasn't sure whether to rejoice or be scared!"
"Be afraid!" teased Oswald. "Be very afraid!"
"Oh, ha, ha!" Lewis said, smirking. Angel laughed and all were happy.
Stay tuned for The Final Part...Because You Loved Me
And congrats go to the winners of the conte Text file Source (historic): geocities.com/fxnoir
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