Title: Grandparents

Author: meagan

Summary: Angel and Xander run into a couple of people from their past.

Series: Reversal

Distribution: Please ask.

Spoiler: Just the Reversal series up to around "The Big Question." But especially "Very Little Closure" and "A Little More Closure."

Rating: G, I think. But angsty G, not fluffy.

Disclaimer: Of *course* they belong to someone else. If they were mine, things would be different. Specifically, they belong to Mutant Enemy, Fox, WB, and anyone else I forgot. Unless you've never seen a picture of them. In that case, they're mine.

Note: I'm thinking I need to a beta reader, at least for this series. It's getting a bit hard to keep things straight -- what's happened so far, what I've thought about doing, and what I've done in other series/stories. Anyone interested? I've never had any of my stories beta-read (gee, what a surprise, right? Even in school my papers were never proofread by anyone other than myself), so I have no idea what I'm in for when I make this request.

Reversal 20: Grandparents
by meagan

A family vacation. A novelty for Xander. His family had never had the money to take vacations, so he had never gotten used to the idea. But now he had his own family. And money. And so now there they were, spending time and lots of money at the Magic Kingdom.

Truthfully, this particular vacation had been Angel's idea. "I want to see you do the kid things you didn't get to do growing up." And the fact that Disneyland was an outdoors adventure didn't faze the vampire. "I've checked things out, and there's plenty of stuff to do after the sun sets, so you won't get *all* of the fun."

"After sunset? What kinds of things are you talking about?"

Angel's answer surprised him. "I want to go on the Matterhorn. And Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thumder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, and Space Mountain. And they still have that nighttime parade, don't they? And somehow I get the feeling that the fireworks show isn't at high noon."

Someone had obviously done some research. "Um, Angel? Do I need to remind you that you're an adult? And that you're over two hundred and fifty years old?"

The vampire shrugged. "I also have two five-year-olds."

~~~

And so there they were, at the Happiest Place on Earth. Despite the fact that they lived in the area, it had been decided that it wouldn't be a real vacation unless they stayed at the Disneyland Hotel. They had convinced Willow and Oz to join them with Hannah. Spike and Giles had.... other things to do. Conveniently, Willow and Oz volunteered to handle the kids during the day, and Xander and Angel were in charge in the evenings. It worked out well. The children got to spend time away from their own parents, and their parents got time to themselves.

It happened one evening when Xander was getting more ice for the after-dark round of rides. He and Angel were preparing backpacks so they would be ready for any demands or emergencies. Angel was back in the room, trying to condense the contents of four backpacks into two. The ice machine had just decided to stop churning out cubes, and Xander heard the voice.

"Xander Harris? Is that you?"

For several long seconds, he had almost convinced himself that it was his imagination. Then he turned around to face the source of the voice. "Hi, Mrs. Burton."

The woman turned and called over her shoulder, "Honey! You'll never guess who I just found!" Then she turned back to Xander and, to his complete shock, embraced him like he was her long-lost son. "How are you doing? And *what* are you doing here?"

Xander shrugged nervously. "I'm fine. I'm just here on vacation. With Angel and our kids."

"Angel? Who's she? Oh, your wife. Of course."

"Well, actually --"

A familiar hand on his shoulder cut off Xander's words. "Honey, are you ready?"

"You." Mrs. Burton stared at Angel. "I know you. You're the one who adopted the twins."

Angel sighed. "Maybe we should go somewhere and talk. I'll go call --"

"Okay, next shift." Oz carefully lowered Gillian to the ground. Then he noticed the strained faces around him. "Hey, guys, is everything okay?"

Xander nodded. "Yeah, it is, but..."

"Got it." Oz motioned to the children. "Well, gang, looks like you get a bonus evening of my lovely wife and her not-so-lovely husband."

Solemnly, Sasha nodded. And then he turned to Mrs. Burton. "You'd better not hurt my dad." He paused, frowning. "Either of them." And then he trotted down the hall after Oz and the girls.

Thoroughly embarrassed, Xander turned his attention back to the grandmother of his children -- and found her doing everything in her power to not laugh at Sasha's admonition. Ultimately, she failed. "Just like his father, isn't he?"

Now mortified, Xander scrambled for an apology. "I'm sorry. He's just --"

"Fiercely protective of the people he loves?" She smiled. "Like I said, just like his father." Now she gestured at Angel. "Do you think we could go somewhere and talk?"

~~~

They decided to go to the hotel lounge. "So." Xander sighed. "Now you know."

"Know what, dear?"

He shrugged. "Angel and I..." He carefully folded his hands on the tabletop, deliberately arranging his fingers in such a manner that his wedding ring could not be missed.

"How long?"

"Huh?"

"How long have you been..." She gestured at his hand. His finger. With the wedding band.

"Six years."

She blinked, surprised. "Six years? It's been six years since..."

Xander shrugged. "Yeah, it has." He sighed, tired of dancing around the subject. "Okay, here's the deal. Angel and I knew each other years before. When I was in high school. But then he moved to Los Angeles after graduation."

Angel chose that moment to break in. "And I was dating one of his best friends when we were all living in Sunnydale. He hated me because he thought he was in love with her."

"Her?" Mrs. Burton's voice reflected her surprise. "But you two are, well, together, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah." Xander sighed. "It's confusing, I know. But, hey, Kim and I were together, too."

"True." She paused, staring at her drink as if the beverage would tell her whether to ask the question lurking on the tip of her tongue. "So when did you two get together?"

Xander flushed, and Angel grinned. "The night he came to meet the kids. He didn't know I was the one who had adopted them. We hadn't even spoken in five years. He walked in, and, well, that was it. We got married a few months later. I guess everything was just fate. Destiny."

"Destiny." After sitting in silence during the entire exchange, Mr. Burton finally spoke, addressing Angel. "You know, Kim kept talking about that when she was pregnant. About how it was her destiny to have these kids. And for you to adopt them. Even before she actually met you, she insisted that you were the one. Now I think I understand why."

Xander frowned. "But I --"

Mr. Burton waved his hand, cutting off Xander's objection and nudging his wife. "Come on. Let's leave these two boys to the rest of their evening."

Once the older pair was gone, Angel spoke. "That was weird." He sighed. "I know there's going to be something else happening."

~~~

The rest of their vacation passed more or less without incident aside from the usual vacation problems -- sunburns, upset tummies, lost sunglasses. Nothing earth-shattering.

One week after they returned home, Whistler dropped by.

"We got a call the other day from some people who want to talk with you."

"What?" Xander was more than a little surprised at the announcement. No one ever wanted to talk to *him*. Everyone wanted to talk to Angel.

Whistler shrugged. "That's what they said. You and Angel."

"Ah." So these people didn't want to talk to him after all. "Well, you can work things out with Angel like usual, right?"

"Nope. They want to talk to *both* of you." Whistler frowned. "And your attorney."

"Our attorney? Who would that be?"

The demon shrugged. "Who do you think? And let's not forget to ask why they called *me*. Not you."

Confused, Xander sat down on the couch. Then his face crumpled as pieces began to fall into place. "Our attorney. The adoption."

Whistler nodded and took a seat beside Xander. "I'm sorry, kid. But if you don't meet with them, things could get really nasty really quickly."

"Right." Xander sighed. "At least can we make it a night meeting so Angel can go with me?"

"Of course."

~~~

Once again, Xander faced the building with a gnawing dread. On the up side, this time he knew who was going to be there -- Angel, Whistler, and Vinnie. And Kim's parents and their attorney.

"No matter what happens, I'm here. Not going anywhere except home with you, where we belong. You know that, right?" Angel's voice was anxious, almost as if he was afraid that Xander was going to blame Angel or, worse, leave him if anything happened to the kids.

But Xander just smiled sadly and gripped Angel's hand tighter. "You'd better be here. I don't think I could handle it if..."

"Hey. Nothing's going to happen. The adoption was completely legal. There were no lies, except for not mentioning the vampire and demon thing, and there is no reason those two could be taken away from us."

"Are you sure?" Xander wiped a tear from his eye. "How many parents have lost custody of their kids just because they're gay? And I know you didn't lie, but how would we ever prove that in court?"

Angel sighed and wrapped his arms around Xander. "No crying yet, okay?" The vampire attempted a smile. "Aren't you going to feel silly if they just want to revise their will?" Xander shrugged, and Angel sighed again. "Well, let's get in there and see what they want." Once through the door, Xander slumped down as far as possible in his chair, and Angel laced his fingers with Xander's in a silent show of support.

"All right." The Burtons' attorney spoke first. "As you know, my clients were not aware of your situation until just a short time ago." Xander slid further down into the chair, and Angel tightened his grip. "And because of this, certain matters that should have been resolved long ago have not been." Xander whimpered. "Namely, a trust fund."

Now Xander blinked and placed his free hand on the tabletop. "Trust fund? What are you talking about?"

Mrs. Burton leaned forward. "When Kim's grandfather -- my father -- passed away, he left Kim a trust fund. She was to get it when she turned twenty-five. But, of course, she didn't make it. The will specified that the money was to go to us if she had no children, but she did. The twins. So we just put the money away, hoping that we would find them one day."

"Is that all?" Angel's voice shook Xander from his daze. "I mean, all you wanted was to tell us that you had money to give to the kids? Because, to be honest, they don't need any money. In case you don't remember, I'm --"

"One of those retired at twenty-five software millionaires." Mrs. Burton smiled at Angel's cover story from years past. "Yes, I remember that. And, no, that's not all." Now Xander moved his chair closer to Angel's, preparing for the worst. "We're selfish. We would like to be grandparents. Chances are slim that we're going to get any more grandkids to spoil rotten. We don't want to miss this one. Or two."

Xander spoke, addressing the Burtons' attorney. "So are you asking for visitation rights?"

Mrs. Burton shook her head. "Not if you don't want to give them to us. The only reason we brought our attorney here is so the trust fund issue could be settled now. But if you did want to let us see the kids, I do have to warn you that we intend to thoroughly spoil them." She leaned forward, picking up Xander's hand. "And we were really hoping that you'd let us spoil you, too. I remember that you weren't close to your family. Believe it or not, I did think that was sad, but the more I watched how you acted around us, the more I understood that your estrangement wasn't a bad thing. Maybe for your parents, since they didn't know how their son was doing, but I definitely thought your life was missing something."

He sat, silently, gazing at her hand wrapped around his, for a long moment before sighing. "I don't want your pity. I have a good life now. You don't have to feel sorry for me or my kids. No obligation here. They weren't your responsibility, and they're mine now."

"Your what now?"

Now he frowned, confused at her question. "My responsibility, of course. We don't need anyone else." Angel cleared his throat, and Xander's mouth quirked into a small grin. "Except Angel, of course. He's there for all of us."

She released his hand, sighing as she settled against the back of her chair. "I don't want to take your place. We know you're a good father. If you weren't, that son of yours --"

"Sasha."

"Sasha." She smiled. "If you weren't a good father, he wouldn't have given me that look Kim used to get just before she lectured me about leaving you alone." Xander's eyes jerked to her face, surprised. "Oh, yes. She and I used to have some huge fights about you. She would give me explicit instructions about what I was and was not allowed to talk to you about. Classes and work were the two big forbidden subjects."

Xander's eyes widened. "I thought they were about wanting her to break up with me."

Mrs. Burton shook her head. "Basically, I wanted you to live up to your potential." She sighed. "If anything, I thought *she* was holding *you* back. You always seemed to think that you *couldn't* do any better. As if you weren't worthy of anything more than what you already had. And sometimes it seemed like you thought you didn't deserve what you did have."

To everyone's surprise, Angel spoke up now. "See, Xan? I'm not the only one who saw that."

The older woman smiled. "You, too?" Now she picked up Xander's hand again, motioning Angel to give her one of his as well. Gently, she pressed the two males' hands together between her own. "Now I see. She was right. You were supposed to do what you were doing, and she was supposed to do what she did. She's no longer with us, but she did leave us two beautiful children. And I'm beginning to get the feeling that she had the twins specifically so the two of you could be reunited because of them." She released their hands, picking up her own husband's hands. "And we would really like to watch you two raise them and love them as Kim's father and I did her."

Stunned, Xander could only stare for a long moment. Angel turned to the Burtons. "Could you excuse us for a moment? I think we need to talk about this in private for a few minutes." The couple nodded, and everyone but Xander and Angel left the room. "Xan? Are you okay with all of this?" Xander nodded, squeezing his eyes shut. When he opened them, tears rolled down his face. Gently, Angel gathered the smaller man in his arms. "Hey, it's okay. Everything's okay. I'm here, they just want to be grandparents, and now we don't have to worry about what would happen if they found out. Everything's in the open. Well, almost everything. But the important things that they would believe."

Xander nodded, rubbing his face against Angel's shirt and sighing. "You know something? I keep expecting the worst, and it never happens."

Angel smiled. "You know how people keep talking about destiny?" Xander nodded. "It's not destiny. It's karma."

Confused, Xander pulled back from Angel. "Isn't that the same thing?"

"No. Destiny means things were meant to be. Karma is... Well, what goes around comes around."

"Huh?"

Angel smiled, running his fingers along Xander's jaw. "All the bad that's happened will be balanced out by good to come. And you've gone through enough bad, so it's time for the good. It's supposed to be applied to reincarnation -- all the trials you go through in one life will be rewarded in the next, or all the bad things you do in one life will be punished in the next." He gently kissed Xander's forehead. "And I'm choosing to think of everything that you went through before you came back as trials in a previous life. So now you have a nice, new life to go through. And since you went through what you did before, it's time to get rewarded."

"And how exactly am I supposed to be rewarded?"

"Let me take care of you." It was a statement, not an order or question. "Enjoy being a dad and son. It looks like you have a couple of people out there who want to treat you as the son they never had, and there's no reason to deny them that request."

"Except I don't know how to be a son."

Angel was silent for a long moment, contemplating that information. Softly, he spoke. "Is that the problem? Your parents?" Xander nodded. "Well, how about a favorite aunt or uncle? Could you manage that?"

Xander frowned, considering the suggestion. "I guess that could work."

Once again, Angel pulled Xander close. "You're not the same person you were ten years ago. Or even five years ago. You're a full-fledged daddy now. You might now know how to *be* a son, but you do very well at *having* a son. How much do you enjoy that?"

"It's my life. Well, that and having a daughter. And you. And just being a family." Xander frowned. "Do you have a point here?"

"Yeah, I do." The vampire sighed. "Just think about how much joy you get from this. The Burtons are just asking to be allowed to share that. And think about what it would mean to the kids. All of a sudden, they'll have two more people to adore them."

Xander moved away from Angel once more, but this time he was grinning. "Yeah, as if they don't have enough people spoiling them." He pulled Angel's head down for one last kiss before he opened the door and motioned the Burtons back into the office. "Okay, let's figure out when you can start spoiling those two."

"No." Mr. Burton's objection surprised Xander. Then the older man smiled. "All four of you."

~~~ the end ~~~