SERIES: Bedtime Stories (#4)

AUTHOR: Tisienne Blue

E-MAIL: tisatko@msn.com

DISCLAIMER: Joss owns everyone you know from TV... all others are mine...

RATING: PG- PG-13

DISTRIBUTION: Charity can have anything of mine for 'Bite Me... Please?'... also, Vampie can have this for her site if she wants... anyone else, ask...

FEEDBACK: is good...

DEDICATIONS: to: Kim, Mystra, Angel, Lea, Jesmin, and Shelley... thanks so much for the feedback!!! You are goddesses in every way!!!

NOTES: OK, well, this has obviously become a series, although... it's not necessary to read the earlier stories in order to understand this one... they are more companion pieces to each other than a 'classical' series... And, I'm starting to run out of new names for the characters, so if any of you have any ideas, please, PLEASE let me know... if I use it, I'll give you credit for it!!! I swear!!!

MORE NOTES: OK, here's the deal... Angel became human. He ran back to Sunnydale, and eventually married Willow because he always loved her, and she him! It's now eight years later, and they have two kids: Katie (7 yrs), and Patrick (1 yr)... Will and Angel rarely go out, but when they do, they get one of their friends to babysit...

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Rupert Giles smiled widely as he saw the tiny form of his 'grand-daughter' appear in the living room doorway. "What's wrong, Katie?" he said softly, holding his arms out to her, and smiling even more when she flew to him and snoggled herself down in his lap.

"Can't sleep, Grampa!" Katie said sadly, burying her head in his chest, "Miss Mama and Papa!"

Giles sighed softly. "I know you do, darling, but they'll be back tonight, you know... you'll see them first thing in the morning!"

Katie sniffled slightly before responding. "But... I want to see them now!"

"Now, Katie," Giles said seriously, "You know they're going to be late! They're trying to help your Uncle Spike and Aunt Cordelia with a little problem... and they wouldn't be very happy if you were still awake when they got home, now would they?" He looked sternly at the little girl until she slowly nodded her head.

"I know, Grampa, it's just..."

"You miss them... I know, precious..." He kissed the top of the little girl's head, once again silently cursing Willow's parents for cutting their child out of their lives. He could understand them being disappointed that she hadn't gone on to graduate school, choosing instead to marry the man she loved, but to his mind, that was no excuse... Ah, well, their stupidity had opened the door for him to become the children's 'grandfather', and for that, he supposed, he should thank them. "Well," he said stoutly, standing up, the little girl still wrapped in his arms, "How about if we put you back to bed, so you'll be well rested in the morning?... You know... to sleep, perchance to dream?...After all," he continued, as he started up the stairs, "I'm sure that in two whole days in Los Angeles, your Mama and Papa have managed to find you at least one prezzie... don't you want to be awake enough to find out what it is?"

Katie giggled, the thought of getting a present for no special reason making her very happy. "Well, OK, Grampa... but only if you tell me a story!"

Giles groaned to himself as he set the girl in her bed, and pulled the covers up to her chin... he'd been warned about Katie's story fixation, and had she been a bit older, he wouldn't have hesitated to tell her something from the Watcher's Diaries, but the girl was only seven... he didn't want to end up giving her screaming nightmares! He sighed softly, knowing that there was no help for it... he'd never been able to deny his little grand-daughter anything... there was no reason for him to think he'd be able to start now. "All right, dearest," he said resignedly, "Just give me a moment to think of one..."

Katie smiled to herself as she settled herself down to listen...

Giles sighed again, to himself this time, seeing the look of expectation on her lovely little face... she looked more like her mother every day! "All right, Katie... I think I've got a story for you..."

~~~~~~~~~and this is what he said~~~~~~~~

Once upon a time, on the other side of a vast ocean, there was an almost middle-aged couple... the Duke and Duchess of Files. They had been married for many years, and while they were fairly happy together, their happiness could not be complete because they had never been blessed with the one thing that they both wanted more than anything... a child! Now, the Duchess wanted a child so that she would have someone to love unconditionally, someone to lavish her attentions and affections on, because she knew that she had so very much of those things to give. The Duke, on the other hand, wanted a child... or more specifically, a son... so that he would have someone to follow in his footsteps... to secure the family name, and basically be just a little carbon copy of himself. This couple had practically given up hope when one day, after many consultations, the local wizard told the woman something that made her extremely happy... she and her husband were finally going to have a child!

Well, needless to say, they were both very excited, and after waiting a good while, they did indeed have their child! Fortunately for the Duke, the child was a boy, and he began his campaign to make the boy into everything he wanted him to be... Unfortunately for that same man, the boy came to have ideas of his own about what he wanted out of life, and his father's choices for him were not at all what he desired! He didn't want to be the Duke of Files, and muck about all day with dusty, dirty old papers and such... He wanted to... fly to the moon, or perhaps sell goods to the less advantaged! Alas, the Duke, when he found out about his son's dreams, refused to understand the boy's desire for a different life, and tried to... coerce him into following the plans he had made for the lad. Unfortunately, things didn't work out quite as the Duke had hoped.

One day, after his father's latest bit of 'convincing', the boy, whose name was Zupert, decided that he'd had enough, and ran off to the biggest city he could think of. Of course, the city was only a few miles from his home in the countryside, but that's neither here nor there... the point is, he left! He went to his mother, the Duchess, and told her that he was going, and the two of them had a rather sad, tear-filled farewell, and soon, he was on his way!

Well, young Zupert arrived in the big city... we'll call it Spunden, and immediately began looking for a job. Unfortunately, due to his age, he had a rather difficult time finding employment, and after almost two days, he finally admitted defeat and went back home.

Now, the Duke had been very angry when he first heard that his son had run off, but after a little bit, he found that he was almost proud that the lad had taken it upon himself to broaden his horizons, and when the boy returned, the Duke surprised him by telling him that he had arranged tutoring for his son in the very city that he'd just left! The boy would live there and study under the best educators that money could buy!

Zupert was excited at first, thinking about how marvelous it would be to be able to choose what he wanted to learn, but as soon as he arrived, he became quite angry. His father, the Duke, had told all of the tutors that he had a destiny, and was paying them to teach the boy only what he wanted him to know! Zupert thought about it for a while, and made a decision. He would pretend to be interested in the things the tutors taught him, and meanwhile... well, meanwhile, he would learn whatever he wanted, behind the tutors' backs, as it were... and that's exactly what he did!

So, some years went by, and Zupert had a new group of friends... a secret group! They ran about, creating all sorts of trouble, and did all sorts of spells and things that they really had no business mucking about with... and Zupert also had a new name, courtesy of those same friends! He was now called Zipper!

Then one day, Zipper and his friends made a terrible mistake... they did a spell that they really shouldn't have, and it called an evil thing from the demon dimensions to them... they had been foolish, and marked themselves with it's sigil, you see... Well, in any case, they called this thing, and it came, but... they lost control of it! Things were not good for a bit after that, but finally, finally, the group thought that they had sent the thing back to where it had come from, and they were all so scared that they decided, then and there, to stop doing those sorts of things. Of course, that really left them with nothing in common, and they drifted apart. Zipper decided that maybe the Duke hadn't been entirely wrong about him following in the family business, and buckled down, applying himself to his studies for quite a few years after that. Thus, Zipper once again became Zupert, but he never forgot what had happened with his former friends.

Well, many years went by, and Zupert, who was now known mostly as just Files, was sent by the Duke to a small kingdom far across the ocean. He was told that his job would be to guide a young woman, the Flayer, in her fight against the darkness. Files was excited about the job... after all, it was what he'd been studying and training for for years! Yes, he was very excited... until he met the Flayer in person!

She was, as it turned out, a little bit of a blonde thing named Betty, and had she been a bit smarter, and a good bit less self-centered, she might have even been attractive, but... as things were, Betty didn't want to be the Flayer. She wanted to be just a normal girl, with nothing more on her mind than parties, revealing clothes, and... oh, yes, shoes! She hated the idea that she had a calling, a duty, a responsibility! And so she tried to ignore the darkness, and almost got the girl who would be her best friend killed! And that would have been a shame, because the girl, her name was Rose, was one of the smartest, kindest, and most beautiful girls ever to walk the planet, and it was mostly due to Rose's efforts that Betty was able to perform her function without being hurt many, many times!

Well, in any case, with the guidance of Files and Rose, and the friendships of Rose, Dander-- who was Rose's best friend even if he was a bit... off, and a quite handsome, broody chap named... Seraphim-- although he preferred to be called Seraph-- who had been a part of the darkness for many years before discovering that it just wasn't him... Betty managed to keep the small kingdom relatively darkness free.

Well, a bit of time went by, and Files was contacted by one of his old friends from his Zipper days... it seemed that, all those years ago when they'd sent the thing they'd called up back to it's own dimension, it hadn't really gone, and now it was trying to hurt all those that wore its mark! Well, things got ugly for a while there, but eventually Seraph, with the help of Rose... and Betty, too, I suppose, managed to defeat it, which was a good thing, as it had been trying to hurt Files' girlfriend Je... Penny! Because of his efforts in that situation, Files decided that Seraph was all right, and began to think of him as a friend, not just one of Betty's helpers!

Unfortunately, Betty managed to convince herself that she and Seraph belonged together, that they were soul-mates, or some such rot, and proceeded to roll right over him, which again was a shame, because anybody with eyes and even a slight modicum of intelligence could see that Seraph was completely enamoured of the lovely little redhead, Rose... and she of him!

But still, Seraph, being a kind-hearted chap, didn't want to hurt Betty's feelings, and for some reason felt that Rose was too good for him, so... He decided to just go ahead and date Betty. What he didn't know, of course, was that he'd been cursed years earlier, and if he was ever satisfied, in a particular way, he would become a part of the darkness!

Well, Betty being Betty, that satisfaction came along rather sooner than later, and Seraph, who was now back to using his full name of Seraphim, re-joined the dark, and set about trying to make life very uncomfortable for Betty... and Files... and Rose, too! Not to mention Dander and Boredelia, who was the latest addition to the Flayer's little circle of friends and helpers!

Now, many unhappy and unpleasant things occurred over the next little while... Seraphim's old friend Nail, who was a part of the darkness along with his lady-friend Priscilla, had been lurking about, causing trouble, and he was delighted that Seraphim was back to his old bad self... at least he was until Priscilla started spending more time with Seraphim than she did with Nail! There was a big ugly scene with an evil stone statue, and Nail decided to help Betty against Seraphim, which he did... Rose finally figured out a way to make Seraphim better again, though, and suddenly, their old friend Seraph was back!

Of course, Betty thought that she and Seraph could pick up where they'd left off, but after everything that Seraph had been through, well... he tried, but his heart just wasn't in it! Personally, I think that it was because he finally realized that if he couldn't have Rose, no one else would do! And Seraph also felt guilty because, during his time as Seraphim, he had made Files' girlfriend go away forever... Files knew deep down inside that Seraph was not to blame for Seraphim's actions, but he did so miss his Je... Penny. It took Files years to fully forgive Seraph for what had happened, and he never did really forgive Betty for being the cause of it all...

In any case, a few years went by... Seraph left the kingdom, relocating to a much larger kingdom nearby... Boredelia also left, pursuing a career instead of staying around... Betty and her friends finished studying with the tutors they had, and for the most part went on to study under more advanced tutors... and Files... well, Files finally became the shopkeeper he'd wanted to be as a boy!

Everything was going fairly well in Betty's little kingdom until one day, out of the blue, Seraph showed up again, and this time... he wasn't cursed anymore! He went directly to Files, and was surprised to find out that the man had finally forgiven him for making his Je... Penny go away! Now, Files wasn't sure of exactly why Seraph wanted so badly to talk to him, but he soon found out! Seraph had decided, after thinking about it for quite a while, that Files was the closest thing that Rose had to an actual father, her real one being away most of the time, not to mention being completely inattentive when he was around, so... Seraph had come to ask Files' permission to court the lovely Rose! He assured Files that his intentions were completely honourable, and after Files confirmed that Seraph was indeed no more cursed than any other human, that permission was given, and Seraph fled the shop, pleased and looking for his Rose!

Unfortunately, Betty wasn't ready to let go of her dream of a future for herself and Seraph, and when she found out about his not being cursed anymore, she persued him with a vengeance! She didn't care that she already had a boyfriend-- Miley, or that Seraph didn't love her, but loved Rose instead! So, basically, she did her best to keep Seraph and his Rose apart, and she thought that it was working... that she'd soon have Seraph as her own again... She wasn't counting on Seraph's steadfastness!

Seraph, with Files' help, began to court the redheaded girl. Files would tell Betty about a crisis on the other side of their small kingdom that required her attention, and Seraph would then have hours and hours to spend convincing his beautiful Rose that he loved only her! It took him a good long while, so long that he told Files more than once that he was ready to give up... that he didn't think Rose would ever love him. Files, of course, knew that Rose already did, and refused to let Seraph give up... and good thing, too, because finally, only a week after the last time Seraph had wanted to leave, Rose told him that she believed him... and that she felt the same way!

Well, Seraph, hearing this, was the happiest he'd ever been in his very long life! He finally had his Rose, and he was never going to let her go! At that point, the two of them got very comfortable, and it was then that Betty burst in to Rose's house, demanding that Seraph get away from the redhead and come back to her side, where he belonged! Betty was completely unprepared for it when Seraph just laughed at her and told her that there was no way that he was going to leave his true-love for his never-was, and she got quite loud for a bit, finally announcing that if he didn't get away from Rose, she was going to marry her boyfriend Miley, and go back to Lo-High-Lo with him... and as neither Seraph nor Rose moved an inch, that's exactly what she did! Betty ran off and married Miley, abandoning her duty to the kingdom, and the last Files heard, she was living in a trailer park and waiting tables at Lenny's... But the real story here is Rose and Seraph! It seems that they had waited so long to proclaim their love for each other that neither of them was willing to wait any longer, and... just under a month later, they got married in a nearby kingdom... Files almost cried as he gave away the bride...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~he stopped speaking~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And you look so much like her, my dear, sweet girl..." Giles said softly, smiling as he looked down at the sleeping seven year old. He sighed, switching off the light as he left the room, closing the door behind him. He'd never thought that he'd be a father, much less a grandfather, but somehow, he thought, smiling softly... somehow, the role suited him... He knew that he would die for Katie... or Patrick... blood of his blood or not! He grinned as he descended the stairs and sat back down on the couch, not even bothering to re-heat his long forgotten cup of tea as he sipped at its cold contents and began flipping channels, looking for something to amuse himself with until his 'daughter' and her husband got home.
 
 

Giles smiled to himself as he heard the car pull up out front and looked at his watch... almost five am. His smile became a laugh as he thought of the way Spike must have played guilt-games with his former Sire to get him to stay so late. He stood and faced the door, forcing a frown onto his face as the redhead and the ex-vampire entered the house, heads together and giggling quietly.

"Do you have any idea of the time?" he said, trying to sound angry, "We were worried! If you knew you were going to be so late, you could have called!"

Willow smiled slyly into the eyes of her husband, nodding at what she saw there. "Aw... sorry Dad!" she said teasingly, as they both flew at Giles and engulfed him in a family hug, "Are we grounded?"

"Yeah, Pop," Angel said, ruffling Giles' hair, "We promise we won't do it again!"

Giles sighed, pulling away from the young people. "Yes, and that's what you say every time! Those... those people are a bad influence on you both!" He looked them over quickly, seeing the open, but still full, bottle of wine in Angel's hand. His eyes widened. "All right, you two, all teasing aside, what happened? Why do you still have... that?" he asked, gesturing. "I thought that the whole purpose of this trip was..."

Angel cut in quickly. "Honey," he said, taking his arm from around his wife, "I'm going to go check on the kids, OK?" He smiled at her nod, heading up the stairs quickly after giving her a lingering kiss.

Willow gazed consideringly at Giles. "It's a bit of a story... we'd better sit down." She took off her coat, throwing it on a chair, and found her favourite spot on the couch. She squirmed a bit until she was comfortable as Giled resumed his former position. "OK," she began, ordering her thoughts, "Here's the deal... you know how Spike said that he was afraid Cordy was gonna leave him so she could have a 'normal' life, with kids and everything..."

Giles stared at the young woman, confused. "Yes, Willow, of course... that's why you made that potion... so that she and Spike could have a child..."

"Yeah... well," the redhead continued, "As it turns out, Spike doesn't know half as much as he thinks he does!" She sighed, leaning back against the arm of the couch. "Cordelia may be living in LA now, but she's still 'Sunnydale girl' at heart!... 'Normal' for her isn't necessarily the same thing as 'normal' in Podunk, Iowa."

The former watcher stared uncomprehendingly at the young witch for a moment before the light finally dawned. "Wait. You mean..."

"Yes," Willow broke in. "For Cordelia, living in a basement with her mate, who just happens to be a vampire, IS normal! She doesn't want any of the things he was worried about losing her over!" She chuckled quietly for a moment before meeting the older man's eyes again. "Giles, I swear you should have seen her face when she found out why we were there! You'd have thought that we'd offered to take out her appendix with a rusty nail and a dull set of tweezers! She stared at us for like a minute before busting out with 'Ewwww! God knows I love your kids, but my own? No thanks!'... I swear, Giles!" Willow was barely able to speak, she was laughing so hard at the memory alone! "So then she wanted to know where we got the idea that she wanted to have kids, and after Spike finally fessed up to his concerns, well... let's just say we had to stay to run interference!" She forced herself to stop laughing, although she could still feel the urge to giggle almost maniacally.

"So they're all right, then..." Giles asked slowly, fighting some laughter of his own... he could just see Cordelia saying that!

"Oh, yeah," Willow said happily, "They're fine! In fact, I'd be willing to bet they're shagging like rabbits right about now... or crazed weasels..." She glanced at the clock over the mantle before standing up. "Speaking of which, I have a husband upstairs who's in dire need of some attention..." She grinned to herself as she watched Giles turn a lovely shade of pink.

"Oh... yes, well... I'll just be going now... Tell Angel I said good night... No, no," he said as she began to move towards the door, "I'll see myself out... you just, ah... have a good... night..." He bolted out the front door, and was in his car and driving before he felt the heat leaving his face... Bloody little witch did it on purpose... and he blushed every time! He grinned widely as he drove on... he wouldn't change a thing!

Willow was still laughing as she entered her bedroom, the smile freezing on her face while the laugh stuck in her throat as she took in the sight of her husband, already naked and hard, laying on top of the covers with a rose in his teeth. (Gods...) she thought, as she quickly began to remove her own clothing in preparation for joining him, (He's beautiful...) She was, of course, completely unaware, as she joined him, that he was thinking the exact same thing about her.

End.

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