Riley led Jordan into the library and closed the door behind them.
"Sit down Jordy, we need to talk," Riley said, coming to lead his
daughter to the couch. Jordan quietly sat down next to her father and
looked up at him, her bright blue eyes were dark and troubled.
"Do you want to tell me what's bothering you? And don't even think
about telling me nothing," he said, lifting her chin so she was
looking up at him. Jordan was always easy for him to read, she
didn't wear heart on her sleeve like Hope did but those blue eyes
were the very window to her soul. Jordan usually kept everything to
herself and Riley had to learn to read her and to get her to open up.
Claire use to say that Jordan was the spitting image of him, even the
way she kept her problems to herself, afraid the world would see how
human she was.
"You," she whispered.
"Me?" He asked, pulling her onto his lap. Jordan immediately sought
the comfort he offered her by resting her head against his chest.
"I heard you crying last night," she whispered, almost like she was
afraid to say the words out loud.
Hearing Jordan whisper these words made Riley's heart stop. Had his
own fear and anguish spilled over to his daughter? Could his pain be
affecting her? He'd promised Claire while she was in the coma that
he would do whatever was in his power to protect his girls but he
didn't know how to protect them from his own pain.
"I had a bad dream and I wanted to talk to you but when I go to your
room I heard you crying, so I went back to bed," she said, shrugging
her shoulders. It had scared her to hear her big, strong father cry.
The only other time she'd seen him cry was when her mother died, and
then for a while he cried all the time when he thought no one knew
but Jordan always knew.
"I knew you weren't sick, because you always let us climb into bed
with you and watch movies or Sam and Mrs. Travis let us help bring
you something to eat, but this time you wanted to be alone. Just
like when mom died. Daddy? Did none of us match Evan? Is he going
to die?"
" I don't know yet baby. Uncle Steve just called to say he'd be over
with the results after lunch sometime," Riley said, rocking her like
he did when she was a baby. The relationship that Riley shared with
Jordan was special. She was his first and in the early days he'd
often find himself in her nursery in the middle of the night watching
her sleep. He took great pleasure in the hours he'd spent with her
while the rest of the world slept. Jordan was his.
"But is he going to die?"
"I wish I could tell you no Jordy, but I can't. Evan could very well
die and there's nothing any of us can do to stop it," Riley sighed
tightening his grip on her, afraid if he let go she'd slip away too.
"So why were you crying then?" She asked looking up at him through
her lowered lashes.
"I just was afraid of losing him and I had to deal with it on my own
before I could help you and your sisters."
Riley wondered if he was making any sense at all.
"Oh," she said, trying to grasp her father's statement.
"Sort of like when mom died? When Uncle Graham and Grandma came to
stay with us?"
"Yeah, something like that."
"So are you okay now?"
"I think so," he said still rocking her.
"Then can I cry now?" Jordan asked in a little wavering voice.
"You can cry whenever you want, sweetie."
"No I can't. They need me not to cry. I need to take care of them,"
she said as her chin trembled and her tears threatened to spill any
minute.
"Honey you're a little girl, it's okay to be scared. You're allowed
to cry. I'm the adult and you're the child so let me doing the
worrying, ok?" He said, rubbing her back.
"But what about Hope and Tristan?" She asked as the first tear slid
down her cheek "They need me to be strong."
"No they don't. They need you to be their big sister, that's all.
Jordan let me be the parent will you?" He said wiping her tears away
with his little finger.
" It's not fair, Daddy, I just found him and I'm not ready to lose
him yet. He's me," she said, trying to explain all that she felt to
her father.
"I know how you feel, baby, I know how you feel," he soothed, rubbing
her back.
As he held her, Riley could feel the turmoil in his daughter. He knew
that even though the she and Evan had only met days ago, they had a
special relationship that could not be explained. Together the two
seemed to speak a language that only they could understand, and it
puzzled him. How could two children who had just meet be so close so
quickly?
Jordan sat up and wiped her eyes dry. It was as if she'd given
herself enough time to cry and was ready to get back to her normal
stoic self. She looked at her father and asked,
"So Uncle Steve's gonna tell us this afternoon?"
"Yeah, this afternoon."
Taking his large hand in her small one Jordan laced their fingers
together. Riley loved the way his daughter's hand looked in his
large one; it reminded him that they were his to protect.
"Promise you'll tell me the truth. No tooth fairy stories?" She
said, staring him straight in the eye with a look that she could only
have learned from Graham. It was far to calculating for a child of 8.
"I promise. No tooth fairy stories."
"Good and I promise to try and cry more when it hurts," she said,
biting her bottom lip.
"Deal. So how 'bout that lunch?"
_______________________________________________________________
When they walked back into the kitchen all the adults turned
expectantly to look at Riley and he simply shook his head and smiled
slightly.
"Things okay with Jordy?" Graham asked, watching the little blonde
girl take her place beside her brother.
"We promised that I wouldn't lie to her about Evan's health and she
promised to stop trying to be the parent here," Riley answered as he
watched the children eat their lunch and chatter to one another.
"Do you think she can?" Graham asked, watching Jordan closely
"She promised she'd try and be a little girl."
"Has she always been so grown up?" Willow asked, snuggling under
Graham's arm
"Only since Claire died. She feels that she needs to help with her
sisters."
"Must be hard for a little girl to lose her mom so young," Buffy
mused sadly, thinking about her own mother and what her life would
have been like if Joyce hadn't been around for her.
"Yeah, she's the only one of the girls that has any really memories
of Claire."
"Must be hard on her, and now…"
"Yeah she's afraid she'll lose Evan," Riley finished for Buffy.
"Daddy, are you going to eat?" Tristan asked, him craning her neck to
stare up at her father.
"Planning on it," he said, his face breaking into a smile that only
his youngest could put there.
"Then come here! I saved you a spot right next to me," she said
patting the empty chair next to her.
"Hey! I thought that was my spot!" Graham said as he pretended to
pout.
"You can sit on my other empty side," Tristan offered, trying to
pacify her uncle.
"But you don't have another empty side," Willow pointed out.
"Well he'll have to sit next to you then, Aunt Willow," Tristan
decided, her face lighting up at her wonderful idea.
"But he's a boy!" Willow exclaimed in shock
"That's okay, he's not like all those other stinky boys. He's much
better," Tristan assured Willow.
"Really. I'm glad I'm not part of that group," Graham said, helping
Willow to her seat.
"Oh no Uncle Graham you always smell nice. Especially when you smell
like Aunt Willow's perfume," Tristan beamed a smile of perfect
innocence at him.
<Who said kids are dumb>
With lunch done, Sam took the kids down to the family room to watch
101 Dalmatians part 5. It amazed Riley how Disney could keep putting
out sequels to the classic every few years. Raising daughters he'd
developed a love for the Disney classics, that as a young boy he
hadn't had the time for. Maybe Claire had been right; he was just a
romantic at heart, a sucker for a happy ending.
"Rye do you want another cup of coffee?" Graham asked, standing in
the library doorway watching Riley stare out the window to the front
gate.
"No. I just wish Steve would hurry up," Riley said, turning to face
his best friend.
"He could have got held up at the hospital," Graham said, coming to
join his friend by the window.
"I hope not! I don't think I can manage another couple of hours of
waiting for his answer."
"I know," Graham said placing his hand on Riley's shoulder.
"So let's talk about something to get my mind off this. How's the
plans for Friday?" Riley asked, turning away from the window and
striding over to his couch.
"I called Rebecca yesterday and she told me everything's a go for
Friday. The caterer is ready and should be here around noon, the
florist is scheduled to arrive around 4:00 and serving staff and
bartenders will arrive around 5:00."
"Did you tell Rebecca we need a background check on all people
entering here on Friday? I don't want Willow's little friend walking
through those front gates in all the hoopla of organising this,"
Riley said, looking up at Graham.
"What do you think I'm stupid? No body will get in this place
without a full background check. This is the woman I love we're
talking about!"
"Anything more from the police in either L.A. or here?"
"Nothing. He's good. Angel said that everyone he and the police
have looked into is clean. I don't get it! How could this psycho
get so close to her here?" Graham sighed as he ran his hand over his
eyes and began to pace the length of the library.
"Gray you need to do something about the pacing buddy, it's kind of
distracting," Riley smirked at his friend.
"I know, but it's that or cracking my knuckles. You choose."
"Pacing works," Riley conceded.
Just then, the phone linked to the front gate buzzed. Riley looked
at Graham and nodded to Graham to answer it.
"Hey Randy. Yeah send Dr. and Mrs. Bishop up to the house."
Hanging up the phone Graham looked over to Riley.
"I'll go get the girls. They're in the kitchen cleaning up," Graham
said leaving Riley alone to watch the black BMW drive up the
driveway.
Taking a deep breath, he walked out to the front hallway and opened
the door to wait for his guests. He felt his knees shaking slightly
as he stood there and he knew it wasn't from the cold. Feeling a
smaller hand slid into his, he looked down to see Buffy standing
beside him.
"Together," she reminded him, squeezing his hand.
"Hey Riley, Buffy," Steve called to them as he came around to the
passenger side of the car to open the door. Buffy watched as a
beautiful dark haired woman got out of the car. She felt Riley let
go of her hand and watched as he walked down the walkway to meet them.
"Good to see you both," Riley replied smiling at the woman.
"Hey handsome," the woman said, walking directly to Riley and hugging
him as he kissed her on the cheek.
"Glad you could come, Nic, it's been awhile."
"Yeah you haven't been in the office in over a week!" She smiled at
him linking her arm through his.
"How are things?" Riley asked, feeling horrible that he'd dumped a
lot of the daily running of the business onto her slender shoulders.
"Good. Chicago is signed, sealed and delivered. Graham and I talked
to Reece this morning and we went over the translations…"
"Gray didn't tell me…"
"He knew you had to much on your mind. The case in Paris is back on
line and Marc says hello. Says he'll see you at Christmas."
"Anything else about my company?" Riley laughed at his and Graham's
right hand man, or should he say woman.
"Yeah, Rebecca says this will be the best Christmas party ever!"
Buffy noticed the way Nicole's dark brown eyes twinkled when she
looked up at Riley but for some reason Buffy didn't feel any jealousy
or animosity toward this woman. It was obvious to her that Riley and
this woman had a close relationship but exactly what the nature of it
was, she would have to find out in due time.
"Buffy, I'd like you to meet Steve's wife and one of my dearest
friends in the world, Nicole Bishop," Riley introduced Nicole as the
four adults found themselves in the front hallway awaiting Graham and
Willow.
"And you must be Buffy Summers. It's a pleasure to meet you.
Steve's done nothing but talk about you and Willow since he meet you
both on Sunday," Nicole gushed as she embraced Buffy. Her
friendliness caught Buffy off guard and she was taken aback by the
woman's open acceptance of her. Buffy had been certain that this
model type beauty would be a classic Boston snob.
<So much for first impressions!>
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well. Steve's been wonderful to us
all, he's been a God send actually."
"That's my husband!" Nicole said fondly as she smiled proudly at her
husband.
"So where's this son of yours!" Nicole asked, looking around the room
as she handed Riley her coat.
"He's down in the den with the girls and Sam."
"When do I get to meet him? I mean this is your son, Riley! Aunt
Nickie has a nephew to spoil!" She said turning in the direction of
the den. Buffy immediately knew that this woman was on their side
and that this was someone she could count on.
"Why not after we give them the news?" Steve said, reaching for his
whirlwind of a wife's arm to slow her down.
"Please. I think that would be a great idea," Riley said, smiling
gratefully at Steve.
"Where's Graham?"
"Right here," he said as he came out into the hall with Willow on her
crutches besided him.
"Oh my God! It is Willow Rosenberg!" Nicole shrieked as she rushed
forward to meet Willow.
"Nick, how do you go from being super cool female executive to
gushing teenager in less than 5 seconds?" Graham teased as he watched
her blush.
"Nicole, it's a pleasure to meet you," Willow said smiling at the
woman in front of her and swatting Graham lightly on the arm.
"My god Steve you're right she is tiny and more beautiful. Hold onto
this one Miller, or I'll kick your sorry ass!" Nicole said looking
Willow over.
"Nicole!" Steve hollered, embarrassed by his wife's lack of tact.
"That's okay Steve, I get it all the time," Willow laughed. She
liked Nicole's openness. It was refreshing and it reminded her of
Cordelia.
"Why don't we go into the living room to talk?" Riley suggested,
hoping that whatever Steve's news was could be dealt with immediately
and painlessly.
"Sure. That sounds good," Steve said directing his wife to the
livingroom.
Once all parties were seated, Steve reached into his briefcase and
pulled out a file folder. Opening it he looked at it and then looked
up at the couple sitting opposite him on the couch.
"In medical school, they told us that when we had good news and bad
news that we should give the bad news first," Steve began. "So here
it goes. Riley, I'm sorry but you'er not a match for Evan."
Riley's shoulders slumped and he felt Buffy squeeze his hand.
<Together>
"The good news is that Jordan is."
Buffy and Riley stared silent at Steve for a minute as the words
flowed over them. Looking at each other, then back at Steve, they
both sat there smiling like idiots.
"Jordan is a perfect match," Steve said as Buffy's scream of joy
drowned him out.
Throwing herself into Riley's arms she screamed and cried.
"Jordan's a match!" Riley said the words to himself before pulling
Buffy up off the couch and swinging her around the room.
"I think this calls for champagne!" Graham said, clapping his friend
on the back.
"Will! We have a match!" Buffy laughed throwing her arms around her
best friend as the two women cried together.
"I knew all that praying to the Goddess would help!" Willow said to
Buffy.
"Oh my God! I have to call my Mom and Giles!" Buffy said, dancing
around the room, not caring that Steve and Nicole were watching her.
Her son had a donor! Her son had a chance to live a happy, full life.
"Graham, can you get a couple of bottles of the stuff from the wine
cellar?"
"I'm on my way."
"We have to tell the kids!" Riley said, hugging Buffy to him.
"Evan!" Buffy laughed. Her son was going to live!
_____________________________________________________________________
Across the country, Lilah Morgan sat in her office flipping through a
file that one of her associates had just given her. As the partner
in charge of Special Projects for Wolfman and Hart, Lilah Morgan's
demands seldom went unanswered. Throwing the file back into her
in-tray, she reached for the ringing phone.
"Yes Andrea, send him in."
Lilah placed the receiver back into the phone's cradle just as there
was a knock on her door.
"Come," she called glancing up into the face of her newest prodigy,
Neil Pearce. Neil reminded her so much of Lindsay in the early days,
before Angel and the former slayer got their hands on him. Neil had
Lindsay's drive and determination to succeed at all costs. She
admired the young man's fire and she knew she could nurse this along
beautifully. She admired his passion as well, particularly when it
was in her bed. Lilah was grooming young Pearce to take over her
position when she moved still further up the ladder.
"Lilah, we just got a call from our contact in Dr. Fields' office
here in L.A. Apparently they found a marrow donor for the boy," Neil
said coming into his lover's office. He loved working for Lilah.
They both had the same love of the hunt and a need for power. The
need to tear apart someone's life gave them both a perverse pleasure.
Though Pearce was loyal to Lilah Morgan he was not dumb and he knew
enough to watch his back when in her company.
"Who?" Lilah barked, knowing her plan would now need to go into
effect.
"The only one we didn't want it to be," Neil said, coming to stand
behind her chair to massage her shoulders.
"The senior partners will not accept anything happening to the girl.
They still haven't forgiven me for killing her mother," Lilah hissed
as Neil's firm fingers worked out the knots in her neck.
"We only meant to kill Finn, not his wife. How were we to know she'd
be driving the car that day."
"I know! But all this lead us back to Summers and MacDonald and I
want them to pay for everything they've done! They've destroyed
everything that we had planned for Angel, everything!" Lilah slammed
her fist against the desk, knocking the glass decanter onto the floor
and shattering it.
"I love it when you're like this. You're the sexiest woman alive!"
Neil purred as he leaned down to kiss her neck.
"You know it! They will all pay and it will start with Finn and his
bitch and end with Miller!"
The story continues in chapter 24