~Part: One~

"All right Peaches, I drove all bloody night to get me and Willow here, so what's so bloody important?" Spike growled as he and Willow came through the door of the hotel. Dawn, who had begged to tag along, trailed behind slack-jawed at the splendor of the old hotel.  Since Tara left, Spike and Willow had been living with Dawn in Buffy's old house.  It was almost a normal family, if you consider a mother figure who levitated cereal to the breakfast table and a father figure who had to sleep in the basement normal.

"Shhhh," Angel said, rising from his desk. He silently hugged Willow and Dawn. Willow couldn't help but notice how quiet the hotel was.  Gunn and Wes were watching a football game at practically no volume.  Their team scored a touchdown and when they stood up to cheer, it was like they were doing a mime show, all movement, no sound.  Had the Gentlemen been through here?

Angel motioned for them to follow him upstairs. The door across from him was painted with a big smiling crescent moon.  He stuck his head inside and motioned for them to follow again.
They stepped inside the cutest nursery Willow had ever seen.  The wall swere painted a light blue with little yellow stars and moons everywhere. A plain white crib stood near the window.  Cordy was asleep in a nearby rocking chair, a bottle falling from her hand.  Angel grinned and touched her cheek before leading them all to the crib.

"What the hell?" Spike said aloud.

"Shhh!" Angel hissed.

"What the hell?" Spike whispered.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet Wesley Charles Frederick Chase," Angel whispered, moving the squirming, dark-haired baby from the crib to his arms. "But we just call him 'Chase.' This is my son."

Willow's eyes rolled back into her head, just before she hit the floor.
 

~Part: Two~

"Willow," someone was waving something in front of her face.  "Willow, wake up."

"Cordy?" Wilow said, sitting up from her position on the nursery floor. "What happened?"

"You passed out," Cordy said, helping her up.

"I had the strangest dream that Angel had a - oh, gods." she said, looking around the nursery.  Spike and Dawn were standing over the crib, staring in disbelief at Spike's new little brother.
Angel had apparently run to get some ice for Willow's head.

"Cordelia, they were out of the 'Binky Bunny' diapers, so I just got Barney instead," Fred said as she walked through the nursery door, loaded down with shopping bags. "Oh, new people."

"Fred, meet Spike the vampire, Willow the witch and Dawn, the Slayer's sister slash almost instrument of the apocalypse."

"Angel has a baby." Willow said, noticing for the first time how tired Cordy looked. Tired, but happy. No make-up.  Plain hair. Jeans and a plain button down shirt.... with spit up on the shoulder.

"Yes, isn't he adorable?" Fred said, walking over to the crib.

"Angel has a baby," Willow repeated. "That's not possible.  How is that possible?"

"Darla, twisted ironic prophecy, it's really quite the drama," Cordy said, picking the baby up from his crib when he started to fuss. "At first, we didn't even know if Chasey was going to be human.  But now, we're all very sorry we threatened to cut his head off at birth, aren't we Chasey?"

"You threatened to cut off my little brother's head?" Spike demanded.

"We thought he was going to be the scourge of mankind," Fred said, tickling the baby's sides. Chase giggled. "But you're a big ol' ball of sunshine, aren't you sweetheart?"

"Sunshine," Spike repeated, going for the curtains as the sun came up over the hills.  "Get him away from the window!"

Cordy grinned. "Spike, he's human, he can stand sunlight and holy water and crosses.  He feeds on formula, not pig's blood. He's a perfectly healthy, happy baby boy...being raised by a vampire, a seer, a physicist, and a former vigilante."

"Sounds downright Rockwellian," Willow said, touching the baby's soft skin. How could this be real?

"So what, you wanted to add another vampire, a witch and a former key to the universe to the mix?" Spike asked as Angel came through the door, bearing an ice pack.  Gunn and Wesley followed.

Angel shrugged.  "Well, yes."
 

~Part: Three~

“Wesley,” Willow squeaked after taking a fortifying shot of bourbon. “Explain.”

Wesley sighed. “At this point, all we know is that Chase is somehow going to purge the world of corruption. He will one day determine the victory in the battle between good and evil. At first we thought he was going to be the root of all evil, what the rather unnatural state of his birth, we found another scroll referring to the son of a warrior vampire being the world’s savior.”

“So you decided not to chop his head off then, go team,” Spike grumbled. Since hearing about baby brother’s near-decapitation, he was a little reluctant to hand him over to anyone in Angel’s gang. He held Chase awkwardly, rather like a football under his arm. Chase gabbled good-naturedly, pulling at Spike’s eyebrows.

“Oww!” Spike howled, his game face inadvertently springing to the surface. Rather than bursting into tears, Chase howled with laughter, poking at the ridges of Spike’s forehead with his chubby fingers.

“Kid’s got no respect for his elders, not nearly properly terrified.” Spike sighed, shook of his demon face and handed the baby off to Cordy, who snuggled him against her side. Angel watched, remembering the night just a few weeks ago when they’d brought the baby in from the rain. Cordy had stood in the doorway waiting for them. Fred had been the first to hold his child, but there had an unquestioned bond between Cordy and Chase from the moment she took him from Angel’s arms. Later, after they had nestled the child in a dresser draw lined with blankets, the best they could until the next day when Cordy and Fred went out for baby supplies, Cordy cleared her throat, obviously thinking heavy thoughts.

“Angel, remember when were talking about maybe the whole lot of us are meant to be alone? There’s no way any of us are going to be able to maintain a normal relationship, look at Wesley. He couldn’t even keep it together with a girl who knew about the world we live in.”

For a moment, a bright seed of hope took root in Angel, was Cordy proposing something more than their friendship? Please? He played absentmindedly with the baby’s fingers as Cordy continued. “I mean, I’m probably never going to get a guy on a second date, much less marry him, so the chances of me having children is pretty much nil, besides, a slow pregnant seer is a dead seer in the demon fighting game. I’m never going to have children of my own, Angel, so what I’m asking is, will you let me be a mother to this child? Will you let me help raise him?”

When Angel nodded, tears that had been welling at the corners of Cordy’s eyes, spilled over and splashed on Chase’s cheeks. He hugged his friend, kissed her forehead and held her as they watched his son sleep.

That night they hacked into the city mainframe and faked Chase’s birth certificate, making Cordy the birth mother and Wesley the father of record. Because he was considered illegitimate, there would be no questions as to why his last name was Chase. Angel knew one of the first tricks Wolfram and Hart would pull if they knew he had a child would be to declare him an unfit parent, since he technically had no papers proving his existence. So they quickly arranged a nursery in the hotel, moved Cordy, Gunn, and Wesley in, and began faking casework proving that Angel investigations was a legitimate, profitable PI firm. So far, the law firm hadn’t approached them. But Angel and his friends knew eventually, they would.

“So why the cloak and dagger?” Willow asked. “Why didn’t you just tell us about the baby, rather than summoning us here? And where do we fit in in this little scenario?”

“I want Chase to grow up with the best possible training for whatever he’s about to meet in life. We don’t know what he’s going to face. And we need the best possible protection for him. That’s where Spike, Wes and Gunn come in, I need you here with me, to make sure he’s safe.”

“126 years old, a chip in me head and what do I end up as? A glorified nanny.” Spike grumbled, resisting his urge to tickle the tike under the chin.

“I’m being certified as a home-school teacher so when he’s old enough I’ll be able to school him right here,” Fred said, smiling shyly at Willow. “Angel seems to think that any academic areas I lack in, you would be able to make up for. I’ve never been good with arts and humanities.” She looked at the former Watcher and blushed. “But Wesley said he’ll teach him about occult history and demon anatomy.”

“I was also hoping you would be able to train him in magic,” Angel said, his eyes searching for some sort of reaction out of Willow. She looked so unsure.

“Being a former Watcher, Spike, Angel and I will teach him to fight,” Wes added. He glared at Spike. “FAIRLY.”

Gunn grinned and took the baby from Cordy, bouncing him gently against his chest and bobbed his head. “And I’m going to teach the little dude how to get down with his bad self. Right?” Chase giggled and bobbed his little head. Charles laughed. “He can’t grow up dancing like his daddy.”

“That was one dance,” Angel said, defensively. “And I was drunk.”

He turned to Willow and Spike. Dawn knew what was coming. Her throat tightened up. They were going to leave her. She would be all alone again.

“So what I’m asking is, would you two consider moving to L.A. and helping me raise my son?” Angel asked.

“Aren’t you taking the whole ‘It takes a village..’ thing a little too far?” Spike asked.

“I’ll do it,” Willow said softly.

Spike frowned. “What?”

“Spike, what do I have to go back to in Sunnydale?” she asked. “Tara’s gone. Buffy-” she stopped to look at Angel, who didn’t even wince. “Buffy’s never coming back. My classes don’t challenge me anymore. And my parents haven’t noticed that I haven’t spoken to them since my freshman year. There’s nothing left in Sunnydale for me, Spike. Xander, Anya and Giles can take care of the Hellmouth.”

Spike nodded, “Well, whither the witch goes, so goes my kindgom. I‘m in.”

Dawn, who’s face crumpled during Willow’s speech, sobbed and ran from the room. Gunn, who knew what it was like to lose parents, got up and followed.

“Oh, shite,” Spike sighed.

“What are you going to do about Dawn?” Fred asked.

“I thought we were bringing her with us,” Willow said, reviewing her ‘leaving Sunnydale points. “…. Oh, no.”

“We don’t move here without her,” Spike told his sire, who nodded in agreement.

The witch and the vampire went running after the teenager. “Dawn! Little Bit!”

They found Dawn sobbing her heart out on gun’s shoulder in the kitchen. He stroked her hair back from her face and glared at the pair as they approached. “Y’all hurt her and I’ll be forced to do something drastic.”

“Dawny, when I said kingdom, that included you,” Spike said. “We wouldn’t leave you. You’re our family.”

“Dawn, would you be ok with us moving here together?” Willow asked. “It would mean selling the house. New home. New schools.”

“Oh, no, no daughter of mine’s going to public school in L.A.,” Spike said.

“Daughter?” Dawn said, sniffing.

Spike grinned. “Well, yeah, I never made a childe but if I did, she’d be like you.”

“That’s…. really creepy,” Dawn said, laughing. “but thanks.”
 

~Part: Four~

"Dear God Angelus, what have you been feeding this kid!" Spike howled from the nursery. "Ack! That's never going to come out of silk!"

"Why does he always have to be overdramatic when it's his turn on diaper duty?" Cordy asked. From across the office, Willow shrugged and continued her research on Wolfram and Hart's Far Eastern holdings.  They seemed to have acquired quite a few illegal antiquities over the past two years.

"Coming through, out of my way." Spike said, hustling through the office with a bandana tied around his face, rubber gloves held a large trashbag at arms length. "Biohazard on board."

"Don't forget the powder!" Fred called as Spike went bounding back to the nursery. She returned her attention to Dawn's physics lesson, a minitaure catapault designed to fling sharpened spikes at an intruder at midsection-level.  Dawn was supopsed to work how tight the spring would have to be coiled for maximum efficiency. Fred was a firm believer in hands on learning.

"27.6 psi?" Dawn asked, scribbling out a few notes.

"Let's see, shall we?" Fred said, winding the spring.

Dawny grinned. "This is already so much better than science classes at Sunnydale Jr, High."

"Fire away!" Fred cried as Dawn flicked the lever.  A barrage of shrapnel went flying towards the office door just as Gunn came sliding through.

"Gunn!" Dawn screamed.  Gunn froze as the spikes went flying over his head and embedded themselves in the doorframe.

"Aw, shoot." Dawn said, disappointed. "I got it wrong."

"Seems to work pretty good to me," Gunn squeaked. "I'm going to go change my drawers. when I come back, I'm going to yell real loud before I come through any doors, ok?"

The women nodded and went back to Dawn's homework.Willow laughed and shook her head.  It was amazing how quickly everyone was adjusting to life together.  The Sunnydale faction of their little group had only arrived last week, but already, they were working together like a real family. It hadn't been as hard as Willow thought it would be to say goodbaye to Buffy's old house. It had sold at pretty decent price to Xander, who was looking for a place to raise the baby Anya was expecting in about six months. Willow drove out of her hometown with her surrogate daughter at her side, her favorite vamp under a blanket and hope in her heart that her little family was headed for better times.

 And times were getting better every day.  Every morning, Fred woke Dawn up and gave three hours of lessons in science, math and Latin. While Angel and Spike slept, Cordy took care of Chase while Gunn and Wes handled any dayside investigative work that could be done. Then there was lunch among the humans, usually interupted by a baby mess being made or Spike getting up to declare that he "couldn't bloody sleep with all that racket going on." Willow knew it was just an excuse to get up and be among his friends. He couldn't stand being away from Dawny or the baby any more than she could. Willow rounded out Dawn's school day with English, literature, history and a few magic lessons slid in for safe measure. Angel usually woke up late afternoon.  He played with baby, gave Dawn foreign language lessons, ate dinner with the rest of the family and then they all set about working on whatever case the company was handling. Dawn was strictly forbidden from nightside work, which usually left her at home, taking care of Chase under the watchful eye of Spike or Gunn, who was always willing to spend a little extra time with his favorite Sunnydale teen.

Taking care of Chase was becoming easier on Cordy with three extra sets of hands to help.  She had no idea how single mothers did it.  Then again, most single mothers didn't have the blinding pain of prophetic visions or nightly battles with evil to contend with.

"Morning," Angel called as he emerged from his room, yawning.

"Morning, sunshine," Cordy grinned. "Late night with His Nibs?"

"He wouldn't go to sleep," Angel moaned, kissing Cordy's forehead.  Willow watched the affectionate exchange with a lowered jaw.  Even Cordy seemed a bit surprised. Angel continued as if it was the most normal thing in the world to kiss Cordy. "Not even Mr. Bonky would do the trick. I had to do three rounds of 'I'm a little teapot' just to settle him down."

"I would have paid good money to see that," Dawn offered.

"Thank you, Dawny," Angel said, flopping his weary bones into his desk chair. "Now would you be a wonderful honorary niece warm up a cup of O pos for me? No one makes it like you do."

Dawn stood, raising her chin. "Well, only cause you asked so nicely and I know this is your way of tactfully getting me out of the room."

Angel grinned. "I like her so much."

Willow, Fred and Cordy giggled.

"So are we on for tonight?" Angel asked. "Did we find the nest?"

Willow nodded. "East block of Alameda Street. Whipped a little something special for tonight."

"What is it?" Angel said, poking the velvet wrapped orb on his desk.  He began tossing it back and forth between his hands.

"Careful!" Cordy said. "It's a ball of artificial sunlight."

"Ack!" Angel said, throwing it at Fred and diving under his desk. "Tell me when you're going to do things like that Willow!  I don't leave chunks of pluntonium laying around on your desk!"

"Don't yell at the little woman cause you were all careless with the little ball of death," Spike said as he and Wes came into the room.

"Spike almost lost an eye," Willow said, remembering the "what's in the bag" accident earlier in the morning.

Angel pulled out a schematic of the building they were taking that night. "Spike, Wes, you're inside with me. Cordy I need you on the front entrance. Willow, Fred you're at the back. Catch any stragglers."

"I guess that leaves me on Dawn-watch," Gunn said, coming down the stairs. "I coming through the door, Fred, don't fling anything dangerous at me, ok?"

Fred sighed, feigning annoyance. "I can only apologize so many times Charles. I'm sorry my catapult nearly hit you with shrapnel. I'm sorry I dropped a battle axe on your foot. I'm sorry my modifications to the toaster nearly took of your finger."

Wes grinned as he distributed weapons among the group. "It's just that it always seems to be directed at Gunn, sweetheart, maybe if you almost killed some of the rest of us, it wouldn't seem so suspicious."

"You may want to reconsider handing me that sword," Fred faked a glare at her boyfriend. He kissed her.

"There was that time I sat on your "modified curling iron" and nearly lost some vital parts," Spike said helpfully as they headed out the door. Willow giggled as Spike, absent-mindedly rubbed his leather clas bum. She'd spent two days rubbing ointment into a very interesting burn. Apparently vampires didn't heal particularly well in the buttocks area.

"See!" Fred said. "I'm after all of you, it's not just Gunn."

Dawn brought Angel his blood in a to-go cup.

"He just had a bottle at 6, so he should be ok for a couple of hours." Cordy said, shrugging into her jacket. "I laid his blue bunny pajamas out if he gets wet and there are extra diapers on the top shelf in the closet. What am I forgetting?"

"Cordy," Gunn said. "We can handle it, we promise."

"If he gets fussy, just wave Mr. Bonky in front of his face and that will usually quiet him right down." Cordy said as Angel pulled her toward the door.

"You're such a mom," Angel said, grinning at her.

"I know," Cordy said, grinning back.

Gunn rubbed his hands together."Well, you and me got the whole place to ourselves, kid, what you want to do?"

"Ice cream," Dawn said, pulling his hand. "I know where Cordy hides the good stuff."

"Now hold on just a minute there, young lady, did you have a properly balanced meal for dinner?"

"What if I put strawberry sprinkles on top?" Dawn asked as she pulled the Ben and Jerry's out of the fridge. "That counts as a fruit."

"Works for me," Gunn shrugged. He laughed as she scooped to huge bowls of  ice cream for them. She grinned back.  He loved her smile. After only a week in the same house, he knew that was what he loved best about Dawn. It was an odd thing to realize you had feelings for someone who was about five years younger than you, but he couldn't deny the strange tug Dawn sent through him every time she walked into the room.

When the ice cream bowls were empty, they were on the couch watching some silly movie on Lifetime about a girl who was forced into a cult by her boyfriend. Her mom was just about to swoop in and save her when Dawn yawned widely.  Fred's lessons had begun particularly early that morning and it was beginning to catch up with her.  Her weight fell sideways as she nodded off, pulling her to Gunn's side. His eyebrows raised. He tenatively wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close.  He craned his neck down, sniffing her hair.  She smelled like peaches, warmed in sunshine. He grinned, pressing his lips against her forehead.  Dawn snuggled closer, wrapping her fingers around his shirt collar, pulling his face closer to hers. Gun moved in closer, staring at the perfect "o" her mouth had formed in sleep.

"We're back!" Willow yelled as they came through the door. She'd seen the looks Gunn had been giving Dawn lately and she didn't want to come through the door to any unpleasant or potentially psychologically damaging sights.

 Gunn raised up a little, making it seem Dawn had simply nodded off on his chest.  He held a finger to his lips.  The others tiptoed past, with the exception of Spike, who didn't seem to be handling the situation well.

"You," he said. "I want to talk with you. Now."

"Can you guys get her in bed?" Willow asked Cordya and Fred, following Spike, Gunn and Angel into the office. Spike closed the door. He gripped the back of Angel's chair, fighting the urge to beat Gunn into unconciousness.

"What... were... you... doing... with.. your... hands... on.. my... little... girl?"

Gunn held up his hands defensively. "Look man, nothing happened, I like Dawn.  She's a nice girl.  A girl I would never take advantage of."

He looked to Angel for help, but Angel shrugged. He was there to keep Spike under control, not to settle the situation.  It was high time Spike knew how it felt to worry about someone he cared about being hurt in love.

"You have no right to think of her in that way, you're too old," Spike spat.

"Says the 126-year-old in love with a 20-year-old," Gunn said, pointing at Willow. If Spike could have blushed, he would have. Willow gasped.  "Let's face it, you and Angel are both living in glass houses in this case, so don't be tossing around stones."

"Angel, he's using logic on me, make him stop." Spike whined.

"Spike, Dawn's a big girl and if Gunn wants to date her, he can," Willow said. "And Gunn would never hurt her..."

"That's right," Gunn said.

"Because if he does, men all over the world will weep when they see what I've done to him," Willow added.

 Gunn gulped. Willow slapped his shoulder. " A vague disclaimer is no one's friend."

Gunn and Angel left the office, Spike was heading for the door, but it slammed shut with a wave of Willow's hand.

"So, you're in love with me?"
 

~Part: Five~

"So you love me?" Willow said again.

"Well, pet, love is such a strong word." he said, backing away from the reddening witch.  "All right all right, yes, I love you.  With all of my undead heart and demonic soul, I love you. I lie awake at night wondering if you're asleep, if your dreams are pleasant. When I do sleep I dream of you in my arms, and when I wake I reach for you. I love you. Are you happy now?"

Tears formed at the corners of Willow's eyes.  "Oh, spike..... you JACKASS!"

She shoved Spike back, knocking him over a coffee table.

"You never when I envisioned this moment, it went a little differently." Spike said, wincing as Willow threw a vase at him. "Bloody hell, Red, cut it out!"

"You love me?" she yelled. Angel, Cordy, Fred and Wesley came running downstairs at the noise, when they heard Willow yelling, they turned right back around and marched up the stairs. Those two had been building to this for years.  "You let me sleep alone in that huge bed for the past three months and did nothing!  I ached for you, Spike, do you know that?  Do you know how confusing it is to suddenly be gay and then suddenly realize you like boys again?  As if my lovelife wasn't weird enough?"

"So you love me, too." he said, standing and looking more than a little angry.

"Damn straight," she hissed, knocking him back on the couch and kneeling over him.. "I love you."

He shifted under her weight and defiantly pushed against her, his face mere inches from hers. "Good, cause I love you, too." His hands shoved the skirt she was wearing to her hips, exposing creamy thighs and gold silk panities. Her hand disapeared from sight, traveling the length of Spike's zipper effortlessly, freeing him. "So what are we going to do about it?"

She grinned as she lowered her hips just over his tip.  "Well, if you don't know, maybe we should bother."

He growled and pulled her down, impaling her on him.  She cried out, remembering the feelig of being filled, stretching and moving to fit a man.  That was something she'd missed with Tara, the feeling of a man inside of her.

Spike's needless breathing was labored as he stared into her, searching for reaction, she smiled wildly and began moving over him, killing him with slow, deliberate strokes.  She pused his coat back from his shoulders, riding him just a little faster, crying out as his tongue began to mimic to sure, swift strokes into her body.  She ground down, seeking just the right pressure, he yelled against her throat, on the edge.

She smiled again, tightening around him until he screamed her name. At last, the sweet release came and she collapsed, shuddering over him. Spike yelled again, grinning like mad.

Upstairs, Angel had a pillow pressed over his ears. "I just had that couch steam-cleaned," he told Cordy.

"Angel, two of the people we love most in the world have found happiness," she said quietly, trying to keep from bursting into a giggling fit.

"But do they have to find it on my upholstery?"

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