Title: Legacy

Authors: Creed Cascade and Echo's Revenge

Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Pairing: Xander/Spike, Xander/Angel

Rating: NC-17

Status: new

Archive: If you want it, go ahead. Just knock me upside the head and let me know.

Feedback: creed_cascade@hotmail.com and echosrevenge@hotmail.com

Other websites: http://insaneasylum.slashfanfiction.com and
http://www.echosrevenge.com

Disclaimers: We have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. You don't ask where we get these strange plots starring mysteriously familiar characters, and we won't tell you that I make no money, only deliriously happy satisfaction. Very hush-hush.

Notes on setting: Starts before the final Buffy ep and few liberties have been taken there. Over in the Angelverse, Angel got the Conner mind wipe, and got Cordy back. He managed to avoid the other complications though. So, basically, it's Angelverse frozen at the end of S1.

Summary: Spike leaves something special with Xander.



Legacy
By Creed Cascade and Echo's Revenge

"The Wrath of Kahn, Xan?" Spike asked as he saw Xander put the DVD case on top of the television.

"Yeah, well, I'd just gotten the director’s cut before… before everything happened. I'd kinda like to see it before we all die tomorrow facing the First."

"Not gonna die. You lot have been through a few of these end of the world things already," Spike said. "No more morbid thoughts. We're supposed to be forgetting about that for a few hours."

"Yeah well, Anya and I aren't really on the kind of terms to do that type of putting behind anymore," Xander complained.

"Ya'll haven't been on those terms in a while. Smelled that you two gave it a go last night though. You two finally put the past behind you?"

"Put a lot of things behind us," Xander sighed painfully. "She told me she loved me, but that I needed to settle down with a nice boy. She smelled you on me."

"Maybe after all this is over you should take a break from saving the world," Spike's face broke into an evil grin. "Bet you could talk Andrew into going with you, but he's not big enough, is he? You want someone who's a challenge."

"Hey!" Xander gave Spike an offended look. "If I went for butch men I wouldn't be fucking around with you, now would I, blondie?"

"Some blokes are just so hot that you want them regardless of what your type is," Spike said with a smirk. When Xander tried to answer, he slapped a hand over his mouth. "Shh, the intro's over and there's one of the new scenes coming up."

Xander did one of his patented moves and bit Spike's palm. Biting was always one sure-fire way to give Spike the signal that he'd like to fool around a little.

Spike gave a sub vocal growl that he knew Xander would just barely hear and practically jumped in his lap. There was no way he was passing up a chance to shag him before the upcoming battle. He bent his head and started nipping at Xander's jugular. Nothing could get him going faster then a willing meal… even if he never actually broke the skin.

"You're so fucking easy," Xander laughed. It was always fun with Spike and that's what he needed when he was the verge of facing the reality of death. Not just his own death, but the possible destruction of the world as they knew it.

"Saying a bloke is easy is just repeating yourself," Spike said as he looked up with a smirk. "World's about to end so you won't mind if I start while the movie is going, will you?" He wasn't even finished with his question when he started to rip Xander's shirt so he could pull it off.

"I'm gonna make you purr for that," Xander laughed even as he threatened Spike. Spike always denied that he purred, but, if Xander could, he would seduce Spike into making the sound every time they messed around. When he succeeded he’d always tease him relentlessly about it afterwards.

"Don't soddin' purr, but you scream like a girl," Spike muttered as he started to suck on one of Xander's nipples while his hands made short work of Xander's sweats. Once they were off he started pulling off his own clothes without moving his mouth, even ripping his own t-shirt to get it off.

"I don't scream like a girl," Xander denied, but gasped when Spike grasped his cock. "But you fuck like a human."

Spike gave Xander a positively evil look, but didn't answer. There'd been far too much talking already. He grabbed the lube he'd made sure to put in his pants before he came over and flipped the cap up at the same time he started licking around the head of Xander's cock.

Xander loved it when Spike gave him a blowjob. Spike had over a century of experience to draw on and had no problem using it to turn Xander into blubbering fool. It also helped that Spike didn't have to breath when he deep throated him.

Spike meanwhile was trying to decided if he wanted Xander to come from the blowjob and then fuck him, or fuck him before he came the first time. Both ways had their advantages. If he came first Spike got a very willing and relaxed Xander. If he didn't wait he got a demanding and pushy Xander. With a mental shrug he pulled his head up and quickly rearranged them on the sofa so Xander's legs were over his shoulder.

"Damn it, Spike!" Xander hissed at Spike. "Would you hurry up and fuck me. I thought you had supernatural speed?"

They were both cumming at least two times, Spike decided as he slammed in hard enough to cause a twinge of reflexive pain, imagining the chip firing. He'd positioned himself where he could see the clock. There was a save-the-world time limit for them after all. He forgot the clock though as soon as Xander bucked under him.

Spike loved fucking Xander. All those months ago he had been at a turning point when he came back from getting his soul and was still obsessed with the Slayer. Then he'd come to his right mind and realized it would never work out. He wasn't like his poufy Sire and willing to moon over her the rest of his unlife. Instead he'd started to notice Xander while they were living together and ended up jumping his friend.

Xander rocked back and forth under Spike. One hand was absently playing with his cock. With Spike fucking he didn't really need the extra stimulation, but it was nice. He was in no real hurry either. Spike had a focused look on his face and he knew he'd be coming at least twice. As he started to get closer, he began grunting out random moans.

Spike tried to keep his promises when he really meant them and he'd promised Xander that he'd make him scream like a girl. Spike angled his cock so that he was hitting just the right spot over and over again.

"Gonna have to do better," Xander said in between biting his lips to keep from screaming as he came for the first time. He could feel Spike coming too and took advantage of the few seconds of calm before the pace picked back up.

With Spike being a vampire, the obvious erotic zone was his neck. When he'd first started fucking around with Xander it had been decades since he'd fucked a human without raping them. He had to explore to find Xander’s erotic trigger, but once he did, it was oh so fun to torture Xander. He continued to fuck Xander and shifted so he could start to nibble on his earlobe.

Xander held back as long as he could, which really wasn't long at all. He could just imagine the smirk on Spike face as he started screaming and came. By the time he'd opened his eyes Spike still hadn't cum and was pounding away. Xander pushed Spike's head back then presented his wrist. "Just a few mouthfuls, okay?"

Xander had never offered him blood before. That was something lovers shared and they were just fuck buddies. A part of him wanted to ask why, but the demon cut off any thought and bit into the offered wrist.

Xander screamed again as the fangs sliced into his flesh. It felt good, really good. Then Spike was cumming and Xander just watched him. His head was thrown back and he was in full game face, snarling and howling.

They ended up each having cum twice, lying in a tumbled heap on the couch. Spike had his head lying on Xander's chest and was purring heavily.

"Why?" Spike asked when he could think straight again.

"Because I was curious, and it wasn't enough to weaken me. A little human blood will help you when you guys go inside the seal," Xander said.

"Nice to know you want me strong, mate," Spike said. "Suppose you're the best kinda friend there is. Blood and sex, what more else could a bloke want?"

"The First gone? And, if I can't have that, I'm taking first crack at the shower. We should get cleaned up and get back to the house. Go ahead and finish off the blood in the fridge. Assuming we all survive we can get more tomorrow," Xander said with a tired grin. "Thanks though, I needed this."

"That's what are fuck buddies for," Spike laughed and then patted Xander's thigh fondly.

"It's a little more then fuck buddies now that I let you feed from me," Xander called back from the bathroom. "Don't you have to like protect me now?"

*

After the destruction of Sunnydale…

"Xander!" Buffy screamed as she looked over to where he'd been fighting one of the vampires on his own. He'd knocked it unconscious and was currently gnawing on its neck. She could see the trickle of blood from where his teeth had broken the skin.

"I know you've been feeling weird lately, but this is too much," she muttered as she pulled him off and staked the vampire. As soon as she pulled him off his eyes seemed to refocus.

"I… I don't know what's wrong with me," Xander muttered to himself, wiping the blood away from his mouth. He'd been sleeping more during the days only getting any real energy after the sun had set. He felt sick most of the time and was always eating.

"Okay, feeling a little out of sorts was one thing, but a sudden desire to feed on vampires… no more shrugging this off Xan. I want Willow and Giles to figure out what's going on before you come on patrol again," Buffy said as she started leading him back to the house they were all staying in. "You haven't been visiting the zoo or anything have you?"

"Jeez, why do you always blame stuff on the hyena thing?" Xander complained. "And I can patrol if I damn well want to patrol." Xander didn't tell Buffy that felt this overwhelming need to kill things.

Buffy's expression darkened. Xander had been getting on her nerves big time lately and it seemed like he argued with her for the hell of it on top of that. "We'll see what Giles and Willow say."

Xander ended up steering clear of Buffy for the next few days. Whenever he was around her he got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Giles and Willow had spent the time pouring over all of the sources they managed to salvage from the Watcher organization.

"There's nothing here," Willow finally said as she slammed the last book they had to look through closed. "He's getting worse, too. One of the girls said he growled at them. All the slayers are staying away from him, but he doesn't have a problem with Dawn or I. I think it's vampire related and maybe we should talk to Angel."

"There is no reported incidence of vampirism transferred by a virus," Giles muttered to himself. He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I suppose Angel would be a logical source for information."

"I kinda already e-mailed him, but he said it would be best if Xander went out there. I was thinking I could go out with him? After the blow-up between Angel and Buffy, it wouldn't be a good idea to send her," Willow said.

"We have enough money in the account to cover that sort of expense," Giles answered. "Make sure to talk with Wesley into sharing any of their latest research."

"We're leaving tomorrow," Willow said as she typed away on her laptop. "Can you tell Buffy after I tell Xander? He's not going to be happy about it and I don't want Buffy setting him off again." She knew Giles was more worried then he was letting on when he didn't protest the extra cost of buying such short notice tickets.

After she was done she went up to Xander's room and knocked on the door. It was the middle of the day and there was no answer. Finally she opened the door and walked into a dark room. Xander had the curtains pulled tight and was huddled under a nest of blankets.

"Xander," she kept repeating from the doorway until he started to stir. He had been easy to startle when he woke up lately. When she was sure he was awake he moved closer. "Xan, we're flying out to see Angel tomorrow. Giles and I think he might be able to help us figure out what's going on."

"Angel?" Xander asked, the nest of pillows and blanket a little. "Why would he know what's going on. There's nothing wrong with me."

"Xander Harris, you're going to say, 'Yes, Willow,' and start packing. I'm really worried and I'm not going to argue with you. We leave for the airport at six tomorrow morning and you won't be happy if you upset me." Willow didn't put her foot down often, but she knew that when she did, he'd listen.

Xander burrowed back under his nest and simply answered, "Yes, Willow." He didn't give a shit whether or not he packed, he just wanted to sleep. At least they were leaving before sunrise.

"The sun will be down in a few hours. Makes sure you get up and pack," Willow said as she ran a hand through Xander's hair. She still had to call Angel Investigations and let them know that they'd be there the next evening. She decided to do that fast before Buffy had a chance to get too upset about the whole thing. With one last look at Xander she walked out and closed the door quietly behind her.

*

Xander hated the airport and being around all those people. He felt like everyone was starring at him, even though they probably weren't. He'd sat next to Willow on the plane, but had been given more than one strange look when he'd growled at people on the plane.

"Stop trying to scare everyone off," Willow said when Xander got distracted again. "Let's get our luggage and pick up our car." She'd decided to rent a car, figuring if Angel couldn't help, then a vacation might calm Xander down some.

"I don't want to be around anyone right now," Xander grumbled. He had this overwhelming urge to be alone. Be alone and eat.

"I know. It's just going to be Angel and Wesley meeting us. Everyone else can talk to you later when you're ready to see them. They're just going to say hello and get a little information then you can go to bed," Willow said as she guided Xander over to the rental counter to pick up the keys.

Xander scowled at the man behind the counter when he smiled friendlily at Xander and Willow quickly hurried him away. She wouldn't let Xander drive and glanced at him worriedly on the way. She knew something was wrong with Xander. His aura wasn't right and she was getting some funky vibes off of him.

"Do we have to go talk to them?" Xander whined when they pulled up in front of the hotel. "We could stay somewhere else and see them tomorrow." When he got no answer he got out of the car and started grabbing luggage. There was no way Willow was going to let him escape so he decided to get it over with as quickly as possible.

"Xander, please try to be a little civil," Willow begged as the climbed the front stairs. "They're just trying to help us."

Xander didn't get a chance to answer when Angel threw the door open and hovered just out of the sunlight growling. "Spike?" he asked, obviously confused.

"Spike's dead," Xander growled, clutching his belly. He felt a wave of sadness over come him again at the reminder of the loss of his friend. He had been floating in a sea of depression ever since they so called 'won' the battle against evil. Anya and Spike had both been causalities, leaving him alone with no romantic hope in the foreseeable future.

"I know, but…." Angel was circling around Xander as soon as he was inside. "You smell like Spike." He circled a few more times. "Not a claim. You wouldn't have survived his death if it was a claim anyway, but it's him."

"Spike always said you were more than a little off," Xander growled, actually baring his teeth at Angel. During the entire confrontation, Xander kept clutching his belly protectively.

Angel's eyes widened as he started focusing on more than just scent. Then everything happened at once. Wesley moved up and put his hand on Angel's arm only to be pushed back. At the same time Willow moved towards Xander. With a primal growl, Angel picked Xander up, moving him away from Willow. He glanced around the lobby once before running out of the room with Xander cradled against him.

Xander felt the darkness that had been settled in the pit of his stomach lift once he was in Angel's arms. Something about the cold, strong touch seemed right. Instead of feeling sick, his stomach seemed to be full of butterflies in a way that Xander hadn't felt since his dick had first seen Buffy and thought she was little Miss Perfect.

Back in the lobby Willow looked ready to freak out. "Wes, what's going on?" Willow asked as she helped him up from where Angel had pushed him. "Not what we were expecting. Is Xander in danger? Where did Angel take him?"

"I don't know what's wrong with Angel," Wesley admitted. "He's never acted like that before. You don't think he's… No, no… I've been watching him and there's no chance he's had a moment of pure happiness. He sure as hell wasn't that happy to see Harris."

"We'll, I'm not leaving him with what could be Angelus," Willow announced as she went to open the door Angel had gone through only to find it blocked from the other side. She started trying to push it open but couldn't get it to budge.

"Whether it be Angelus or Angel, he can be quite determined," Wesley sighed and then knocked on the door. "Open up now, Angel! We've come to collect the boy."

"Leave us alone!" Angel shouted back. "He's safe here." He caught Xander's wince when he shouted and instantly lowered his voice. "You're safe Xander. I won't let anyone get to you."

"I know," Xander answered confidently. Angel had set him on his bed and Xander was already occupying himself with rearranging the pillows and blankets into the middle of the bed around him.

"Do you know what's going on?" Angel asked after he made sure the door was secure. Willow had told them they had no idea what was wrong with Xander, but he seemed pretty calm all the sudden.

"Other than I feel like shit?" Xander snorted and then scowled at a pillow, moving it until it seemed just perfect.

Angel moved up next to the bed then froze, unsure of how to approach the subject. "You and Spike were… intimate weren't you?"

"Yeah, we fucked," Xander agreed nonchalantly. Xander grabbed one of Angel's dirty shirts off a nearby shirt, sniffed it and added it to the growing nest with a smile.

"Were you in love with him?" Angel asked. He had to know what had happened before he decided how to proceed. He was almost positive Spike hadn't forced him, but whatever their relationship had been could effect how Xander would take the news.

"We were just friends," Xander said, then added after a moment. "He was like my best friend."

"That's good." Angel carefully maneuvered his way into the nest Xander had made in the middle of the bed. He could almost feel Xander watching him, waiting for him to mess up the carefully built nest. Once he was curled up there he put one arm gently on Xander's shoulder. "Xander, you know vampires have really good hearing. I can hear two heartbeats coming from you."

Xander's eyes narrowed at Angel. "You're lying!" he accused.

Angel tightened his grip and started up the rumbling purr that had always soothed his Childer. "No, I'm telling the truth and I can smell Spike on you. Somehow, it's his child. That's the only explanation that makes sense." He pause for a second to let that sink in. "You've started keeping vampire hours, when you're not thinking about it you instinctively trust me, and, even if you haven't told anyone, you're probably craving blood."

The purr from Angel was like a lure and Xander put his head on Angel's shoulder. He couldn't deny anything that Angel had said, but his interpretation was different. "So I have some of vampiric parasite living in my belly?" Xander mumbled in a monotone voice.

"It's not a parasite," Angel growled. "Somehow, it's your and Spike's child. Tomorrow we can talk to the others about it, but right now you need to feed and get some sleep. We can talk to them at sundown tomorrow."

"I just found out I'm the star of tragically bad sci-fi movie about male pregnancy and vampires and oh wait, there's no movie. Just another bump in the road that is the crap I call life," Xander grumbled. "Sleep is not an option right now."

"Feed and then we'll talk about sleep," Angel said. He bit lightly into his wrist and offered it to Xander. He was sure that Xander would fall asleep quickly after his body started processing its first taste of his blood. It would calm the reactions his body was having to carrying a child too.

Any thoughts about protesting flittered out of his head when he saw the blood. With a soft growl Xander seized Angel's wrist and started to draw as much blood into his mouth as possible. He was so desperate to get the sweet liquid down his throat that he was choking.

"Not too much," Angel said as pulled his wrist away from a now growling Xander. "Too much at once could hurt the baby. When you wake up you can have more."

"Don't think you can tell me what to do," Xander growled at Angel, licking the blood off his lips and eyes still locked on the healing wound. Even though he snapped at the vampire, he was also curling around him to prevent escape.

*

By sundown that night Angel was very glad he was a vampire. Xander's grip on him hadn't lessened since he'd fallen asleep. He'd been awake for a while, listening to the others speculating about them outside the door. It was not going to be a fun conversation, but at least Willow hadn't brought Buffy along. Deciding he couldn't put off getting up any longer, he bit his wrist open and held it under Xander's nose. The scent of blood would draw him smoothly out of sleep.

Xander seized Angel's wrist and fed from him, slowly opening sleepy brown eyes to gaze at him. When Angel tried to pull his wrist away, Xander growled and bit into the wrist deeper. A few seconds later he did let Angel pull his wrist away, but felt satisfied that Angel knew it was because he was full and not because Angel had made a decision.

"You feeling better? We need to get cleaned up and talk to everyone camped outside the door," Angel said. He knew he needed to take care of Xander but aside from keeping him safe and giving him blood he didn't really know how to handle all this if Xander got too upset.

"I don't want to see anyone," Xander snapped and readjusted the nest. "I want to stay here."

"But they need to know…." Angel trailed off when Xander's expression got more annoyed. "I could talk to them, but they are going to want to see you and talk to you. We could have Willow and Wesley come in here and they can tell everyone else?"

"Maybe…" Xander agreed a little reluctantly. One of the man reasons he didn't want to see anyone was the idea that they would take him away from here. Now that Sunnydale was only a not so homey crater, Xander had felt lost. The minute he had stepped over the threshold of the hotel and been snatched by Angel, he had felt safe and at home. Of course, he wasn't going to let Angel know that easily. "I need some other supplies. They could bring me stuff, right?"

"Yes, you need to eat, human food, too. Do you want them to come in here, or do you want to go out there?" Angel was carefully extracting himself from the nest while he talked. He was fairly sure that Xander would not want any other people in what had become his safe area.

"I'll go out there," Xander said. He was already perturbed that Angel's movement had disturbed his once carefully placed pillows and blankets. He didn't know why they had to be that way. They just had to be. He looked over and looked at Angel's closet, knowing that would be his next target. "I need Twinkies. Oh, and fries with gravy."

Angel didn't comment on Xander's choice of food, but he was already planning on how to make sure he ate well while… pregnant. Even after a day to think about it he was still having trouble getting used to the idea that Xander was having Spike's child. He helped Xander out of bed and led him to the bathroom. "You're bags aren't in here. I'll just pick out some of my clothes for you to wear when we go out to talk to them," he said.

"I didn't really pack anything," Xander admitted, but definitely liking the idea of wearing Angel's clothing. "Even though Willow told me to pack, my bag is pretty much empty."

Angel waited until Xander was in the bathroom before pulling some recently worn clothes out of his closet. He'd seen Xander sniffing his shirts and knew the child was associating his scent with Spike's. It would make the baby, and by extension Xander, calmer. Once the clothes were laid out and he heard the shower running he hurried over to the door and got it open. "We're coming out in a few minutes," he said before anyone could speak. "Remember that Xander's going through a lot and keep comments that might upset him to yourself. If you don't you'll have to deal with me later." He glowered at his shocked audience then shut the door quickly.

Xander sauntered out into the main room in nothing but a towel. His normally flat stomach had a very slight belly on it that you could have chalked up to one too many beers on any other young man. "So you're saying I'm gonna look like a fatty soon with the parasite taking over?"

"You're going to get bigger, but your body shouldn't react like a woman’s. I'd guess you won't put on very much weight," Angel said. He had switched into some unwrinkled clothes while waiting for Xander. "I laid out some clothes for you and they are waiting for us when you're ready."

Xander picked up the midnight blue silk shirt and rubbed his face against it, sniffing deeply. "I like it."

"It looks good on you," Angel said once Xander had pulled it on. He ran a hand over it briefly to smooth it out. "If they upset you, just come back in here. I'll make sure they don't follow."

"I don't want them in here at all," Xander agreed tersely, buttoning up the pants and scowling when he noticed they were a just a tad too tight. "Let's get this over with so I can eat and then go back to sleep."

Willow started to get up when Angel and Xander walked out the door, but a growl from Angel kept her in her seat. No one missed the way Xander moved in closer to Angel when he growled, and several confused glances were exchanged.

"You're acting like he's your Childe," Wesley pointed out, noting the common vampire behaviour of Sires over favoured Childer.

Angel looked ready to snap a comment out then restrained himself while he got Xander settled next to him on the couch. "It's complicated. I'm not sure how to tell you this, or how it happened, but Xander's pregnant."

Wesley actually burst out laughing, but quickly stopped when Angel looked like he wanted to kill him. "Surely you jest?"

"He wouldn't joke about me and Spike's baby," Xander snarled. His good humour had faded away almost instantly. "And don't fucking laugh at me!"

"It makes sense really," Willow added. "I knew something funny was up with his aura…" Then what Xander had said hit her. "Spike's baby?"

Angel could feel Xander getting more upset by the second and started a low rumble he could talk through. "Yes, Spike and Xander's child. It's not entirely human but I'm sure it's not a full vampire either. We're going to have to research it once things settle down, but right now I need to get him some food. He can't survive on just my blood."

"Xander's drinking blood?" Willow repeated, now scowling at Angel. She knew how Xander felt about vampires. He hated them and now he was carrying one.

"The baby needs blood. That was one reason Xander wasn't feeling well," Angel said. "Now I'm taking him to the kitchen and you all can start researching what we need to know about his pregnancy."

"Don't call it that!" Xander snapped at Angel. He sure as hell didn't like being called pregnant, even if he was. "I am hungry, so I'm going to the kitchen. Not because you told me to, but because I want to."

Willow watched Xander head to the kitchen with Angel hovering protectively behind him. "This isn't a good thing, is it?" she asked Wesley once the door to the kitchen had closed. "Is it even safe for him to have a vampire baby, and how did this happen?"

"We're going to simply have to ask Angel about the concept," Wesley sighed. "But if the timing is right and the child was conceived over the Hellmouth…"

Willow's face went pale and she gasped. "The spell… Giles thought there was a slight chance there would be a side effect, but he never mentioned anything like this. It would kinda make sense though."

"What spell?" Wesley asked carefully. He knew exactly how powerful Willow really was and if anyone could have made this happen, it was a powerful witch such as herself.

"When I channeled the power of the scythe and activated all the slayers. Giles wondered if it would effect non-slayers nearby, but we didn’t really have a choice," Willow said. "And if they had… if they had then maybe that could have done it."

"Oh, dear," Wesley shook his head and started to mutter under his breath. "We'll have to research the spell more deeply. Cross reference side effects to similar spells. Come along, girl. We've got a lot of work to do."

In the kitchen, Xander was glaring at Angel. "Just because you think I'm pregnant doesn't mean you can tell me what to eat," he said, pointing at the fairly healthy meal Angel had laid out on the table.

Angel knew from centuries of experience how to deal with difficult people and knew better than to fall for Xander's provocation. "If you eat that, I'll get you some Twinkies."

"What, am I two years old," Xander said with a pout. "I'll eat the nasty healthy stuff, but just because I'm hungry, not because you bribed me."

"Of course," Angel said, keeping all but a hint of fondness out of his voice. The boy really did remind him of Spike.

Xander was silent while he shoveled through the bulk of the food. When he was almost done he looked up at Angel. "I've still got lots of questions, but I want to take a nap after I'm done eating. Just make sure you don't let Willow cast any spells on me until I've had some time to think."

Angel had drunk several cups of blood while Xander ate. He supposed he should start back on human blood now that he would be feeding Xander and the baby. "You're not finished eating yet."

"No, I haven't. I don't see my Twinkies anywhere," Xander said as he looked around. "I do remember a vampire promising me Twinkies."

"I sent Cordelia out to get Twinkies for you. She should be back anytime now." Of course Angel didn't tell Xander the enormous bribe it had taken him to get Cordelia to do that. "But I was referring to taking in some more blood."

"I'm not sure about that," Xander said even as he licked his lips at the thought of it. "I mean it tasted good and everything, really good, but I don't see myself as a blood drinking kinda guy, you know."

Angel was in the mindset that he had to treat Xander like a difficult Childe. He walked behind Xander and started to brush his hands against the boy's shoulders and neck. "C'mon now, you remember the taste, don't you? All that sweet headiness?"

Xander closed his eyes and sniffed a few times as Angel's scent teased his nose. "Maybe just a little," he whispered after a few minutes.

Angel opened his wrist for Xander and started to purr when Xander started to draw the blood from his body. He combed his free hand over Xander's hair and a part of him ached that it had been so long since he'd had a Childe around to do this with.

"Mmmm, good," Xander said as he slumped against Angel and released his wrist. "Need to sleep now, Angel, please." He felt really good but was so tired all the sudden that he wasn't sure he could walk to the bedroom.

Angel all but carried Xander back to his room and watched him fuss for only a few minutes with the nest before falling into a deep sleep. Willow had said that the boy already spent most of his time sleeping and eating. Angel wondered what was to come and prayed he would survive the birth.

*

Angel sat next to the bed for several hours, stroking Xander's hair every time he started to move around. He knew he needed to talk to the others, as much as he wanted to stay with Xander. Finally, he pulled his shirt off and smiled when Xander grabbed it in his sleep and held it where he could smell it. Once Xander had settled back down, he pulled on another shirt and headed to the main office.

"Why in the hell did you change again?" Cordelia asked him, looking up from a stack of files.

"That's not important right now," Angel snarled at her before dismissing her and turning to Wesley. "Have you found anything yet? I'm worried about how much he's sleeping."

"Well, we've compared his cases to women who've carried half demon offspring and it's not unheard of," Wesley answered. "Many of those mothers are comatose or even… well, never mind."

"It's not the same though," Willow said looking up from the book she was going over. "Giles agrees that the spell should have made it possible for him to have the child. It was a lot of power. He said to be safe we should try to get rid of it though. I mean, we all know Xander doesn't want it."

"You are NOT killing my grand-childe!" Angel snarled at Willow, his eyes flashing gold. No one in this universe remembered his son that was forever lost to him. This unborn child… his Childe's child, was his chance to try again and get it right.

"It's not really your choice," Willow shouted back. "It's up to Xander and he's not really up to making a choice like that on his own right now. If we can safely get it out I think we should."

"You will not kill this child!" Angel went into full game face and advanced menacingly on Willow. "If he doesn't want the child, I'll take it!"

"I think we should work on ways to safely deliver the child, and a way to remove it," Wesley said, trying to calm things down. "It may be necessary, Angel, if it looks like carrying it will kill Xander."

"Since he's had a steady supply of my blood, he's been much stronger," Angel pointed out. "I'm the one who sees him most. He may be sleeping a lot, but he's eating a lot more human food and he's happier."

"Can't he drink regular blood?" Willow asked. "It's just that, can't you start to control him if he keeps drinking yours? I don't think he'd be very happy if I let you control him after that time when Dracula did that."

"Vampire blood has healing powers," Wesley pointed out. "And it could be beneficial to both mother… ah, parent and child."

"Fine, you can research both avenues, but making sure he can safely give birth is the priority and you do NOTHING without my permission." He heard Xander starting to move around back in their room, probably from all the shouting, and started to walk back to him.

"It's not like we have anything else to do with you keeping him away from me," Willow spat back. Part of the reason she was so hostile was that she was scared for Xander and Angel was the only one he would see.

"As soon as he feels up to it I'll bring him out here. He doesn't want anyone else in the room though. Right now it's someplace safe for him," Angel said right before he left the room. He could hear Xander was awake now and he didn't want him to start to wonder why he was alone.

"You weren't here," Xander accused as soon as Angel came into the room. Angel was always there when he woke up.

"I was just talking to the others. Do you need anything? I came back as soon as I heard you waking up," Angel said as he hovered near the edge of the bed.

"I'm hungry," Xander said insolently, almost with half a pout, which was quickly followed by a scowl.

"Food or blood?" Angel asked. After the meal Xander had eaten earlier, and the amount of blood he'd had, there was no way he should have been hungry already.

"Blood," Xander said immediately, then added. "Please? I'm hungry."

"Not too much this time. I need to start feeding more if you're going to be this hungry," Angel said. While he was talking he'd switched into game face and bit into his wrist before offing it to Xander.

Xander pulled Angel onto the bed and locked his arm firmly against his chest. The bed was now clearly his territory and "nest". Xander had covered the bed with pillows, blankets and Angel's clothes. He’d decided that when the clothes no longer smelled of Angel, he would dispose of them on the floor and find a way of weaseling the shirt right off of Angel's back.

"Xan, enough," Angel gasped out a few minutes later. Xander was moving underneath him and the contact made the feeding even more arousing. As much as he wanted it to go on he knew that any more would be dangerous for him.

"Sorry," Xander mumbled, but didn't let Angel's arm go, instead nuzzling at the wound. He was licking at wound like a vampire would when they wanted it to heal quickly. "Just so hungry."

"You seem hungrier then normal, has it been like…." Angel stopped talking when his hand encountered Xander's stomach. He could feel movement beneath the skin. "It's grown a lot hasn't it?"

"Maybe," Xander answer with a shrug. He had tried to keep his growing belly hidden with various blankets and Angel's shirt. This obviously was not going to like a human pregnancy, but it's not like he knew much about it in the first place. Other than being tired and hungry all the time, he didn't feel bloated, sick or, in his opinion, irritable.

"I can feel it moving," Angel whispered. He pulled one of Xander's hands down and held it there. "It must be the blood making it grow faster. Maybe you won't be pregnant too long."

"I heard the others talking in the hall when they tried to check up on me," Xander admitted. His senses had improved with the pregnancy and he was able to hear things he normally wouldn't be able to. "They think I'm not going to make it."

"What did you hear them talking about?" Angel asked, one hand still tracing patterns on Xander's stomach.

"That… that the baby," Xander said, for the first time calling it 'the baby' rather than 'the parasite'. "That the baby would be the death of me. That they want to abort it."

"I won't let them do anything you don't want them too," Angel said. He didn't bother to add that he wasn't sure he'd let them harm the baby even if Xander wanted to get rid of it.

"I can feel it moving, too," Xander admitted quietly. He rested his hand on top of Angel's hand on his belly. "It feels strange."

"I'll make sure everything's okay, Xander. Nothing's going to happen to you or the baby, but right now we need to get you some more food. I need some more blood too." Angel got up and lifted Xander out of his nest before setting him on his feet for the walk to the kitchen.

"You should change your shirt," Xander said, tugging on Angel's sleeve. "It might have gotten some blood on it." He didn't wait for Angel's reply, but started to tugged the shirt off and noted Angel's soft smile when he pulled it over his head. Xander gave a soft snort and added the shirt to just the right place in the nest.

*

It had been almost a week before Xander willingly left the room. The entire time the baby had been growing quickly and now Xander looked the same as ever except for the large stomach. Once the baby stopped growing his agitation had started to decrease. He was hungry again though and decided to leave the room to find Angel and talk to all of them about just how he was going to get the baby out when it was time.

He had to cross through the lobby, when he heard Wesley's voice, "Would a half breed child like that even have a soul?"

"Why wouldn't he have a soul," Xander snarled as he detoured over to where Wes and the others were sitting. "Both his fathers had a soul after all." He wished Angel was nearby, but he could handle them on his own of he needed to.

"Your offspring will be half demon," Wesley pointed out. He didn't see the point of beating about the bush with the young man. It was about time that they talked about his options. "Do you even want this child?"

"You're not killing my baby. If you try to hurt either of us, you know Angel won't be happy," Xander said. He'd gotten used to the idea of having Spike's child over the last week, and he cringed at the though of Wesley getting rid of it somehow.

"We needed to know you wanted the child," Wesley answered, hoping he hadn't angered Xander too much. "What you didn't hear us discussing was that even if the child was born without a soul, were ways to bind a soul for the little thing."

"No more spells," Xander said. "The baby's fine… but have you figured out how I'm going to give birth?"

"We're working on the possibility of a transportation spell," Willow said, patting him softly on the arm. "No mess, no fuss."

Xander started to reply when he heard and smelled Angel coming his way. He hurried over and met Angel at the door.

Angel sniffed around Xander, and then started to rub his palm over Xander's belly. "Who upset him?" he demanded.

"He wasn't really upset I don't think," Willow said. "I just told him we were working on a way to get the baby out safely with no pain for either of them."

"You smelled upset," Angel whispered into Xander's ear. "Do you need to go back to our room? Are you hungry?"

Xander had wiggled around in Angel's arms until his had his face buried in the crook of Angel's neck. "Hungry," he mumbled against Angel's skin without interrupting his nuzzling. "For food and blood."

Angel groaned softly, willing his cock to not fill with blood. "I'll make sure you get fed," he answered. The soft nuzzling at his neck was driving him crazy. Xander was the perfect mix of human and fledging traits all mixed into one big ball of hungry, snarky energy.

Xander ignored Wesley's frantic throat clearing as he kept smelling and tasting Angel. He could tell Angel was fighting arousal and that comforted him even more. He wasn't sure if he was ready to do anything with him, but, if Angel was attracted to him, he'd keep him and his baby safe. Plus, Angel tasted like home, he thought as he licked along Angel's neck.

"Xan?" Angel finally pleaded, brushing his fingers though Xander's hair. "Xan, how about some food? Bought you some Twinkies and you can even dunk them in blood. Won't say a word. Promise."

"Can I bite you?" Xander asked. "Rather get my blood from you and eat the Twinkies later." He punctuated his statement with a nip at Angel's neck.

"Everyone out!" Angel barked suddenly, sounding very much like Angelus.

Wesley grabbed a protesting Willow and dragged her out of the room. "He won't hurt Xander, but he will hurt us," he said over Willow's protests and he slammed the door behind them, leaving Angel and Xander alone.

"Go ahead and bite," Angel instructed in a heavy tone. He knew the blunt human teeth wouldn't leave a smooth wound, but he didn't care. He was a vampire and would heal quickly enough.

He wasn't sure why he needed to drink right from Angel's neck but it felt right. He couldn't help the small moans as his teeth broke the skin. He didn't drink much, but when he pulled back he was barely standing. The rush that accompanied the blood was almost painful in its power. "Much better that way," he said, still rubbing against Angel without realizing it. "The baby likes it better that way."

"Not just the baby likes it that way," Angel muttered, soon realizing that Xander was rubbing up against him in a way that was very pleasurable.

"Will I still be able to do this after the baby comes?" Xander asked without stopping his movement. "Or is this just so you can keep Spike's child healthy?"

"Of course you're welcome here," Angel answered with a shudder. "Not just here, anywhere I am."

"You can do it you know. I've been thinking about it and it's not really fair that I do it all the time and you just have to let me, you know," Xander said. He tilted his head to the side, exposing his neck, while he talked.

Angel stroked Xander's offered neck lightly. "Not right now," he answered quietly. "You need all the blood you can get."

"Just a little," Xander insisted without moving. For some reason he was sure that if Angel was feeding from him then he wouldn't have to worry about Angel getting rid of him.

Xander was using that tone of voice that Angel couldn't resist. "Maybe just a little…" he whispered, moving closer to Xander neck. He started to lick and nuzzle Xander's neck, slowly slipping into game face.

Both of Xander's hands came up to hold onto Angel. He wasn't sure if it was him or the baby, but Angel's fangs grazing over his neck felt really good and he really didn't want to collapse in the middle of it.

Angel slowly slipped his fangs into Xander's flesh, concentrating on making sure they didn't slip in too far. He would just take one mouthful, that was all. The explosion of taste in his mouth was a mixture of human and vampire blood like he had never tasted before.

"Oh god," Xander moaned as he felt the fangs slip through his skin. It felt totally different then he'd expected. As soon as Angel withdrew, Xander slumped forward in his arms. "Like that," he muttered. "Food now?"

"Yes, food now," Angel agreed in a raspy voice. He had now for all intense purposes marked his claim on the boy and every vampire and demon would know it.

Xander made it halfway through his meal before slumping forward in his chair. "I wanna go to bed now, Angel, please. Really tired all the sudden."

Angel lifted Xander into his arms easily enough despite his growing belly. "I haven't done my laundry yet…" he said, hoping that would make Xander smile at least a little.

"Good, you shouldn't do laundry anyway. Just give me your clothes and buy new ones," Xander said with a tired grin. "Sorry I didn't eat everything, but I'm just so tired all the sudden."

"Or I could just walk around naked," Angel smiled at his attempt of humour.

"No, no walking around naked. You can be naked in the bedroom though if you want," Xander said. His answer had been delayed as he tried to stay awake so Willow and Wesley could hear him as Angel carried him through the office to the bedroom. He didn't notice them or their shocked reaction though.

*

Xander was feeling nervous now that the time was getting closer to the birth. He could feel the baby moving more now and it was definitely a night person.

Angel was back in the bedroom in under a minute. He had been out talking to Wesley about the spell to extract the child. Xander had only been at the hotel three weeks now, but, after the latest growth spurt, Angel was sure he was ready to give birth any time.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he sat down on the bed and started running his hand through Xander's hair.

"I can feel the baby moving all the time," Xander said. "I've been starting to think about it as baby, ya know? Thinking about whether or not it'll be a boy… or girl… human."

"It's probably not totally human. If Wesley's right that spell would have created a child that's truly part of both you and Spike," Angel repeated what he'd told Xander many times now. "It doesn't matter if it's human or not though. It's still your child and I think it will be a boy."

"You want a boy?" Xander asked carefully. "What if it was a girl?"

"It doesn't matter. You just refer to it as him when you're not thinking about it so I'm guessing you subconsciously know it's going to be a boy." Angel let one hand slip down to Xander's stomach while he was talking. Feeling the baby moving around always fascinated him.

"I just know I'm not ready for this," Xander suddenly blurted out. "I'm too young to be a parent, Angel. I'm going to be a really sucky mom."

"You're not the mom, you're the dad, and I'll be here to help. Trust me, we'll be able to figure everything out after the baby's born and we know what's going on. For now you need to relax. Do you want something to eat?"

Xander licked his lips and eyed Angel's wrist. "You know the baby starts to do somersaults when you come into the room?"

Angel chuckled and held his arm out. Xander had gotten pretty good at biting through his flesh with human teeth. "I was thinking human food, but this is fine."

"Human food, too," Xander said. "Lots of it, but this is more important."

Angel's hand moved up from Xander's stomach to brush against his check and hair while he fed. The sexual tension had been building between them, but Angel had been careful to keep things under control. He didn't want something to happen that Xander would regret when he was no longer pregnant. There was no way to tell how much he was being influenced by the child right now.

As if sensing Angel's doubt, when he pulled away, Xander told Angel, "I need you." His dependency on Angel had been growing, but not only psychically, but emotionally. He couldn't imagine doing this all alone. It was just a matter of waiting until he was attractive enough again before he could pounce Angel’s bones.

"I'll be here," Angel said before dipping his head to carefully lick over his wrist, sealing the wounds Xander had made. "Now and after the baby comes. Do you want me to get you some food now?"

"Yes, please," Xander mumbled, his eyelids already dropping from the full belly. "Just wake me up when you come back up. Just gonna rest my eyes…"

Angel was just putting together a plate of food when he heard Xander scream. The plate and food tumbled to the floor as he raced back to the bedroom, calling for Wesley and Willow as he ran.

"I'm going to die!" Xander called out dramatically, when Angel ran into the room.

"You're just getting ready to have the baby. We knew it was coming soon," Angel said, hoping he was right. He looked back at Wesley. "Start preparing the spell."

"I'm going to die!" Xander repeated with a moan and then glared at Wesley. "I thought you said this wasn't going to hurt!"

"It won't after we do the spell. I didn't say anything about any pain involved with you actually trying to give birth," Wesley snapped back as he and Willow set up everything they needed for the ritual.

"Kill him for me, Angel!" Xander snapped with a growl. His belly actually visually moved and he screamed again.

"He's been spending too much time with you," Wesley said to Angel after hearing his death requested. "We had everything as set up as possible so it should be less then five minutes before the spell is cast and the baby is out."

"Maybe you should get out of here?" Willow suggested when she saw the near panicked look on Angel's face. "We can call you back in when it's over."

"Angel is not leaving!" Xander said, still growling. "Just cast the spell before another one of those contraction thingies hits."

Xander wasn't really paying attention to anyone other then Angel, so the first hint he got that the spell was in progress was the sudden silvery fog that rolled through the room and Willow and Wesley starting to chant in counterpoint to each other.

"Tell me if anything feels like it's wrong," Angel said. He was holding one of Xander's hands but was otherwise out of the way as the fog settled over Xander's stomach. He waited for Wesley's nod to release Xander's hand and waited to grab the baby. According to what he'd been told it would appear right on top of Xander's stomach.

When the fog cleared, the slimy red baby was laying on Xander's perfectly intact stomach with out so much as a stretch mark thanks to the beauty of magic. The baby was squalling heavily, its little limbs flaying in the air. Angel picked up the baby carefully and announced, "Oh, it's a girl."

Xander wordlessly held his arms out and smiled when Angel wiped the cooing baby off and handed her to him. "She's perfect," Xander said as he traced a finger over the faint ridges with one finger. He didn't mind the faint vampiric ridges or the flecks of yellow he could see in her eyes. She was looking at him like she knew who he was and making happy noises as the finger traced her face.

Without asking Wesley reached out to examine the baby's face, fascinated by the mixture of vampire human features and retracted his hand with a hiss. "She bit me!" He was shaking his hand and the baby was hissing, bearing little baby fangs.

"Shh, it's all right," Xander said, ignoring Wesley as he tried to calm the baby down. "You've got fangs already huh? I guess I should be glad you didn't try any biting while you were inside me." With a worried look on his face, he moved a finger right in front of her mouth. As soon as the finger had moved into her mouth she gurgled happily and bit into it.

"Oww," Xander complained mockingly, but smiled down at her. "Guess she takes after Spike more than me."

"She'll probably need normal food, too," Angel said as he watched the two of them with a small smile. The glare he had turned on Wesley and Willow earlier were keeping them quiet and out of the way. He waited a few minutes then gently replaced Xander's finger with his own. "She probably need's vampire blood still, too."

"Glad we stocked up on the formula," Xander said, watching the baby start to suck hard on Angel's finger. Her little brows scowled as she concentrated and bit down harder.

Wesley started to say something and Angel's head whirled around. "Both of you leave now," he hissed. He was in game face and reminded Willow more of Angelus then Angel with that expression. Once Wesley had dragged Willow out and shut the door behind them, Angel slipped out of game face and turned back to smile at Xander and the baby. "You never picked out a name for a girl. Do you have anything in mind?"

"I was thinking of name the baby after Spike, but calling a baby Spike is just too mean," Xander said. "Then I thought about Billie, but the baby doesn't need a butch name. What do you think about Beth?"

"Good English name," Angel said with a smile. He took his finger out of Beth's mouth after she stopped pulling blood out of it. "Spike would have liked that name."

Beth tried to follow Angel's finger and fussed until he put it back in. She didn't bite down this time, but just wanted to suckle. "You know this is fucking weird, right?" Xander said.

"No weirder then some of the other things we've gone through, and, weird or not, this is nice," Angel said. "You want the others to get you anything? Do you want to take a shower?"

"Do you know how to take care of a baby?" Xander asked doubtfully, wanting to take a shower, but not liking the idea leaving his daughter. Not that he had a shitload of experience, but he had been reading up on it on the Internet.

"Yes," Angel said without elaborating. "You can leave the bathroom door open and I'll stay here on the bed with her. When you get out we'll get you some food and some formula for Beth."

"Why don't you wash her off in the sink while I shower?" Xander amended. Other than a slight tingling in his stomach, it felt like he hadn't been pregnant at all only minutes before. This might have been strange, but in a world filled with vampires, hyena demons, and werewolves, what was really that strange about the magical male birth of a baby?

Angel just nodded and picked Beth up with one finger still in her mouth. He held her with one hand while he helped Xander out of the bed and into the bathroom. He turned to the sink and started running the water to give Xander at least some privacy while he got in the shower.

"I think I should test the temperature of the water," Xander said, nervously hovering over Angel.

"I can handle it," Angel said then grinned indulgently at Xander. "You're welcome to test it though."

*

Angel caught himself dozing off as morning approached the next day. Xander had insisted they all go back to bed after cleaning up and eating. He'd fallen asleep quickly, but Beth had remained awake in Angel's arms, quiet most the time. Xander would reach over in his sleep and touch her or Angel every now and then.

Shortly before sunrise the baby started to cry out and Angel gave her his finger to hush her up. He felt something odd and realized the Beth was actually purring while she suckled the blood from his finger.

"Mmm, almost bed time for you two isn't it?" Xander asked as he started to wake up. He knew that while Angel could stay awake during the day, he liked to be asleep when the sun came up.

"She's purring," Angel noted with a soft smile. "And maybe a few hours of sleep wouldn't hurt."

"Let me hold her until she falls asleep," Xander said, holding out his hands. "After you two are asleep I'll put her in the crib and get some breakfast. I'm keeping the door locked when I'm not here though. None of them have keys, do they?"

"No, they don't have keys," Angel assured Xander. The possessiveness over their "lair" was endearing, but also very practical. Angel put Beth into Xander's waiting arms and the picked up a stray shirt on his bed, dangling it from his fingers. "Don't suppose the nesting phase is over, is it?"

"Phase? The baby's here and you don't want to put up with me anymore?" Xander asked, his eyes narrowing. He was quickly distracted when Beth started to cry. He ignored Angel and held his finger up to her mouth and she happily bit into it and started drinking.

Okay, so Xander was still a little touchy. Angel thought he would probably always be touchy since he had been that way since he had met the boy. "I was only referring to the nest on the bed," Angel said. "Of course, I want you here with me."

"Then don't complain about the bed. Beth is used to your smell and your blood. She'll sleep better with your scent around her," Xander said. Beth had fallen asleep and he carefully removed his finger from her mouth and pulled the light blanket they had been using off Angel. "She's going to sleep on this one so you'll need to find another blanket for yourself."

Angel was used to giving up things to Xander. He made a note to go out and buy some chenille blankets he could rotate in and out of the bed. "Have you given any thought to her middle and last name?" Angel asked. "I have a demon doctor that can register her without any questions asked."

"Elizabeth Bradford Harris," Xander answered instantly. He had decided on the middle name as soon as he found out the baby was Spike's. "We can wait a few days before we worry about that though, right?"

"Yeah we can wait," Angel agreed. "But do you want to… I don't know send out announcements or something?"

Xander snorted softly while he settled Beth into the crib. "Who do you want to tell? The only people I know who aren't here or buried under Sunnydale are Buffy and company. If you have friends you want to tell I guess that would be okay as long as they don't want to come see her before I'm ready."

"I don't have anyone I want to tell who doesn't already know," Angel said and then looked at Beth uncertainly. "Xander?"

"What?" Xander asked.

"What exactly am I to this child?"

"Well…" Xander trailed off, sounding confused. "I guess you're kinda her grandfather, I mean demon like, but you're more then that too. I hadn't really thought about it."

"I have something for you…" Angel said and moved over to his desk, unlocking a drawer. He pulled out a large, dog-eared envelope and held it out to Xander.

"Wow, Angel, it’s perfect. Beth will be able to see what her other daddy looked like," Xander said as he ran his finger over the edge of the frame holding an old picture of Spike before he was turned. "I miss him, you know. He was the first real guy friend I had since Jesse died."

"He would have completely freaked out if he knew he was a father…" Angel said with a soft smile on his face. "Freaked in a good way."

"Yeah, he would have been a good father though. You never saw the way he took care of Dawn," Xander said. "Beth's sound asleep and I know you want to go to sleep too. Lay down. I'll be back in after I get some food."

"I'll feed you when I wake up," Angel called out from the bed. He had hopes of feeding Xander while they were laid out on the bed.

*

Xander managed to dodge everyone on his trip to grab some food, but was cornered by Willow on the way back. "Hey, I was just getting some food," he said as he gestured with his hands full of food.

"I can see that," Willow said. "But we need to have a little discussion first."

"About what?" Xander asked as he bounced in place. "I don't want to be away from Beth and Angel too long."

"About the baby…" Willow hesitated, looking guilty. "Have you decided to keep her for sure?"

"Yes! She's my daughter, and I'm not going to get rid of her," Xander said. "Why do you seem to have such a problem with this?"

"No, but I want you to realize the difficulties you're going to face," Willow said. "She shows the visible signs of her demon heritage. Wesley and I think that maybe as she matures, she'll be able to morph like a normal vampire, but we're not sure."

"Doesn't matter," Xander said firmly. "She's still our little girl and Angel will be able to help with any of the demon stuff that comes up."

"You said our," Willow pointed out and smiled. "That makes what I was going to say next easier. I think you should stay with Angel, for good."

"I wasn't going to leave. Beth needs blood from both of us and I'm not going to let any other vampire feed her. Plus, she is kinda Angel's too, anyway."

"Yeah, I know," Willow answered. "Giles and Buffy are just about crawling out of the phone for info. Buffy's threatening to come down here."

"That wouldn't be good. I don't want her coming out here all upset. She didn't know Spike and I were messing around after he got back with the soul, and I don't think she'd be too happy about me staying here permanently after the fight she and Angel had," Xander said worriedly.

"I never did tell them about Beth," Willow said. She was playing with the hem of her shirt nervously. She hated lying to them, but they definitely would have come down if they found out the truth. "Maybe if I go back and explain everything?"

"I want them to know," Xander said. "They should get a chance to see our baby, but I don't want them to try something stupid. Make sure they know that if they come here and try anything or hurt Beth I'll make them pay somehow. Once they're okay with everything they're welcome to visit."

"I'm sure Giles will come around as soon as he sees a picture. He likes kids," Willow noted. "I bet Giles would have puppies if you called him Beth’s Grandpa."

Xander chuckled as he thought of the look on Giles face. “Yeah, once he gets over the shock he might be cool with it. I gotta get back to them now. Let us know when you decide to go back.”

"I'll book my tickets tonight, right after I go shopping for a baby gift," Willow told her friend. She wondered what kind of teething ring you got for a baby with vampire teeth. She also wondered if the baby's fangs would fall out like regular baby teeth. There was also the question of how a baby girl would look in a pink bonnet with those brow ridges… In general, little Beth Harris raised a lot of questions that Willow wanted answered.

*

It was well past noon when Angel finally started to wake up. He realized Xander must have gotten back into bed and he had wrapped around him, absorbing the heat. He cracked one eye open to look over at a sound asleep Beth. “Don’t have to get up,” he whispered when Xander started to stir.

"Already up," Xander replied automatically in a half awake state.

“No you’re not,” Angel said with a chuckle as he freed one hand and ran it through Xander’s hair. “You stay in bed. Beth is still sound asleep and I’m just going to get some blood for me and bring it back here.”

"Shouldn't I have some sort of maternal instinct or something to get my ass outta bed?" Xander mumbled, hiding his face against Angel's chest.

“That’s the advantage of a partly vampire baby. She’s going to sleep through the day so as long as you keep vampire hours you’ll get a good night’s sleep,” Angel said as he finished extracting himself from around Xander. “Back in a few minutes, and I’ll lock the door behind me.” He smiled when Xander grabbed the pillow Angel had been laying on and pulled it around where he could smell it as he fell back to sleep.

He really did think that the nesting behaviour was cute and it wasn't an unknown behaviour among Childer. His own Dru had a thing for hording children's dolls and shiny things. In his early days, Spike used to horde books of poetry and later cigarette lighters.

Angel managed to avoid everyone. He had the advantage of vampiric hearing, but still had to duck into a few unused rooms to throw Wesley off his track. He caught up just as Angel got back to the room, and Angel avoided a conversation by just going into the room and re-locking the door.

"You can't avoid me forever, Angel," Wesley called through the door. "If you want parental leave, then we have business arrangements to make and you have to tell the Powers That Be that their champion was waylaid by a babe in arms."

“Leave us alone or get out of my hotel,” Angel said loudly enough to be heard without shouting. “I’m the one that deals with the Powers That Be and I have plenty of my own contacts.”

"You can't keep the boy and his child in there forever," Wesley responded.

Angel had been paying so much attention to Wesley that he hadn’t noticed Xander getting out of bed. He started when he felt him press up behind him and smiled when Xander explained, in detail that would have made Angelus proud, exactly what would happen if Wesley’s shouting woke Beth up.

The only response to Xander's soft tirade was silence in the hallway as Wesley had fled. "Maybe that was maternal instinct, huh?" Xander laughed quietly.

“Whatever it was, it was most impressive,” Angel said with a rumbling purr. “I think you’ll be a match for anyone who tries to give you or Beth any problems.” He was sipping from the second cup of blood he’d brought while he talked.

Xander watched Angel feeding and knew he hadn't fed from the vampire since the birth. There was really no reason now, was there? Angel had only fed him because the baby needed his blood. "Is it good? The blood I mean."

Angel looked up and caught the faint flush of desire wafting off Xander. “Yes, I’ve gotten used to the good stuff lately.” He tilted the mug back to get the last bit of blood and then licked the bit that had trickled out of the corner of his mouth. When he scented desire again he moved closer to Xander. “Did you want some?” he asked, still not sure if the desire was for him or the blood. He hoped it was for more then just the blood though.

"Not that blood, your blood," Xander clarified, licking his lips. He missed the closeness of feeding from Angel. He missed being curled up on the bed with Angel and feeling the blood slip down his throat, empowering him. Now that he didn't have that belly, he wanted to feel it again.

“You’re always welcome to it. That didn’t end when you had Beth,” Angel said. He reached out and took Xander’s hand, tugging him toward the bed. “Let’s just lay down. I need to sleep some more and you’ll be tired after you feed. You’re body will probably have to get used to getting the blood and not having most of it channeled to the baby.” He paused as the went past the crib to make sure Beth was doing okay.

"Not sure I'll ever get used to her being so still," Xander said. He just stood by her crib and watch her lay there, checking to make sure she was breathing.

“Don’t worry. I’m always listening for her, Xan, and she’s doing fine. Enjoy the quiet while you can.” Angel gave Xander a firm tug and tumbled them both into the bed. He grinned when he caught the scent of desire again. This time it had to be them pressed together and not just the thought of blood. He moved around so he was spooned up behind Xander. They had figured out that it was the easiest position for Xander to feed in. Once they were set up, he tore his wrist open and held it in front of Xander.

Xander latched onto Angel's wrist with a vengeance, even working his tongue into the wound to make sure it didn't close to soon. He slowly started to rock his hips back against Angel's groin.

Xander hadn’t done anything like this before when he fed and it was driving Angel crazy quickly. He endured it for a few minutes then bent his head and licked across Xander’s neck. “Can I?” he whispered, fangs dancing lightly across the skin.

Xander didn't pull away from Angel's wrist and risk missing any blood. Instead he grunted his approval and rocked his hips back again.

Angel started rocking into Xander’s movements as he took long but shallow pulls of blood. He didn’t have to be quite so careful now that Xander wasn’t pregnant and he savored the flavor of the blood. He let it go on for a while before reluctantly removing his fangs, and pulling his wrist away. “That’s enough for now. We both need to sleep,” he mumbled. He was spending far longer then needed licking the bite on Xander’s neck to make sure it was healed.

"Sleep is good," Xander agreed with a sleepy mumble. "But I could think of other things right about now that would be better."

“Sleep. Other things can come later when you‘re fully awake,” Angel said as he started to fall asleep, still rocking slowly against Xander.

*

"She has Spike's curls," Xander noted as he dressed Beth in one of the few outfits Willow brought as a baby gift. "We need to go shopping for baby clothes. Is there a demon friendly mall in LA?"

“There’s not a mall, but there are a few shops open all night that cater to demons. We could just get Wes to cast a glamour on her and go to a regular mall,” Angel said. He didn’t really want any demons knowing about Beth, but he didn’t want to discourage Xander from going out.

"I'm not hiding her in the hotel forever," Xander said seriously and ran a finger down her ridges, making the baby giggle. "She should not be ashamed of who she is. I know there are some demons that aren't so bad and have families. Where do they go? What do they do about school?"

“They go to human schools or are taught by their family. She doesn’t need to hide forever, but she’s different enough that we don’t want word spreading about her any sooner then it has to. All that would do is put her in danger.”

"So we shouldn't go then," Xander repeated back. He knew it was a sensible decision, but a part of him wanted to show off his family, even if it was to strangers.

“It will be safe if we stick to human spots and she has a glamour. We can get Wesley to take care of it and go out for dinner and some shopping as soon as it gets dark.” While he was talking, Angel reached down and picked Beth up. She was starting to wake up a little bit before sundown, but she was still drowsy.

"Wesley is still a little scared of her since she bit him," Xander laughed. "I suppose we just glamour her this time. I wouldn't mind a really good burger."

“I’ll go tell, Wes to get the spell ready,” Angel said as he passed Beth back to Xander. He started to leave then stopped and leaned over to give him a light kiss. He had told himself he was going to let Xander set the pace, but it was getting hard to wait. Hoping he hadn’t scared him off, Angel hurried out of the room before Xander could say anything.

Xander stood there for a minute, wondering how he should have reacted to kiss. Was a growing erection and desire to pinch Angel's ass the correct way to react? He hoped so, because that was what happened to him.

*

Beth didn’t really look all that different, Xander thought as he watched her. She was in a car seat in the back seat of the car. He hadn’t realized how much stuff Angel had bought for her before she was born, but every time they needed something he had it ready.

"I will pay you back for this someday," Xander said to Angel. He had to laugh a little bit that Angel's cool car now had a baby seat in it.

“You don’t have to pay me back for anything I do for Beth. I want to be part of her life and you don’t need to worry about money while you’re raising her. Just forget about the money and lets have a good time spoiling her before she knows she’s being spoiled,” Angel said.

They ended up driving to an upscale mall with a specialty store that catered to children. When they walked in there, they drew the attention of a sales clerk immediately. "Hello, Mr. Angel, it's good to see you back so soon!"

“Is this where the crib, the car seat, and everything else came from?” Xander asked as he looked around the obviously expensive store. “You asked Cordy where to shop didn’t you?”

"A little," Angel admitted. "But I managed to buy some of it myself."

While they were talking the clerk moved closer. “Oh, she’s beautiful. You two are very lucky. Is she adopted or is one of you the father?”

"I'm her father," Xander said quickly, holding her more tightly to his chest.

“That’s so sweet. A lot of gay couples can’t find someone to carry a child for them,” she said, smiling at Beth. “So what are you two looking for today?”

"Clothes," Xander said without missing a beat. "Lots of clothes."

“We could, you know,” Angel said when she walked away to get some things for them to look at. When Xander turned a confused expression on him he continued, “The paperwork could show Spike as the mother and me as the adoptive father. Only if you want too though.”

Xander started laughing, but when he saw Angel's hurt look, he explained, "Spike would find it funny that he's listed as the mother."

Angel chuckled too when he thought about it. “Yeah, but he should be listed as one of her natural parents. I’d just like to be her father, too. We can figure out someway that would keep Spike happy I’m sure.”

"Wilhelmina Bradford," Xander snorted. "But seriously, I do want you to adopt Beth. If anything happens to me…"

“I’ll talk to Wes about it later, but nothing‘s going to happen to you,” Angel said in a whisper before the sales clerk could get back with an armful of clothes.

*

"You need to get out sometime," Cordelia nagged at Xander a few days later. "It's not healthy to be locked up in the hotel all the time."

“It’s too much trouble to go out. Wes has to glamour Beth, it has to be at night, Angel has to be free….” Xander’s voice trailed off. Cordy knew something was going on between him and Angel. She’d caught them kissing the day before.

Xander was getting frustrated that Angel still hadn’t moved to take it beyond kissing and some rubbing against each other when they fed. Slow was good, but Xander was ready to move things along some.

"Angel will make time for you and Wesley wouldn't have to glamour Beth if you had a babysitter," Cordy pointed out.

“Not leaving Beth here while we go out,” Xander said. “I mean, I know you could watch her but I’d get all freaked out being that far away from her.”

"I was thinking that Gunn would actually make a better babysitter than me," Cordelia pointed out. "He likes kids and they like him. And you know, babies don't exactly go well on a first date."

“Maybe in a month or two. Angel and I aren’t leaving her in the hotel while we go out on a date this soon,” Xander said.

"So no first date," Cordelia sighed, tapping her nails on the desk. "You just jumped right to the marriage bit. Guess that makes sense since you're not getting any."

“We’re not married,” Xander protested. “And it’s not like I was going to get some while I was pregnant. Maybe girls do that, but ask any guy who’s been pregnant and that’s just so not something you wanna do.”

"The next time I see a pregnant guy, I'll ask him," Cordy snorted and then suddenly beamed at Xander. "I got a mucho wonderful idea. It's like uber cool! How about a date in the hotel?"

Xander thought for a minute then grinned. “Yeah, that would work. Then if Beth needed us we’d be right here. You and Gunn wouldn’t mind doing that? I could order a really nice dinner to be delivered and doctor some of it with blood for Angel. Should I set it all up and make it a surprise or tell him first?”

Cordy stuck her tongue out and made a disgusted face when Xander mentioned mixing food with blood. "We'll baby-sit if you don't mention that again. And Gunn will say yes, trust me."

"Fine, but I don't want Wesley around her," Xander added.

“Okay, but you all need to mellow about him. He really does like her, but sometimes Wes gets a little too Watcherly. He’s just being his usual curious self about something new,” Cordy said as she went over to the office day planner. “Angel should be free tomorrow night. Want to set everything up for then?”

"Yeah, that'll work," Xander agreed after a moment, already planning what he should wear.

*

Xander had decided to go for the surprise thing, so he got up a few hours before sundown and told Angel to keep sleeping and listening for Beth. He threw on some clothes and went out to check in with Cordy.

“Wow,” he said when he found her in the dinning room. “This place looks great.”

She’d cleaned it up and had the table set. The whole room was decorated and there was even a small stereo set up in the corner.

"Instant atmosphere," Cordelia proclaimed brightly. "If this doesn't get you laid, then we have to have a little talk."

“It’s a date, a first date. Angel’s been really nice to me, but I’m not even totally sure he wants to go that far. I know his soul’s fixed, but he hasn’t exactly had a whole lot of luck with that you know.”

Cordy waved her hand in the air as if to dismiss any ideas of that. "Angel deserves to be happy. If you want to make sure he’s never completely blissful, I won‘t complain though. I know his soul has been fixed, but better safe than sorry if you ask me."

“I don’t think he’s really worried about his soul it’s just…. Never mind, it’s not important. Did you check to make sure that place was delivering the meal in an hour? I have to have time to add ‘stuff’ to Angel’s food, and I’ve got to get dressed and I hadn’t thought about music. Is there some classical music around here somewhere?” Xander was looking flustered as he babbled on.

"Calm down, Xander," Cordelia said. "Deep breath. Yes, the food will be here on time. Wear tight pants and yes, Angel likes listening to boring shit like that so there‘s plenty around."

“It’s not boring, he just has good taste,” Xander said distractedly as he tried to decide what to wear. “I should get the food already before I get dressed though. I’m sure I’ll spill something.”

"I'll go get your outfit ready and you deal with your blood," Cordy told him, already on her way out of the room. "I don't trust your taste."

“Cordy,” Xander called. “You can’t go in our room. Angel’s in there and the door’s locked.”

"That's okay, I bought you something special," she called back. "I still remember your size."

Xander tried not to think of just how embarrassing Cordy’s idea of the perfect outfit was going to be. He spent the next hour just puttering around and trying to keep from getting too nervous. He waited until the meal was about ten minutes away and went to wake Angel up. “Angel,” he said, standing at the edge of the bed. “Time to get up. We’ve got plans tonight.”

Angel's arm shot out and pulled Xander down into the bed with him. The bed was still covered with Angel's old shirts and variety of pillows and blankets. Angel pulled him to his body without even opening his eyes. "Sleep more."

Xander let himself cuddle up against Angel for a minute before sitting up. “Angel, we’ve got… I wanted to ask you… would you have dinner with me tonight? I have it all planned out here in the hotel and Gunn and Cordy will watch Beth while we eat. We’ll still be here though if anything happens. If you want to do it.”

"Like a date?" Angel asked, cracking one of his eyes open.

“Um, yeah, kinda. I thought maybe you wanted to, but knew I wouldn’t leave Beth alone. If you don’t want to though it’s ok. I’m not really very good at figuring out when people want to go on a date. I mean I‘m happy now if this is all you want,” Xander said as he scooted toward the edge of the bed.

"I like the sound of a date," Angel answered with a soft smile. Xander's babbling always made him smile. "Especially with Beth close."

“Okay, I’ll come back to get you in fifteen minutes, and don’t laugh at my clothes. Cordy picked them out and I have no idea what they’ll look like,” Xander said as he checked on Beth and headed out of the room.

Cordy handed him clothes from what Xander recognized was a very expensive men's store when he came out of their room. "Go ahead and put those one. No whining that they don't fit, either."

*

Later that night Angel smiled as Xander cuddled up against him. He’d been so cute at dinner. He had obviously been embarrassed by the tight clothes Cordy had picked out for him. She definitely deserved a raise for getting him to wear leather pants. They’d had a comfortable dinner once Xander calmed down. It was almost normal, and he’d even taught Xander a few formal dance steps after they’d eaten. Angel’s thoughts were interrupted when Xander wiggled around to nuzzle his neck.

“Xan, since we decided we wanted to take this further, we could wear fewer clothes to bed you know.”

"Fewer clothes would be good," Xander agreed, turning his neck to allow Angel better access. "Naked would be even better."

Angel used every ounce of his preternatural speed to strip them both before Xander could think about it or get embarrassed. “You’re right. It is much better,” he said as he pulled Xander down on top of him.

"Naked is definitely good," Xander agreed and started to rub their erections together. "Makes it easier to do this."

“Hmmm, I like it when you’re more confident like this,” Angel said. One finger traced along Xander’s neck. “What do you want, Xander?”

"Umm, sex about now would be good," Xander chuckled, rubbing against Angel again. "It feels like haven't had sex so long that I've reverted to virginity."

“Don’t talk about previous lovers,” Angel growled only partially playfully as he rolled on top of Xander. “Tell me what you want… do you want me to take you, to claim you?”

"Y-Yes," Xander answered with only a sight quiver in his voice that wasn't from fear, but rather from desire.

Angel’s tongue followed the path his finger had traced. Xander was writhing underneath him at the first touch of his tongue. Even after all this time there was still a hint of Spike’s smell in Xander and Angel found it oddly comforting to have that reminder of Spike. As one hand snaked between their bodies to stoke Xander he wondered if the scent would linger after he’d been fully claimed.

Xander could feel the odd touch of Angel's human teeth as he was kissed. "Please, change…" he moaned, wanting to feel the caress of brow ridges and fangs on his flesh.

Angel’s face rippled and he started dragging his fangs across Xander’s neck. “Going to have to wait for it,” he whispered when Xander’s breath caught at the touch. “Right before we cum, that’s when I’ll bite. It won’t just be sex. It will be a claim.”

"That's what I want," Xander confirmed. "I want to be claimed, but I want to claim you too…"

“We’ll see,” Angel said. He grabbed both of Xander’s hands and held them against the bed as he started to kiss his way down Xander’s chest. He knew he was going to let Xander claim him, but he wanted to retain some control.

"You'll let me do it," Xander echoed back confidently. "You'll let me have anything I want."

“Maybe,” Angel admitted, pausing his downward path of kisses so look up at Xander with a fond smirk. As soon as Xander started to smile back he bent back down and sped up his movement toward his target. He’d see if Xander lost the power to speak once he got to Xander’s cock.

Xander's breath hissed out of his lungs as Angel swiftly started to suck on his cock. He remembered this fondly from when he'd been lovers with Spike, but it had been kind of rare. Spike preferred to fuck, but Xander loved the closeness of this act.

He just laid there, responding to Angel at first, but gradually Xander started to participate more. He pulled one of his hands out of Angel’s now distracted grip and started running it through Angel’s hair. He didn’t want it to stop but at the same time he wanted to make Angel feel like this too. “Do I get a turn too?” Xander finally gasped out.

"No," Angel chuckled darkly. He did move back up Xander’s body though and then ran his fang over the tip of Xander's ear. "Not this time. I'm a selfish bastard, didn't you know that?"

Xander twisted in Angel’s grasp and bit almost hard enough to draw blood at the base of Angel’s throat. This move had always left Spike in a daze for a few seconds and he was glad to see that it did the same to Angel. He didn’t have time to take it slow, so he scooted down the bed and started licking along Angel’s cock right away.

Xander was thankful that he'd had Spike as a lover. Spike had shared with him tales of when he had been fucked by Angelus. Xander knew exactly how to drive Angelus mad and Angel was in the same body. He sucked Angel’s cock, using his tongue to tickle the sensitive slit. Then, when Angel wasn't expecting it, he pinched his balls sharply.

Angel was getting the distinct impression that he was the one out of his depth here. It was obvious that Xander knew exactly what he was doing. “Oh, fuck,” Angel gasped out when he felt Xander’s teeth graze his cock just right. Deciding to see just how much Xander knew, he fisted his hands in Xander’s hair and lightly pushed further into his mouth.

Xander relaxed his throat muscles to let Angel slide deeper into his throat. Spike had loved this and also told him that Angelus did as well. What man didn't? His own hand moved to Angel's hips to encourage his movements.

Pulling Xander back off of himself, Angel shuddered with desire as he caught sight of Xander’s flushed face and swollen lips. “Later,” he said as he pulled Xander back up until they were face to face. “Have to do this right. The first time will be the one that makes it permanent.” He rolled them over so Xander was spread out beneath him. He bit roughly into his wrist. A trail of blood appeared on Xander’s chest as Angel moved his hand between Xander’s legs and started loosing him up with blood coated fingers.

The use of blood as lube should have freaked him out. He’d never even let Spike do this, and any normal human would have been rethinking this union right about the moment Angel slipped two fingers into him. Xander was too busy enjoying this moment to worry though. With Spike sex had been fun, but with Angel it felt right and permanent. When Angel finished stretching him, Xander whispered, "No one else, ever again."

A rumbling growl from Angel signaled his agreement but he didn’t stop licking the spilt blood off Xander’s chest. He added a third finger into Xander and, moving as quickly as he could to get him ready. As soon as Xander was loose enough, Angel positioned himself. He was hovering, holding himself up with both arms. Only his cock was touching Xander as it just barely pressed into him. “No one else for either of us again,” he said. He held himself perfectly still, waiting for Xander to signal his acceptance somehow.

There were no words that Xander could speak at this moment that seemed right. Nothing he could say would be significant enough, so all he did was look Angel straight in the eyes and nod his head.

Angel was in full game face as he slid slowly into Xander. This time was about creating the claim, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t make sure Xander enjoyed himself. Angel started thrusting more quickly, noting each reaction as he moved. Xander was so open it was easy to tell exactly what he liked. Once Angel had the perfect rhythm, he let his body press down on Xander. “It’s going to be fast,” he grunted out.

"It's only the start," Xander grunted back once he found the words. It would only be the start of something that would last until he died, but he fully intended to enjoy every moment with Angel he had.

Having Xander, perfectly willing and aroused, under him stripped away the last of Angel’s control. He knew with some part of his mind that the long, quick trusts had to be on the border of pain, but Xander’s arousal just increased. As he approached the brink he leaned into Xander’s neck. As his fangs pierced his mate’s flesh for the first time he used one hand to pull Xander’s mouth to his neck.

The claiming was mutual. It would leave a physical mark on both of them with scent and scarring, but the most significant change would be the psyche. Forever they would be branded as belonging to one another.

They both lifted their heads at the same time after cumming. “Bound by blood to the Aurelian Line,” Angel said, the ancient words coming smoothly. He pulled Xander into a kiss and nicked both their tongues with a fang. “My consort bound to me by blood.”

“Bound to you,” Xander answered, his eyes still glazed over. It wasn’t the exact phrase he was supposed to say to complete the ceremony. Angel hadn’t expected things to go this far so quickly, so he hadn’t told Xander the formal phrase. It didn’t matter though. All the ceremony really needed was Xander’s agreement, and Xander did agree to it. With all of his being he committed his life to Angel and the little girl of his bloodline. He would carry Angel's mark proudly and smile now that he was better than married to the vamp.



END.