“Cordelia?”

The tall brunette glanced up from her magazine. “Yeah?”

“Do we have any more tape?” Angel asked.

“Don’t tell me you went through two rolls of tape already?” Cordy asked as she pushed away from her desk.

Angel stared at the toe of his boot sheepishly. “Okay, I won’t tell you. But do we have any more?” Angel asked.

Pulling open a drawer Cordy could only shake her head. She found a fresh roll of transparent tape. “Exactly how many presents did you buy them?” she asked as she handed over the tape.

“A few...dozen,” he mumbled.

Cordy leaned around the dark vampire. As his desk came into view her eyes widened at the pile of gifts stacked high. Each one was brightly wrapped. “Good grief, Charlie Brown.”

“Well, some of those are yours,” Angel explained.

“I’d hope so. Why don’t I go find a tree so we don’t end up with the Griswald Family Christmas tree?” Cordy said with a smile over the vampire’s enthusiasm.

“Who are the Griswalds?”

****

“Are we almost finished?”

Spike stopped short in the middle of the mall, earning him less than a “Merry Christmas” from the frantic holiday shoppers. Willow trudged up to the blonde vampire and glared at him. “What’s wrong, Red?” he asked.

The tired red head weaved her way through the mass of cranky people and found a vacant spot along the wall. With a sigh she set her bags down and sighed. “Were you visited by three spirits last night?” she asked.

Spike dropped his packages beside hers. “Huh?”

“I always figured you were the Scrooge sort of guy, not Mr. Christmas,” Willow explained. “Don’t you get sick of Deck The Hall for the fifteenth billion time?”

“Yeah, the music gets a little old after a while, but I’ve always loved Christmas. Ever since I was in knee-britches,” Spike mused.

“You wore knee-britches?” she asked, her mouth ajar.

He tapped her chin shut. “It was the 1860s, Pet. Victoria was Queen and boys wore knee-britches.” A vocal yawn escaped Willow’s pink lips. “Come on, we’re done here,” he said as he picked up the bags.

“Oh, goodie. Next year you and Cordelia can go shopping together. I’m sure she can keep up with a six hour shopping marathon,” Willow said as she followed closely behind Spike.

****

Willow set the mug beside Spike. With a grin, she watched him carefully cut the wrapping paper. “Drink it before it coagulates,” she prompted.

The blonde vampire glanced down at the drink. “It’s pink,” he said.

Willow sat down in front of her pile of presents to wrap. “Yeah, I added some eggnog.”

Tentatively, he took a sip. “Not bad.”

“So what’s your favorite Christmas memory?” she asked as she pulled a roll of paper closer to begin her wrapping chore.

He finished his drink before answering. “I remember one year Dru wanted to go to the North Pole to visit Santa,” he chuckled. “I had to convince her that turning the fat man into a vampire would be a bad idea.”

“How did you do that?” Willow asked quietly.

“I told her that if Santa spent all his time snacking on the little kiddies, he wouldn’t have time to deliver prezzies.” He glanced up at the quiet red head. “You okay?”

Willow looked up at him. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired I guess.”

“Why don’t we go to bed? We can finish this tomorrow,” he suggested.

She finished wrapping the gift and filling out the card. “No. We have a lot of stuff to do tomorrow. I have to finish packing and then we need to go to Buffy’s to give everyone their gifts and then we have to drive to LA.”

Spike reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I love you. You know that, right?” he asked.

“I love you, too.” She set the wrapped gift aside and grabbed another one. “One down and five hundred to go,” she sighed.

*****

“Nice thing about winter is it gets dark at six in the evening,” Spike said from behind the armload of presents as he and Willow waited for the Slayer to open the door.

“Willow!” a young voice exclaimed.

“Merry Christmas, Dawn,” Willow greeted. She gave the teenager a hug.

“I take it that’s Spike behind that wall of presents,” Dawn said.

“Yeah, and if someone doesn’t let me in, I’m taking all this junk back to the store,” he grumbled. While he loved Christmas, his arms were starting to ache from the weight.

“Good grief, Willow! Did you buy enough presents?” Buffy asked as she came to the door. “Come on inside.” She grabbed the boxes of the top of the pile so Spike could see where he was going. “Spike.”

“Slayer,” he greeted. Now that he could see, he found his way to the lavishly decorated tree in the living room and set his burden down.

Dawn immediately started going through the pile and separating the packages by recipient. When she found her name on the tag she added it to the pile filling the left side of the tree. Joyce had designated the left side hers and the right side belonged to Buffy.

Buffy gave her friend a hug. “Well, for someone who doesn’t celebrate Christmas, you certainly know how to shop for it,” she joked.

“Being Jewish means I have to by eight presents for everyone. I’m used to buying in bulk.”

“You only get eight presents?” Dawn asked.

“From everyone,” Willow clarified.

“I’m not sure if that’s a good deal or not?”

“Don’t get greedy,” Buffy warned. “Xander called a minute ago. He and Anya are on their way over. Giles is in the kitchen.” The blonde looked at Willow. “I can’t believe you’re leaving,” she whispered.

Willow had to blink back her tears. “Don’t start. It’s not like I’m moving to Mars or something. It’s only LA. I’ll come and visit.”

“I know, but it just won’t be the same.”

****

Willow stood on the Summer’s porch looking out at the stars. With a sigh she wrapped her arms around her waist.

“You okay, Pet?” Spike asked from the darkness. He tossed his cigarette butt into the bushes. He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m just going to miss everyone,” she whispered.

“Would you rather stay here?” he asked against her hair.

Slowly, she shook her head. “I’ll be sad for a while,” she said as she turned in his embrace. “But being away from Angel makes my heart ache. And you, too. I need the three of us to be together.”

He brushed his lips against hers. “And so we shall,” he said.

“Shall? Since when do you say ‘shall’?” she giggled.

“You are bound and determined to take all my romantic gestures and make fun of them, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Only when they’re funny,” she giggled.

****

Spike pulled into the parking slot and turned off the engine. His fingers played with the strands of red hair that rested against Willow’s pale cheek. With a sigh he gently shook her shoulder. “Red? Time to wake up,” he said gently.

She released a sleepy groan as she stretched. “Are we there?” she asked.

“Yep,” he answered as he waited for her to sit up. She’d fallen asleep almost as soon as he’d pulled out of the Slayer’s drive way and slept the entire trip. Once she was awake, Spike stepped out of the car and gathered some of the packages they’d packed in the back seat.

Willow got out of the car and stretched her tired muscles. “What time is it?” she yawned.

“Bout four,” a voice answered from the shadows.

Willow and Spike turned towards the familiar voice. “Angel,” Willow whispered. The ache in her heart lightened as he stepped into the dim lights of the parking garage. The dark vampire stepped forward and lifted the red head into his welcoming embrace. “I’ve missed you so much.”

Angel covered her mouth in a passionate kiss. Their month long separation had slowly been driving him crazy. “I missed you, too, Kitten,” he whispered as he tried to memorize her every feature.

“Hey, what about me?” Spike asked.

Angel pulled the blonde into his embrace as well. “Yeah, you, too.” The two vampires kissed in greeting.

Willow snuggled into their broad chests. *Home at last,* she sighed silently.

“Let’s get your things inside,” Angel said as he reluctantly released his lovers. Together the three of them carried presents and packing boxes into the building.

****

Willow and Spike looked around the hotel lobby. “This place is amazing, Angel,” Willow said in awe.

Spike set their presents under the lavishly decorated Christmas tree. “I’m surprised at the tree, mate. You usually don’t get into the whole decorating thing,” he said.

“Well, you’ll have to thank Cordelia for that. She put it together yesterday,” Angel said as he set boxes and suitcases in the elevator. “You two must be exhausted.”

Willow yawned for the fifth time. “Just a little. I feel like I haven’t slept in a hundred years.”

“Come on, Kitten. I’ll show you our room.” The three of them rode the elevator to the third floor and Angel held them both close to him. “I can hardly believe you’re finally here.”

“Yep, you’re stuck with us now,” Spike said.

“Exactly how I want it.” The door slid open and they each grabbed a suitcase or box to carry down the hall. Angel pushed open the door and led them to the bedroom.

Her green eyes widened at the sight of the bedroom. A large wrought iron bed occupied the center of the room. Angel had found an antique vanity table to place against the wall. Willow brushed her fingers against the in-laid surface. “It’s beautiful, Angel.”

“It’s supposed to have belonged to Mary Pickford,” he said.

“Thank you.” The red head yawned again.

“I think you need to go to bed before you fall down, pet,” Spike said as he nudged her towards the California King size bed. He pulled back the covers and gently pushed her back. Willow flopped back against the warm flannel sheets. As Spike and Angel pulled her sneaker from her feet, Willow removed her bra without removing her sweater. Her eyes fluttered shut as the covers were tucked around her.

“It’s good to have you here,” Angel said as he watched the red head sleep.

“It’s good to be here,” Spike answered. “Did you find one?” he asked.

“Yes. You want to see it?”

“Of course.”

“It’s in my office,” Angel said as he motioned him out of the room.

****

Willow found herself floating in that blissful place between sleep and awake. Something brushed her nose. With a desire to slip back into sleep, she batted the annoyance away. A rough wet kiss swiped across her finger. Her hand twitched at the touch. Tiny pin pricks of pain in her hand forced her eyes open. “What?!” she exclaimed. Her vision cleared and settled on the tiny ball of fur pouncing on her hand.

Two chuckles came from the end of the bed. Willow sat up and looked between the fur ball and her lovers. A soft mewling protest came from the creature as its plaything pulled away. “A kitten?” Willow whispered. “You got me a kitten?” She picked the tiny kitten up and rubbed the soft fur against her cheek.

“Merry Christmas, Kitten,” Angel said as he watched the red head examine the gift.

“Merry Christmas, Red.”

Willow crawled to the end of the bed with the cat cradled in one hand. “Thank you both. I love her,” she said as she hugged the both. “Oh, is it a her?” A quick check revealed it was in fact a girl. “Does she have a name?”

“Not yet,” Angel answered.

“I’ll have to think of a good name for her.” She kissed the small pink nose. “You are the best kitten in the world, aren’t you?” she asked the fuzzy creature. The kitten answered with a paw swipe to her nose. Willow giggled. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome, Red,” Spike replied. He smiled as the red head enjoyed her present. “Do you want to open the rest of your presents?”

“There’s more?”

Angel kissed her forehead. “Is there more? Cordy thinks I went nuts this year. Come on. She’s not so patiently waiting down stairs to open presents.”

Willow jumped out of bed and carried her kitten with her. “What are we waiting for?” she asked.

The trio hurried down to the lobby. Cordelia sat on the floor by the tree separating the packages into piles. “Willow! Merry Christmas,” the brunette exclaimed as she got to her feet and hugged the red head.

“Merry Christmas, Cordy,” the red head answered. “Doyle! It’s good to see you again,” she said as she hugged the Irishman.

“You, too,” he said.

“Let’s open presents!” Cordy exclaimed. Quickly, she took charge and had everyone sit by their collection of presents.

Spike and Willow had gotten Angel almost as many presents as he’d bought for them. It took almost two hours to unwrap and admire the gifts that had been exchanged. Willow’s kitten pounced among the crumpled paper and ribbons. Everyone laughed as a piece of paper stuck to its tail and it tried to catch the offending object. Willow caught the kitten and removed the paper.

Angel began gathering the discarded wrapping paper and stuffing it in an empty box. “Thank you very much for the chess set, Doyle. It’s beautiful,” he said as he cleaned up the room.

“You’re welcome. Thanks for the scotch,” Doyle said. He looked lovingly at the ornate bottle.

Cordelia stood before a mirror and set the silver combs in her hair. “Where did you find these, Spike? They are absolutely gorgeous,” she said.

“Actually, I don’t remember.”

“I’m not surprised,” Willow said as she admired her gifts. “Taking Spike Christmas shopping is like shopping with you, Cordy. We couldn’t leave the mall until we’d seen every single store. Let me tell you, my feet were killing me.”

“I take it the Grinch boxers were a joke gift then,” the blonde vampire said.

“You are definitely the king of Who-ville,” Willow answered.

“Let’s watch Angel’s videos,” Cordy said.

Together they finished cleaning the lobby and retired to the living room upstairs. Angel, Spike and Willow snuggled on the couch while Cordelia and Doyle shared the loveseat. They watched “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas”.

“This has been the best Christmas ever,” Spike whispered.

“Really?” Willow asked as she looked up at him.

“Yes, really. I got everything I ever wanted this year,” he answered.

“I’m glad cuz you are rather hard to buy for,” Angel said.

“I’m not talking about the presents.”

“I know,” Angel replied. He brushed the back of his fingers against Spike’s high cheek bone.

“Did you get everything you wanted?” Willow asked the dark vampire.

Angel looked into the bright green eyes that stared at him with love. “You two are here with me. What more could I want?” he asked.

Willow smiled as she snuggled into their strong embrace. “Merry Christmas.”

Angel and Spike brushed a kiss against her hair and returned their attention to the television. All was right with the world.

THE END

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