***The Hyperion's lobby - 4 p.m.***
"Dadadada," William said to Xander.
"Yes, William. I'm here, but I have to make sure you don't find the presents," Xander answered his son.
"Xan, he's too young to know he's going to get presents. By the way, did you order the cake?" Angel replied smiling when William reached for him.
"Mamamama," William talked to Angel when his mother placed him in his arms.
"Yes, Mummy is right here. How come you're calling me mummy?" Angel frowned while the boy answered something that the vampire pretended to understand.
William had developed 8 teeth in the past 4 months and they had had many sleepless nights. Lately, the gang was happy whenever William let them have at least two hours of sleep.
Right now everyone was preparing William's birthday party, which would be held tomorrow in the lobby.
Xander was nervous. They had invited Buffy, Dawn, Willow, Faith and Andrew. Even though they had no idea who William really was, they had all accepted.
"Xan, calm down! It's going to be fine," Angel reassured Xander for the tenth time this evening. The girls and Andrew were visiting them tonight and would stay until the day after tomorrow.
"What about Buffy? Will she agree or make a fuss? Maybe she will scream," Xander babbled nervously.
"Why would I make a fuss?" Buffy asked when she heard Xander's questions.
"Eep!" Xander jumped and turned around. "Buffy, don't scare me like that!"
Buffy smiled and walked forward to hug Xander. Dawn was next and Faith and Willow followed soon after. Andrew held back and waited for the girls to get reacquainted with the former construction worker. He didn't have a good friendship with Xander like the girls.
Cordelia, who had walked downstairs when she heard Buffy's voice, stood next to Angel at the end of the lobby in order to give Xander some space with her old school friends.
Fred had heard the voices as well and stood at the top of the stairs watching the reunion. She was curious about them, having heard many stories about the Slayer and the Sunnydale crew, but she was too shy to join them.
William, who was still in Angel's arms, was watching the women with great interest. He began bouncing on his mother's arm. Angel had learned that was William's usual behaviour whenever he wanted to be put on the floor.
"Xander, our son is crawling towards you!" Angel warned Xander when William started crawling to his dad.
The girls heard the warning and turned around, looking at the floor to see a small blue-eyed blond boy.
"Son?" Andrew asked curious. Judging by their wary reaction, he could see that Cordelia, Giles and two other men hadn't noticed him yet.
"Yes, I'd like you to meet William, formerly known as William the Bloody or Spike, your friendly neighbourhood vampire," Xander introduced while picking up his son.
"What? Spike? That baby is Spike? Oh, my god! He's so cute," Dawn squealed and ran towards the little boy in Xander's arms.
"Our son?" Buffy sadly repeated the words Angel had said.
"Yes, we adopted him. Angel, why don't you change William's diaper and entertain the others while Buffy and I talk in the kitchen," Xander suggested. He walked to Angel, placed William in the vampire's arms and gave Angel a deep kiss before guiding a gaping Buffy into the kitchen.
Cordelia, Giles, Wesley and Gunn went out to buy William some presents. Angel was left alone to face Dawn, Willow, Faith and Andrew's questions on Spike's transformation and his relationship with Xander. The vampire winced, it was worse than facing a horde of Torak Han demons.
Andrew however was interested in the shy beautiful woman who stood at the top of the stairs and couldn't help but stare.
****
"Buffy, are you alright?" Xander asked, still a little nervous about how she was reacting to the news. Seeing her old school friend kiss her first vampire lover must have been a shock. But knowing both had adopted her second vampire lover as a human baby was probably a hard blow. After all, Buffy believed Spike had died after sacrificing himself to save her and the world.
"I'm fine. Shocked and under the impression I've landed in an alternate universe but fine. How long have you and Angel been together?" Buffy questioned, reassuring Xander with her calm attitude.
"Tomorrow on William's birthday, we'll also be celebrating our 5th month," Xander replied dreamily only to be snapped back when Buffy punched his arm. "What?"
"He must be making you happy for you to be daydreaming like that," Buffy commented grinning.
"You're not angry?" Xander hesitantly asked.
"No, I'm not. It was hard but I let him go when he left Sunnydale," Buffy replied. "Of course I hadn't expected he would choose you to share his life with. But what about his soul?"
"The PTB anchored his soul to me when we adopted Spike," Xander answered.
"I can't believe that little boy is Spike. He's so small and cute," Buffy stated.
"Yes, he is. But he's also very smart. He's been calling Angel 'mama'. I taught him that but don't tell Angel or he will throw a fit and not kiss me for at least a week," Xander smirked and saw Buffy grinning mischievously at hearing that.
"Shall we join them?" Buffy asked, ready to tease Angel.
Xander stood up, linked arms with Buffy and together they stepped into the lobby. The lobby, however, was empty except for the couple that was quietly talking at the far end of the lobby.
"Angel?" Xander called out.
"Upstairs!" they heard Angel shouting.
Xander quickly ran upstairs only to stop in the doorway at the sight of Dawn changing a crying William.
"Dadadada," William cried and reaching towards Xander.
Xander walked to his son, fastened the diaper and picked the crying boy up in his arms. William held onto Xander's neck and sniffled. "mama aid iduslie misueh," he explained to Xander.
"Angel, what did you do?" Xander asked sternly. He tried not to laugh at the guilty look on Angel's face.
"I didn't do anything!" Angel denied.
"He wanted to show me how many teeth William had developed," Dawn answered, squealing when Angel tried to grab her.
"You tried to open his mouth with the bite ring again?" Xander asked Angel, eyebrows rising in question.
Angel looked at the floor. "Yesterday he did it by himself, I was only trying to make him do it again."
"Right!" Xander said sarcastically. "So, Dawn, I think you need to practise the diaper change if you ever want to baby-sit William," Xander mentioned.
William was already happily bouncing on his father's arms, tears gone. He wanted to play on the floor. He squealed when his father raised him in the air and laid him down on the light blue carpet. Within no time William was happily crawling across the room to his toys.
"I can baby-sit William?" Dawn asked excitedly.
"Of course, you can only so that when you're in L.A. But yes, you can baby-sit William," Xander said seriously. He wanted his friends to be part of Spike's new life.
Dawn followed the boy and sat on the floor across from him. She smiled when William gave her a block. She placed it on the floor and Wiliam gave her another one. They continued until the tower of blocks became too high. William sat on his knees and pushed the tower, letting the blocks fall on Dawn while his giggling echoed throughout the entire hotel.
Buffy had watched the entire scene in silence. She couldn't take her eyes off William and joined her sister. The girls repeated the game that pleased William so much.
"Girls, watch William for a while. I need to take care of some things for our birthday boy," Xander instructed; he walked towards William, gave him a kiss on the head and left the room. "Angel, are you coming?" he shouted when he noticed that his lover wasn't following him.
Dawn and Buffy both looked surprised at Angel when he ran after Xander. Angel was acting like a lovesick puppy. The girls laughed, realising Xander had managed to do what everyone had considered to be impossible: to control the 250-year old vampire who had once been The Scourge of Europe.
William stopped laughing when he noticed that his parents had left the room. He looked at the two girls wide eyed, his bottom lip quivering.
Dawn quickly handed him a block, hoping William wouldn't burst into tears. It didn't work. William burst into tears, trying to get his parents' attention.
******
While Angel tried to answer the girls' questions, William was passed from one girl to the other, delighted to be the object of so much attention. Fred finally gathered enough courage to come down the stairs and Andrew left Angel to walk towards her and introduce himself.
Hi. I'm...I'm Andrew and you ...you are ...do you live here too? Andrew stuttered, having trouble being coherent in front of such a beautiful creature. "Hi," Fred said shyly; she bravely took his hand and walked to the couch in the corner. They sat down and talked about Xander's friends and Sunnydale, unnoticed by the others.
Cordelia and Giles walked into the lobby expecting a happy William, instead they heard William crying loudly.
"Fred, what's happening ? Why is William crying ? Cordelia asked sharply. Fred blushed bright red for not having noticed anything, engrossed by Andrew's heroic tales.
Cordelia and Giles both rushed upstairs, only to see Dawn and Buffy trying to comfort William without much success. Cordelia tsked and took William from Dawn's arms to place him into Giles'.
"What's this, William? Why are you crying?" Giles' whispered soothingly to the boy. "Buffy and Dawn are great girls and they like you very much."
Cordelia looked from Dawn to Buffy and both seemed worried about William. Whatever had happened they were probably not responsible for William's behaviour. She turned around and saw Giles whispering to the boy. She dreamily stared at Giles and William, imagining herself and Giles having a child of their own. She snapped out of her thoughts, interrupted by a flash. Someone had taken a picture.
All three women looked behind Giles to see Gunn and Wesley standing in the doorway with a camera. They smiled when William recognised them and stretched out his chubby little arms. Wesley stepped forward and took William.
William was now hiccupping and happily babbling to Wesley, pointing at the blocks on the floor. "Ah, you were playing with the blocks. Did you have fun?" Wesley asked William.
"Mama wsiewas dada ismwle subljem," William told Wesley all about what Angel had done.
"Did Angel try to show the girls your teeth again? And your daddy saved you?" Wesley asked William.
"Where are your mommy and daddy, William?" Gunn asked William.
William turned around to the different voice and pointed towards the door. "Dada siemasmle," William explained.
"They went downstairs and they went shopping?" Gunn retold William's words while Wesley grinned at the stunned faces of the two women. The AI team had always been able to translate William's babbling into English.
William wanted to be on the floor again and started bouncing. "Let's go downstairs. Dawn, would you take William's playblocks with you downstairs?" Wesley asked while carrying William, the rest of the group following him.
Wesley placed William on the ground while the rest sat down on the couches. That's when Xander and Angel walked in and spotted the whole group in the lobby.
"Hey, William!" Xander greeted his son before saying hello to the rest of the group.
Angel followed his lover inside and smiled. He was preparing a night with Xander alone. Ever since William started teething, they hadn't had an evening to themselves. Xander had spent many nights alone with a restless William during patrols. The young man never complained but he was starting to show signs of stress. Tonight Angel would ask Buffy and Dawn to baby-sit William and he would take his lover out to dinner.
Angel walked towards Xander and William, gave both of them a kiss and asked Buffy and Dawn to join him in the kitchen, while carrying a large box that contained William's birthday cake.
Xander watched with suspicion the girls following Angel into the kitchen. He turned back to William and sat on the floor in front of the blocks. He placed William between his legs and started building the familiar tower.
William was happy again. His mummy and daddy were back. He patted his daddy's face and watched with fascination how his father built the tower. He waited for the last possible moment and...pushed his arms forward. William squealed when the blocks fell onto the floor and his daddy started building the tower again!
*****
Angel stepped into the kitchen and placed the birthday cake in the fridge. He closed the door and turned around.
"Buffy, Dawn, could you baby-sit William tonight?" Angel asked.
"Sure. What are you going to do?" Buffy asked curious.
"Since William started teething we haven't had a night off. The guys tried to cover sometimes but when that happens we're both too tired to do anything but sleep," Angel replied.
"What have you planned?" Dawn questioned, already looking forward to babysitting William. She hoped he wouldn't cry because his parents were gone.
"I have a table reserved at an Egyptian restaurant nearby and after that I want Xander to choose where to go," Angel told the girls his plans.
"Angel?" they heard Xander call out from the lobby before the door opened. "What are you discussing?"
"William's birthday!" Buffy replied. It wasn't a complete lie.
"Xander, can I practise babysitting William tonight?" Dawn asked excitedly.
Xander watched the women and knew something was going on, but he didn't know what. "Sure, but we will still be here, so it isn't real yet."
"I know, I just want to spend some time with him," Dawn replied.
Xander nodded and dragged Angel forcefully with him into the lobby. He turned around and kissed Angel deeply, only to be interrupted when William pulled on both their jeans.
They both looked down to see William's eager face looking up. "Dada, mama, isnejswlsi," William told them.
"William, you want to be picked up again?" Xander asked, but when he did he smelled something familiar. "Dawn! Diaper time!" he shouted.
He carried William upstairs and heard Dawn following him. They entered William's bedroom and laid him down on the commode. "Okay, Dawn. Your turn," Xander said, stepping back and letting Dawn stand in front of the little squirming boy.
Dawn opened the trousers and took them off. William kicked his legs playfully, he grabbed his toes and pushed them in his mouth. It made the undressing more difficult, but Xander didn't help. She finally managed to unbutton the body-suit and crunched her nose when the smell only got worse. "William, did you have to do that? I just know your daddy has set me up by changing your diaper now and not this afternoon."
Xander laughed softly when he heard her remark. "You wanted to baby-sit, Dawn! Dirty diaper changing is in the job description."
Dawn opened the diaper, rolled it up and gave it to Xander while smiling the entire time. She was afraid William would cry if she didn't smile. She accepted the tissues from Xander and cleaned William thoroughly while blushing bright red, realising she was touching Spike's unmentionables. She hoped baby William would have no memories of his previous life or he would kill her when he got older.
Xander handed her the lotion and watched how gently she smeared it on William's body. The boy started moving his arms and legs and was making it very difficult for Dawn to place the diaper below the tiny waist.
Dawn took the diaper, spread it out and placed it under William. She pressed the diaper between the moving legs but William decided to turn on his side before she had the chance to fasten it. "No, William. Wait for me to finish this," Dawn muttered to herself. She turned the boy back and quickly fastened the slips. She made sure everything was correct and looked at Xander to see if she had done a good job.
Xander nodded and smiled. "Well, now that's done, want to choose something for him to wear at night?" he asked.
"Yes, you got something blue?" Dawn asked happily.
While watching William, Xander showed her the many clothes they had bought for William. She chose a light blue long sleeve body-suit with a little car on it. She took the body-suit and walked back to William who was watching her and Xander, seemingly confused about the reason why his dad wasn't dressing him as usual.
She opened the bottom and pushed the suit over William's head. When that was finally done, she tried to get the arms thought the sleeves.
"Here, I'll show you," Xander suggested before stepping next to her and he demonstrated how to get the arm through the sleeve. "It's quite simple, you just have to get used to it," Xander explained.
Dawn succeeded in dressing William and now had the quiet boy in her arms. Xander and Dawn took William downstairs, where Angel was patiently waiting for his lover. Xander was shocked.
Angel was wearing a black suit with a white silk shirt. He had clearly spent some time to arrange his hair. Xander was speechless at the stunning sight. Angel's eyes were glistening, happy to have succeeded in surprising his boyfriend.
"Xander, if you please?" Angel asked. "Kiss William goodnight, and follow me," Angel instructed and smiled when Xander did so without protesting. The little boy was given a kiss on the nose and Angel took Xander's hand, guiding him to the awaiting car.
"Be a good boy, William," Angel told the pouting boy.
"Where are we going? You set me up? Dawn, did you know about this? Angel, would you please tell me where we're going? What about my clothes? Shouldn't I change first? I can't go out like this!" Xander fired the questions at anyone who would listen. Angel kept silent and walked him out of the hotel. "Dawn, Fred, take good care of William!" Xander ordered before Angel closed the door of their car.
for his lover. Xander was shocked.
Angel was wearing a black suit with a white silk shirt. He had clearly spent some time to arrange his hair. Xander was speechless at the stunning sight. Angel's eyes were glistening, happy to have succeeded in surprising his boyfriend.
"Xander, if you please?" Angel asked. "Kiss William goodnight, and follow me," Angel instructed and smiled when Xander did so without protesting. The little boy was given a kiss on the nose and Angel took Xander's hand, guiding him to the awaiting car.
"Be a good boy, William," Angel told the pouting boy.
"Where are we going? You set me up? Dawn, did you know about this? Angel, would you please tell me where we're going? What about my clothes? Shouldn't I change first? I can't go out like this!" Xander fired the questions at anyone who would listen. Angel kept silent and walked him out of the hotel. "Dawn, Fred, take good care of William!" Xander ordered before Angel closed the door of their car.
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