That Beautiful Miracle

Happy Birthday, Eric

"Get up here, you three." Angel knelt on the stairs, brandishing a spatula which was still covered in some type of cake batter at Hyde, Kelso and Fez. She was wearing a blue and white checked pinafore dress with small white heels which were fastened with small pearl buttons over which there was one of Kitty's spare aprons. "I'm almost finished with the cake, and Kitty wants everyone in place before I put it in the oven." Angel whispered to the boys as they passed her on the stairs. "Oh, and there'll be no escape, Eric. Red is guarding the other door." She called as she heard the boy get to his feet and move towards the other door.

Once she was back in the kitchen, Angel took the large cake pan off the side and set it in the oven to bake. She set the egg timer to go off in a half hour and checked the fridge to make sure, for the umpteenth time, that the frosting and m&ms were there to decorate it.

"Angel baby, you smell like cake." Hyde mumbled in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. "You better be careful, or we may eat you before the cake comes out of the oven." He joked, giving her a gentle squeeze before releasing her. He untied her apron with gentle hands and lifted the loop from around her neck carefully so as not to affect the way she had done her hair. She spun to face him with a huge smile as he threw the apron on the side next to the oven mitts and looped her arms around his neck.

"Thank you, Hyde. I tried really hard to make everything as Eric friendly as possible this year. I think he may even enjoy himself if he can get his head out of his ass for a while." Angel jumped up, twining her legs around Hyde's waist, him crossing his wrists below her so that he wouldn't have to be inappropriate towards her and touch her backside. "Let's go through to the living room before Kitty has, well," Angel's head tilted to the side, and her smile grew even bigger. "Kittens!" She giggled as Hyde laughed and carried her through the swing door.

"There you are!" Kitty exclaimed, rushing to snatch Angel from Hyde's arms and arrange her in the middle of the room, making her the centre point as Angel was Eric's very favourite person. She'd make him at least slightly happy to see the party that awaited him. "Now, all of you stay where I've put you while I run and get Eric from the basement."

Angel looked around the room. She cringed at the balloons and the birthday banners and bows that she knew Eric would hate. She was relatively impressed by the amount of presents he had amassed, and with hers not there, it was especially large. The snacks on the table, mostly produced by her, except for the healthy ones, of course, looked promising, and she knew that he'd like the cake she'd baked for him.

Angel ran her hands down her dress, desperate for Eric to arrive so that he could get through his presents and the adults would leave. He could actually enjoy himself then. They could dance and drink beers that she had stolen from Red's garage already, and then they could go for a drive and find something stupid to do. She had other reasons for wanting Eric to arrive too, silence and stillness had always unnerved her because they reminded her of the rare occasions when her father would get so srunk that he would come home specifically for the joy of beating her.

Just as her thoughts started to tunnel towards a bleak and dark place, her smile turning to a tearful frown, the door was flung open by Kitty, who shoved Eric through the entrance. Angel leapt on him.

"Happy birthday, Eric!" She squealed at him as he spun her in a few small circles before carefully lowering her to the floor. She noticed that he had, in fact, opted to wear what she had set out for him, the blue checked shirt and beige pants. "You liked the outfit!" She squealed again, then she dug her face into the crook of his neck before backing away so that the rest of the people in the room could get their greetings in.

Angel swished her dress around her hips as she twisted, trying to decide what music she should put on first. Then she saw Fleetwood Mac on a record cover, and immediately, her decision was made. They were her favourite but she was sure that the others liked them too.

Putting the record on the machine, she started to sway, just barely, side to side.

"Now, here you go again.
You say you want your freedom
Well, who am I to keep you down?
It's only right that you should play the way you feel it,
But listen carefully to the sound of your loneliness,
Like a heartbeat, it drives you mad
In the stillness of remembering what you had," Angel sang to herself as she spun gracefully around the room, grasping Red's hands and forcing him to dance with her. Simply swaying, it was closer than even Kitty had managed at their wedding. "And what you lost," she spun herself under one of Red's arms. "And what you had," she spun under his other arm before leaving him and spinning over to Laurie, who watched her with a gentle smile at the bottom of the staircase. "And what you lost," Angel smiled as she spun Laurie under her right hand.

She moved into the middle of the room again, dragging Kitty behind her now and taking both of the woman's hands before starting a dance that vaguely resembled a samba. "Oh, thunder only happens when it's raining, Players only love you when they're playing. Say, women, they will come, and they will go. When the rain washes you clean, you'll know." Angel leaned close to Kitty and kissed her on the cheek. "You'll know."

Angel moved from Kitty to Fez, who had already begun his approach when he saw her looking for a new partner. He could never turn down an excuse to dance. The pair stood back to back and began to bust out their best disco moves. "Now, here I go again, I see the crystal vision. I keep my visions to myself, but it's only me who wants to wrap around your dreams and have you any dreams you'd like to sell, dreams of loneliness?"

Angel stepped up to Kelso, who took her in an exaggerated waltz hold and spun her madly around the coffee table upon which all the snacks were lying. "Like a heartbeat, drives you mad, in the stillness of remembering what you had, and what you lost, and what you had.
Ooh, what you lost."

Kelso spun Angel away from him, and she was caught by Hyde, who took her waist and swayed her gently whilst he looked in her eyes and the two sung the next part together. "Thunder only happens when it's raining, players only love you when they're playing. Women, they will come, and they will go. When the rain washes you clean, you'll know,"

Angel backed out of Hyde's hold and forced her way into Eric's arms as he stood just inside the room and sulked like a child. "Oh, thunder only happens when it's raining. Players only love you when they're playing.
Say, women, they will come, and they will go. When the rain washes you clean, you'll know, you'll know, you will know, oh-oh-oh, you'll know." She finished the song with a flourish and bow, then made her way through to the kitchen to check on the cake.