***Halloween - 9 p.m.***
Angel and Xander were watching William driving around. Ever since he got the toddler car for his birthday, the boy had been driving through the entire hotel.
"William, let's get going!" Xander announced, stopping William from driving further.
"No!" William exclaimed and pouted when he watched his father looking sternly at him.
"William, are you ready for trick and treating?" Wesley called out when he and Gunn entered the lobby.
"T'ik 'n T'eat?" William questioned when he looked at his Uncle Wesley.
"AHHHH!" Cordelia shrieked. She had just entered the lobby with her lover, to rejoin their friends after their usual afternoon nap.
Four men jumped towards her, thinking she had a vision, while Giles stood behind her laughing.
"William? Is that you?" Cordelia asked the little boy.
The woman stepped towards the tiny vampire and kneeled down. "You scared me. Don't do that again, okay?" Cordelia said to the boy.
William looked up and laughed, showing everybody his fake fangs. With some glamour spells, Giles had transformed the toddler into a small vampire.
"Me 'ampir!" William told Cordelia and squealed when his mother lifted him and spun him in the air.
"Angel, as what are you going trick and treating?" Giles asked the vampire who was currently spinning his son.
"Mama, 'ampir! Papa, 'ampir!" William squealed from happiness.
Apparentely every member of the family had asked Giles to change them into a vampire.
"So, we're a vampire family, huh?" Gunn said, when he realised their entire family had changed into a vampire gang.
The group was startled when the Oracles and D'Hoffryn suddenly appeared in the lobby, in the midst of a blinding flash of blue light.
"Blue! Blus!" William called out as soon as he was placed onto the floor. He quickly ran to the Oracles. He hugged Blue's legs, the male part of the duo before hugging Blus, the female sibling.
"Blue?" the male sibling asked curiously.
"Blus?" the female sibling asked as well.
Xander blushed when he heard his son calling the siblings those names.
"Well, we didn't know how to call you, so we were trying out some names and William kinda decided he liked those names and started calling you that," Wesley shyly explained.
"Gandda," William said before hugging the demon's legs. He looked up at the demon and smiled, before running back to his father.
D'Hoffryn watched the boy and was pleasantly surprised to hear the boy had given him a name as well. "He has just called me granddad," D'Hoffryn stated, not really sure what to say. He had never been anyone's grandfather before.
"We wanted him to have a second grandfather," Angel answered, amazed that his son remembered the conversation he had witnessed about Anya's boss. It was Xander's wish to let William call the demon granddad. Apparently, William recalled the demon's name and had used the word 'granddad' correctly.
"Shall we go then?" D'Hoffryn offered. He normally doesn't do Halloween, but for the little boy he was willing to make an exception. The boy had stolen away his heart and he admired Xander's care to uphold his promise to Anya.
The strange group entered the streets to see many families trailing behind their children from door to door.
William watched the other children and was already walking to one of the doors. He looked behind him and saw his parents watching him. He smiled brightly and knocked on the door, the way his mommy had taught him. He watched the door opening and growled. "T'ick 'n T'eat!"
The old woman had seen William playing before as she sometimes entered the lobby just to watch the boy. She placed her hand in front of her mouth and pretended to be scared. "Oh my god, a vampire! What do you want?" she asked.
"'Andy!" William exclaimed happily and held out his hands.
The woman smiled and grabbed a handful of the sweet candy she had hidden behind her door. She handed it carefully to William who clutched the candy and quickly ran back to his parents. She closed the door and waited for the next child to knock.
Xander watched proudly how William bravely stepped forward to the next door. Everybody had already noticed that William was a fast learning. He remembered words that been said and could almost pronounce the words correctly. But he still acted like his age even though he could walk very easily and he picked up words he wasn't supposed to hear.
Angel smiled as his boy demanded more candy. He watched William running back, his hands full of bonbons, lollypops, and other sweets. He opened the bag he had in his hands and let his son dump the candy in there. Angel offered his hand, so they could walk together.
William placed his hand in his mother's before taking Angel to the next house. He looked up but didn't go to the door. The house was looming up and looked scary. He watched other children avoid the house and wanted to walk away from it rather than knocking on it.
Gunn and Wesley noticed the scared looks of William as well as the other children and looked at the house. They offered their hands to William who slowly pulled out his hand from his mother and took the offered hands.
The threesome walked towards the house and stopped in front of the door. Wesley knocked and waited for the door to open. The ex-watcher looked back at the others, surprised to see more families had gathered with their family.
Gunn had seen the families as well and watched careful how the door opened to reveal a young couple who looked down at William.
William whimpered. This house was making him feel scared and he hid behind his uncle Gunn's legs holding tightly on the pants' legs.
The woman kneeled down and smiled. "Can I see your face, little boy?" she asked. She sensed humans and her stomach growled from hunger. She needed to feed soon.
William started crying and when the woman reached out, he screamed from fright. The little boy could feel his little body vibrating with danger signs. It seemed like he was being pricked by hundreds of tiny needles.
Angel and Xander had watched their son's reaction to the lady and quickly walked towards their son. Angel picked up William who was now kicking and screaming loudly from fright, not even noticing his mother's comforting presence. "William, it's mommy," Angel spoke softly. The kicking stopped and William hung tightly around his neck.
Wesley looked suspiciously at the couple and couldn't help but feel shivers running down his spine. The woman looked friendly as well as the male who was standing behind the woman. But the moment he heard growling coming from Angel he knew something was wrong with the couple.
Gunn dragged Wesley away from the house when Xander and Angel took their son back to the family.
*****
"You scared them away...again!" Dave accused his wife.
"There were too many adults with the boy," Lia defended herself. "If we want to eat, we have to find children who are alone."
"They will never be alone now. We have to move to a different town or wait a few weeks, until they have forgotten Halloween," Dave stated.
"We wait then, I'm not moving again," Lia answered irritated.
*****
"William, what did you feel?" D'Hoffryn softly asked the crying boy. He too had felt the danger coming from the house the moment the door opened.
William looked up to see he was safe with his family. "scar'd, hurt me," he whispered and hid his face against his mother's neck.
"William, let's visit other houses before going back home. I need you to protect me," Fred said, hoping it would distract the boy from the house. It worked.
"Mama, down," William said. The moment he stood on his little legs, he ran to Fred and took her hand, tears all gone. More children gathered with William to visit the next house. Andrew followed his girlfriend.
While the families introduced themselves, the group of seven children, Andrew and Fred walked to the next house, knocking on the door. The children stood closer to Fred and Andrew while the door opened. A smiling witch with a bag of candy greeted the children.
"T'ick 'n T'eat!" William called out and held out his hand as he eyed the bag.
The woman smiled and handed William some candy as well as the others before closing the door again.
"Mama, see!" William squealed when he ran back with his hands full of candy, like nothing had happened before at the other house.
"Wow! That's a lot of candy," Angel responded, taking the candy from his son's hand and placing it in the bag.
***11.30 p.m.***
William was tired. He had collected a bag full of candy and he had even made some friends. He was now holding hands with a girl his own age and was chatting sleepily, while they were walking home.
Liza was happy she had finally found a friend in this city. She was listening to William chatting about his house, when they were scooped up from behind. She was startled but relieved to see her daddy had picked her up. He looked angry. Why?
William yelped when he was suddenly in the air and looked behind him. His father was looking sternly at him. He pouted, knowing he had done something wrong, but didn't know what.
"William, don't walk away from the grown-ups. What would you have done if you lost us?" Xander questioned his son, who looked adorable by pouting his lower lip.
William didn't know what to answer and instead hugged his father's neck, hoping he wouldn't be punished for it.
"Liza, don't walk away," Richard said worried. "I don't want to lose you."
Liza nodded her head and closed her eyes. Richard smiled and hugged his daughter before walking back to the large group of parents.
Giles watched his son walk back to them and decided it was time for them to return home. "Guys, let's get back home."
Richard said goodbye to his new friends and walked back home. Entering his home, he walked Liza to her bedroom en prepared her to go to bed. His wife's death had been hard for both of them. After finding himself a new job in L.A., they had moved to the City of Angels.
Richard smiled at Liza's sleeping face. His daughter had enjoyed herself very much and he was glad she had found a friend to play with. Being very smart for her age, finding friends had proved to be difficult. Now she had found William, who was as developed as she was. He tucked her in and locked the house before going to bed.
*****
The family entered the hotel. Xander said goodnight to everyone and carried a sleeping William back to his room with Angel following closely behind.
"He had a good time hadn't he?" Xander asked his lover, who was undressing his son.
"Yes, he had. I'm glad he found a friend," Angel softly replied.
"Liza is such a bright girl for her age, just like William," Xander said, staring at his son. "Angel, I'm still worried about that strange couple. What could be wrong with them? Did you manage to sense anything?"
"I don't know, but we have to find out. They are living too close for William's safety," Angel responded. "Why don't we research it tomorrow with the others?"
"Okay," Xander replied and kissed his son goodnight before stepping into their bedroom.
Angel gave his son a kiss before following his lover. He stepped behind Xander and hugged him tightly. He was tired and sensed Xander was tired as well. He undressed the young man before undressing himself.
Xander sighed when Angel tucked him in. He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. He snuggled against Angel when his lover laid next to him.
The vampire looked at Xander and smiled. He had the family he had always wanted. A lover who could still surprise him and a beautiful little boy who bewildered him with his sharp intelligence or his cheeky repetition of the words 'Mama kiss' whenever he caught his parents kissing each other. Sometimes the vampire had the impression he could see glimpses of the old Spike shining in William's bright sapphire eyes. Angel closed his eyes and fell asleep.
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