Cordy nearly fell out of her chair when a babbling Connor stared at her and said "Mama". "What?" she asked her voice so loud she could have shattered glass and it wouldn't have surprised her.

"His first word," a proud Angel murmured, a grin so wide on his face that she was irrationally afraid for a few seconds that he'd lose his soul.

"Angel, he just called me Mama," a frantic Cordy pointed out, her heart beating so loud she worried he'd call her out on it.

He bent down, grabbed Connor out of her arms, kissed the top of his son's head, and then flashed her a smile. "Cor, you've been helping me raise him. Is it really a surprise that he thinks you're his mom?"

Slightly hysterical, Cordelia stood up and shook her head. "Fred's been helping you too. So have Wes, Fred, and Gunn. What makes me so different?"

"Mama!" Connor cried again, clearly wanting her. He held his arms out and she took him back.

"Cordy, look at me," Angel urged.

She snapped her head up to look at him and the love in his eyes nearly took her breath away. "What?" she asked.

"We're finally together. You're the woman I love, and you've been there by my side every step of the way. Yes, Darla is his biological mother and I'll tell Connor about her someday, but you are his mother in every way that matters, baby. He apparently feels the same way. Don't you, bud?" he asked.

The baby grinned and then smacked him with his toy. Angel winced but Cordy snorted. "You like hurting Daddy, huh?" She grabbed one of Connor's fingers and grinned at the little boy. "Mama loves you, Connor. Don't you ever forget that," she whispered, finally accepting her role in his life. She had been thinking of herself as his mother for months but hadn't dared to say it out loud because fear held her back. She wasn't about to let that happen anymore. "I love you too, Angel."

"You hear that, Connor? Would you like to spend some time with your aunts and uncles so Mama and Daddy can have some time alone?"

She glared at him. "You're lucky our son's in my arms or you'd be paying for that right about now. Don't talk about sex in front of the baby!"

"Oops, now I'm in trouble." Angel swooped in for a kiss and then the three of them walked down to the lobby to see what the rest of their family was up to.

Cordy sat Connor down in the playpen before proceeding to check up on them to see what they were up. "Mama!" the baby called again.

Fred's head snapped up in shock for a second before she grinned knowingly. "Connor finally clue her in to what everybody else knew?" she asked Angel.

He nodded. "Took him long enough." He had been a little too irrationally terrified to approach Cordy about it and was now glad to have stalled for so long.

"Good. You're not going to be able to leave him alone for very long now." Fred shot an amused glance towards Cordelia, who ignored it.

That night, as per usual, Cordy and Angel fell asleep with Connor between them.