***25th of December - 10 a.m.***
William and Liza were playing in the lobby, waiting for their parents to join them. Their parents had said it would only take a minute for them to come back. Neither of them saw the demon looking through the window.
Lia looked inside the hotel and only saw the two children playing. She opened the door, peeked inside before slowly making her way to the children. She stilled when she saw the boy looking at her. Before giving him a chance to scream, she swept him into her arms and rushed out of the hotel. She never looked back and just kept running until she was around the corner where her husband was waiting. She jumped in the car and Dave drove them to their house. Even though they lived nearby, they didn't want to be seen kidnapping a child.
William had started crying, screaming and kicking to get out of her arms. As soon as they arrived home, the woman let go of him and he immediately started searching for a way out by trying to open windows.
"Dave, take the little brat and secure him in the basement," Lia instructed.
Dave sighed and managed to grab the boy. He struggled to carry him downstairs, William was screaming and kicking again. When he reappeared in the living room, he wasn't feeling so good. "Lia, something's wrong with the boy. When I touched him, I felt something penetrate my skin."
"There's nothing wrong with him! I touched him as well, didn't I?" Lia denied.
"I feel sick. I'm telling you, something's wrong with that boy," Dave argued, before turning around and throwing up in the corner.
Lia watched her husband throwing up and frowned. She was starting to feel something crawling under her skin. The boy had stopped crying, so she went to the basement to check on him. "What the hell!" she exclaimed before collapsing on the floor from the pain that was wracking through her body. Huddled in a corner of the basement, William was glowing bright red.
***2 hours earlier***
The children were asleep when D'Hoffryn arrived at Angel's hotel. He had found information on the strange couple from Halloween. They were two demons that fed on children to survive, but pregnant males were even better as sustenance. D'Hoffryn was afraid for his grandson as well as the boy's mother.
The Oracles had shown up and offered their help. They came up with a plan to use a look-a-like William who happened to be a life-like puppet.
The family agreed and made one of Liza as well in case they wouldn't take the bait.
Xander was glad the two children wouldn't know a thing about this. While the others were working on the spell to accomplish the look-a-likes he watched his son sleeping deeply. He smiled when the boy placed his thumb in his mouth and continued sleeping. He kissed William on his forehead before joining the others.
Angel watched with concern how Wesley and Gunn placed the fake children in the lobby with their children's toys. As he looked at them, he couldn't help but think about his little boy. Why did everyone want to hurt his children? First Connor, now William, he didn't notice that he was crying until Xander wiped his tears away.
Meanwhile, the Oracles had made an invisible wall from them to stand behind it and watch what the couple would do. That way the demons wouldn't be able to see nor hear them. Gunn, who had been keeping watch outside the demons' house, had already warned them that the couple was on its way to the hotel.
Xander knew how Angel was feeling as they watched the two children. He took the taller man in his arms distracting them from the scene. They didn't see how the woman snuck inside and quickly grabbed their son. Angel cried louder when he heard the boy's screams even though the puppet wasn't his son.
"Did they buy it?" Xander asked curiously worried.
"Yeah, she took William," Wesley answered as he watched the woman take the boy.
"Now what?" Fred asked softly.
"As soon as they touch the child's skin, a poison will penetrate their skin. The poison will eat them alive," Blue, the female Oracle, explained.
"How do we know when they're dead?" Andrew asked curiously. He sat behind Fred and held her tenderly. She seemed to be on the verge of tears. The rest of their family was being very emotional as well. There's nothing scarier than a threat to the children, Andrew mused.
"This stone will turn red," Blus, the male Oracle, explained.
"What will happen to the children?" Angel questioned.
"They will disappear when the couple has died," D'Hoffryn answered.
"Mommy?" William asked. He had woken up earlier than usual. Not seeing his mother in the room as usual, he left his bed and descended to the lobby where he could hear the voices of his family.
"William, little one, you're already awake!" Angel surprised to hear his son's voice. He hadn't expected the boy to be awake already and brushed his tears away with the back of his hand. The vampire forced himself to smile before placing the boy on his lap and hugging him.
"Mommy okay?" William asked again. He brushed his fingers below Angel's eyes.
"Your mommy will be fine, sweetheart," Xander answered instead. Angel was too busy crying again.
"Daddy!" William exclaimed happily. He hadn't seen his father as his focus had been on his mother.
A loud explosion caused everyone to freeze momentarily and then look for cover in order to protect themselves and their loved ones. William began crying and pressed his face against Angel's neck.
"The stone is red!" D'Hoffryn shouted, as he looked at the stone. "The explosion must be from the couple's house."
Relieved to know they weren't under some kind of attack, Angel and the rest of the family stood up. Richard rushed upstairs to check on his daughter. Gunn, Giles, Andrew and Wesley grabbed their jackets and left the hotel to see where the explosion had come from. Not much later, they returned and confirmed that the couple's house had been blown up.
The family gathered around the Christmas tree, glad to have averted and destroyed the threat to their youngest. "Daddy? P'ents?" William asked, his tears gone. Before their nap, Liza had told him that Santa had would bring them presents.
Everybody laughed at the innocent question. "Is Liza awake?" Giles asked.
William looked up at his grandfather before climbing off his mother's lap and ran towards his friend's bedroom. "LIZA!!!" he screamed. "P'ENTS!!"
"She is now!" Wesley stated ironically.
Angel stood up and swooped William up in the air as the boy came running back to his parents. "Liza awake!" William squealed, before he was placed on Xander's shoulder.
"Me big!" William exclaimed proudly as he sat on Xander's shoulders.
"Yes, William. You're a big boy," Angel repeated and watched the boy squeal with laughter when his father started running around a bit.
"Daddy, me too!" Liza demanded when she stepped into the lobby and spotted her friend's antics.
Richard sighed and picked up his daughter before placing her on his shoulder and gently began to chase Xander.
Angel and Wesley walked to the couch and sat next to each other. "Wesley, when are you due? We never talked about it yesterday," Angel asked curiously.
"I'm due in August 14th. One day after you," Wesley answered and placed his hand on his belly.
"Hmphf," Angel replied. He had been about to say something but Xander had leaned forward and kissed him deeply. William, who was still sitting on Xander's shoulders, perched forward and giggled.
"Daddy kiss!" the little boy exclaimed.
"Yes, boy, daddy is kissing. Again!" Wesley dryly repeated.
"Mommy kiss!" William exclaimed again and watched Wesley, expecting another comment.
"Yes, your mommy is kissing as well. Do you feel left out?" Wesley asked while he watched the boy take a closer look at his parents' mouths.
Xander ended the kiss and was startled when his son bent more forward almost falling into his mother's lap. "William, be careful. Do you want sit with mommy?"
"Yes, me sit with mommy," William repeated, slowly climbing off Xander's shoulders and sat next to his mother.
When everyone was seated, Gunn took a present and gave it to William, whose name was on the nametag.
"Me?" William asked. Not waiting for an answer he tore into the presents, revealing colour pencils and a drawing book. He squealed as he opened the book and started colouring.
"We should have thought about that sooner. It keeps him quiet!" Angel said ironically as he watched his son colouring outside the lines.
"Maybe he doesn't want his other presents anymore," Xander joked. But he regretted the words immediately as William looked up, having heard there were more presents.
***1 p.m.***
When every family member finished opening their presents, the gang went upstairs to change for Christmas lunch. Xander wanted to spend some time with his pregnant lover and had asked his father to look after William for a while. Giles had just smiled and carried his grandson into their room, letting Cordelia and Ethan carry William's presents as the boy wanted to continue playing with them.
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