~*~

Abigail Robinson sat back in her chair, watching her class. The group of
five year olds seemed well adjusted, and socially aware. There were a few
that still cried on and off through the day, missing their mother and
father, but Miss Robinson made her kindergarten class fun.

A few children had already turned in their project: "Draw your family," and
were off playing with each other by the Legos set up in the corner. A small
smile graced Abigail's face when little Angel Willimina O'Connor-Bradley
stood up and walked towards her desk. Mina, as she went by, was a wonderful
artist; using all sorts of techniques Abigail was surprised a five year old
knew. Mina patiently explained that her dad drew all the time, and taught
her over her short lifespan how to shade, how to use color, how to capture
her subject's soul in the portrait.

"Here, Miss Robinson," Mina smiled, handing her the paper. She smiled;
rocking between her heel and her toes, waiting for the inevitable praise the
teacher would give her. The child knew that she could draw.

Abigail looked down at the picture, her eyes widening. "Uh, Mina? What is
the meaning of this?" she asked, almost horrified at the drawing.

Mina frowned. "What?" She walked around, standing on her tippy toes to
look at the picture. "That's my family."

In the middle, the most prominent of all of the pictures, was a woman. Mina
colored on her portrait, but only one of the person's characteristics. The
woman had long red hair. Next to her was a man a little taller than her.
He had yellow-white hair. To Abigail's shock, his eyes were yellow and he
had what appeared to be fangs. The man on the other side of her mother
*also* had yellow eyes and fangs, with dark brown hair. He was much taller
than both of them.

Off in the background to one side were two men, one man having dark brown
eyes and what looked to be a goofy smile. The other man was stocky, and had
on a green outfit, almost looking like fatigues. The three people on the
other side were two men and a woman, one man with a bright blue bandanna
wrapped around his head, and the other man with glasses and a stack of
colorful books in his arms. The woman had long flowing brown hair, and was
holding the man with the bandanna's hand.

She had named the people in her portrait. The two men were "Unca Zander"
and "Unca Gram". The three people on the other side of the paper were "Unca
Wesley", "Unca Gun" and "Aunt Cordelellia".

The three in the middle were "Momma", "Daddy-Sire", and "Daddy-Spikey." She
looked up at Mina, who was obviously proud of herself. "Why do they have
fangs, Mina?"

"Oh, that's because they have them, when they get mad. They think their grr
faces scare me, but they don't, cause they are still my daddies," Mina
explained, like it was the most natural thing in the world for her fathers
to have fangs.

"So, why do you call the taller one Daddy-Sire?"

"That's what Daddy calls him sometimes," she explained, her finger settling
on the picture of Spike. "Sire." She shrugged. "I just call him that too,
cause sometimes it gets confusing when I want to talk to one of them and I
say 'daddy' and they both answer. And Spikey is daddy's name." She nodded,
her finger brushing over the drawn face of Spike. "I love both of my
daddies, and my momma, and my uncles and my aunt. I have a puppy too. His
name is Jesse. Momma and Unca Xander named him. I love my puppy, but I
didn't draw him, cause he's a doggy, not a person."

"Um, good picture," Miss Robinson nodded. "Why don't you go play with
Johnny."

Mina nodded, turning around and scampering off to play with her friends.

*~*~*~*

"Angel Investigations, this is Cordelia, may I help you?"

Abigail looked down at her sheet of paper, seeing 'Cordelia Chase' as one of
the *many* people to call incase there was a problem with Mina. "Miss
Chase?"

"Yes. . ." Cordelia said cautiously.

"This is Miss Abigail Robinson, of Mainstar Elementary School -"

"Mina! Is Mina ok? Do we need to come get her?" Cordelia asked, her voice
taking on a frantic tone. In the five years that the girl had grown up
around them, the crew of Angel Investigations had fallen in love with the
little girl and would do anything in the world to protect her.

"She's fine, she's fine. I need to speak to Ms. Rosenberg. . .would she
happen to be there?"

"Hang on. Just a moment." Cordelia put her on hold, turning to Xander.
"Where's Wills?"

"She went out with Wesley and Graham to find out some information on the new
case." He frowned at his former girlfriend. "Is everything ok?"

Cordelia cast worried eyes towards Angel's office. She knew the older
vampire was awake and flittering around his office, probably reading. Spike
was downstairs asleep, having went out the night before with Gunn to battle
a particularly brutal demon. "Yea, I think so. . ." She pushed the
intercom button. "Angel?"

"Delia?"

"Um, Mina's teacher is on the phone, wanting to talk to Willow. . .can you
talk to her?"

"Yea, transfer her call."

"Thanks."

Angel took an unneeded breath, closing his eyes. He never worried about any
of his childer like he worried about his daughter, and the fact that her
teacher was calling in the middle of the day. . .well, he was worried.
"This is Angelus O'Connor," he said smoothly, "but you can call me Angel. .
.can I help you?"

Abigail froze. < Oh, it's one of the fang guys! > She swallowed heavily.
"Mr. O'Connor, we have. . .well, not really have, but we might have a
situation."

"A situation?" Angel asked, leaning forward.

"I asked the children to draw pictures this morning. Pictures of their
families and she did. . ."

Angel frowned. "Miss Robinson, you can't seriously have a problem with her
having two fathers who love her dearly and would die for her, can you? What
with the world the way it is today, some children having two mothers, or two
fathers. . .I assure you, Mina is very well taken care of." It angered him
when people automatically assumed things about their life, just because
Willow was in love with two men.

"No, Mr. O'Connor. . .Angel. . .that's not what's bothering me. You and
'Daddy-Spikey' both have fangs and yellow eyes. She says it's your grr
face." There was a slight moment of silence, then Miss Robinson winced when
she heard the phone hit the desk. She could hear frantic moving around as
the man grabbed the phone and opened the door. "Cordelia!" he bellowed.
"Get Willow on the phone now!"

"Oh my god! Is Mina ok?"

Abigail listened curiously, wondering if they would say anything
interesting.

"Mina is fine. She's drawing her daddies with grr faces, Cordelia," Angel
replied.

"Oh my god! She's drawing you with the icky fangs? How eww can you get?"

"Just get Willow on the phone *now*!" The phone rustled a bit, then Abigail
could tell that he had it to his mouth again. "Miss Robinson, I'm getting
my mate. . .her mother. I'm getting her mother. Can we call you back?"

The teacher blinked, bewildered by Cordelia's non-shock of the fangs, and
the term 'mate'. "Yea, that'll be fine. Please do."

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention." Angel hung up. He walked
out of the office and sat down next to Xander, his fingers steepled and
under his chin. "What if they try to take her away from us?"

Xander patted Angel on the back. "Don't worry, Deadboy. You and Spike are
the biggest, baddest vampires in the whole world. Some government agency
can't take your daughter away from us."

Angel looked at Xander, resting his cheek on his hands. "Thanks," he said
softly. He briefly thought of going to wake Spike up, but decided to wait.
The blonde was spontaneous and would probably rush down to the school and
yank his daughter out, saying they weren't good enough to 'bloody educate my
Princess'. He chuckled softly, imagining an irate Spike storming through an
elementary school, all for the love of a pint sized five year old with long
strawberry blonde hair and sparkling green eyes.

*~*~*~*

The sound of hard heels echoed through the empty halls of the school.
Children were safely tucked away behind closed doors, teachers trying to
instill some sort of education in their heads. Willow looked around warily.
"Let me tell you how much I *don't* miss school."

Spike glanced at Willow. "I thought you were the smart one, pet."

"I am," she replied. "But Xander and Jesse were my only friends until. . ."

"You learned about us," Angel said softly. He knew she meant Buffy, but
didn't want to say the name. After five years, the Slayer *still* hated
Willow for everything that had happened the summer between their Freshman
and Sophomore years in college.

Willow slipped her arm through Angel's. "Well, if I hadn't of learned about
you, I wouldn't have the two best looking vampires under my thumb."

Spike's laughter bounced off the quiet walls. "Peaches, don't you *love*
the way Red thinks we belong to her? She should know that Strawberries owns
us."

Willow snickered. Because of her strawberry blonde hair, Spike had taken to
calling Mina 'Strawberries'. The five year old loved it, feeling special
because of his similar nickname of 'Peaches' to her other daddy. "You two,"
she grinned. "Come on, here's the principal's office."

The three entered the office. Willow smirked, seeing her child sitting
there with a lollipop. "Now, now, Mina, did you get permission from your
fathers to have that candy?" she asked sternly.

Mina looked up, her eyes lighting up. "Daddies!" she squealed. She jumped
out of her chair and ran to Spike. He dropped to his knees and held his
arms out. She threw her small body against his, wrapping her arms around
his neck. She showered his face with kisses, causing him to chuckle softly.

"Kitten," Angel said softly, putting his hand on her shoulder.

She turned her face up, smiling at Angel. "Daddy," she grinned, stretching
up to him. He reached down, pulling her out of Spike's embrace and hugged
her tightly.

"And does your mother get any hugs?" Willow asked teasingly.

Mina reached out for Willow, wrapping her arms around her neck. It was
amazing how much the two women looked alike, both had the same shade of
sparkling green eyes and pale pretty skin. The major difference was that
Willow had a dark, almost blood red shade of hair; while Mina's was
strawberry blonde.

"Ms. Rosenberg," Abigail said warmly, stepping forward. She smiled at the
redhead. She had met Willow previously and had a good idea that the child
was very close to her mother.

"Miss Robinson," Willow grinned. "I'd like to introduce you to my mates,
Angelus and Spike."

The vampires took protective stances on either side of Willow, both slipping
an arm around her waist. They nodded to their child's teacher.

Abigail sighed. "Ms. Rosenberg, Mr. O'Connor, Mr. Bradley, I want to
introduce you to Michael Livingston. He is the school's Social Services
Director."

"Social Services Director?" Angel asked softly.

Mr. Livingston stepped forward. "It is merely a formality, Mr. O'Connor.
You aren't about to lose Mina or anything. We just have to do an
investigation when we get pictures that make us question the family."

"Can I see the bloody picture?" Spike asked impatiently. "Bloody nonsense,
this is, I tell you. When *I* was a child, no bloody suit came in to take
me away from *my* father, and he was a bloody idiot. And Peaches here,"
Spike thumbed towards Angel. "We don't even want to *discuss* what his
father did."

Angel hurriedly continued, "But we learned from what our fathers never
taught us. We've been great fathers to Mina. We shouldn't even be having
this meeting."

"On the contrary," Mr. Livingston said, holding up the picture for the
family to see. "Your daughter's drawing of your. . .mates. . .deems we have
this meeting."

Mina reached out, running her finger over Angel's drawing. "Look, daddy, it
's you." She smiled. "And Daddy-Spikey. . ." She giggled, her hand
straying to the drawing of Spike. "And you are all 'grr'. Momma loves you
when you are all 'grr'. . ."

Angel blinked, suddenly feeling lightheaded. It was very clear that the two
vampires in the picture were drawn as vampires. < We are going to lose her,
> he thought. "Oh, god, I think I need to sit down," he said softly.

"Hey, kiddo!" Spike said happily. "Great picture of me and Peaches!
Daddy-Sire. That makes me laugh every time."

Mina jumped out of her mother's arms and crawled into Angel's lap. "Daddy,
what's going on?"

Mina's soft voice in Angel's ear made him turn slightly. "What, baby?"

Mina giggled. "Daddy, you can hear better than any of us can. Why are you
pretending you can't hear me?"

"Mommy and your daddies have to have a talk with this nice man and your
teacher, because they want to make sure that you are happy at home, baby,"
Angel explained.

Spike grumbled, sitting down. "Can't you just ask the bloody kid if she's
happy?"

Willow looked over at Spike. "No," she explained gently, "the State must
evaluate the situation on a case to case basis, and because of Mina's young
age, they have to interview us, because they are scared that we might have
told her to say certain things to certain people."

Spike allowed that thought to rattle around in his brain. He jumped up with
a roar. "You bloody think we tell our child to *lie*?"

"William," Angel said dangerously.

"Sire!" he cried, turning to Angel, his blue eyes showing the hurt and pain
at the thought of hurting his daughter. "Do they think we hurt her?"

Mr. Livingston sat back. "Why do you call him 'Sire'? She calls Angelus
Daddy-Sire, and says because you do."

Angel and Spike looked at each other, then looked at Willow. Their thoughts
were similar. < Make up a story, risk losing our baby girl; or tell them
the truth, and let them take her away right here? And even worse than that,
if we lie, then what if they come back on us later? Then they can take her
then. >

~*~*~*~

Willow stepped forward. "There are things that. . ." She paused, glancing
at her family. She looked back at those who would take her daughter away
from her. "There are things in the world that you don't know about, that
you don't understand." She waved her hand to her mates. "They are some of
those things."

Mina reached out, pushing Spike's shoulder playfully. "Daddy-Spikey, go
grr! Show them your neat trick."

Spike closed his eyes, trying not to let his demon bleed through. "Not now,
Princess. It's not the right bloody time to go 'grr'."

"So you. . .can?" Abigail asked softly. She shivered, wondering exactly
what the two men were.

Angel glanced around, then sighed unnecessarily. "You can't take her away
from us. We've worked too hard to be a family, gone through too much for
you to do that. Does it matter what or who we are? As long as we give her
a safe home and protect her from the forces that would hurt her, isn't that
what matters?"

Mr. Livingston crossed his arms. "I think you should do it, do the 'grr'."

Mina grinned, looking up at Angel. She ran her fingers over his smooth
forehead. "Come on, Daddy, go grr for me. Please?" She batted her
eyelashes at him.

Angel closed his eyes, allowing the demon to step forward. Mina squealed
happily and leaned up, kissing his ridges. She turned her head, resting her
cheek against his, looking up at her teacher. "Isn't he pretty?"

Angel opened sad amber eyes, praying silently that they wouldn't take her
from them. He tightened his grip on her, vowing right then and there he
would pick his family up and run if they wanted to take her. He knew places
in the world that no one would ever find them. Even if the group was
mismatched.

Ms. Robinson and Mr. Livingston both jumped back, the fear rolling off of
them in waves. "What. . .what the hell are you?" Michael exclaimed.

A slow growl started deep in Angel's chest, but Mina cut him off. "He's my
*daddy*! He's the nicest daddy in the world. Well, except for
Daddy-Spikey. He's nice too."

"B. . .But. . .you are. . .vampire?" Abigail asked in shock.

"Bloody hell!" Spike stood up, his vampire visage falling into place. "You
act as if they don't exist!"

Abigail squealed in horror and stepped back. "Oh, my god!"

"You realize," Michael said, his voice trying to be authoritative, yet
quivering in fear, "that we are going to take your daughter away from you
because of this."

Spike snarled, grabbing Mina and holding her close. "Like bloody hell you
will. If you do that, then things won't go well for you," he threatened.

Willow sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Spike, you can't
*threaten* them. That will only get her taken away."

Mina started to cry, clutching Spike tightly. "Daddy, I don't want to leave
you!" She dug her fingers under the collar of his duster, hoping that she
could hold on tight enough. "Please, daddy, don't let them!" She buried
her face in his neck, sobbing.

Willow glared angrily at Abigail and Michael. "Now look what you did." She
reached out, stroking Mina's back softly. Angel was rooted to his place on
the couch, glaring at the two of them with murderous yellow eyes.

Abigail shook her head, clearing her throat. "Mina," she said softly.
"Mina, can I talk to you?"

Mina turned her head, wiping at her face with small fists. "I'm not letting
go of my daddy," she warned softly.

"That's fine, Mina," Abigail said. "Now, do you know what they are?"

"Miss Robinson, you can't be *serious*!" Michael exclaimed. "You can't
seriously be thinking of recommending that she *stay* with. . .those
creatures!"

Abigail sighed. "Michael, do shut up and let me do my job." She turned
back to Mina. "Mina, do you know what your daddies are?"

"They are grr," she said softly. "Like, Dracula grr, but real. Unca Xander
thinks Dracula is funny, cause he's 'so fake'. My daddies can't turn into
bats."

"Ok, Mina. Do they ever hurt you?" she asked.

Abigail could see the real horror in the five year old's eyes. "Ms.
Robinson! My daddies would rather. . .would rather. . ." Tears filled her
eyes. "They would go into the sun instead of hurt me!"

"Are they the only two grrs that exist?"

Mina closed her eyes, shivering slightly. "No, ma'am," she whispered. "I'
ve seen others. They are scary. My daddies tell me never to play outside
after dark by myself, and that if I ever see another grr to run as fast as I
can, after I threw this at them." She fingered the tiny bottle around her
neck.

Abigail reached out to touch the intricate bottle at Mina's neck, always
wondering what the little girl had inside of it. She stopped when Spike
growled at her. Mina turned, hitting him on the shoulder. "Daddy-Spikey,
*be nice*. Miss Robinson is my teacher! She likes my drawings. If she
wants to touch my bottle, she can."

Abigail glanced at Spike, then reached out again, fingering the bottle at
Mina's neck. "What is it?" she asked softly.

Mina shrugged. "Water. It hurts daddies. I know, cause. . ." She blushed
and looked down slightly. "I accidentally spilled some on Daddy-Sire's hand
before and it burned and hurt. Which I don't understand, cause they take
baths, and that's water." She shrugged. "And then I'm supposed to find one
of my Daddies, or my Momma, or one of my Uncas, or my Aunt. But that would
never happen, because I'm never alone at night. And I stay away from dark
areas where they can hide."

"And you love them," Abigail asked.

Mina turned her head, kissing Spike's cheek. "I do. They are my daddies.
Please, Miss Robinson, don't take me away from them." Tears filled her
emerald eyes. "I need them. I need my family."

Abigail turned to Michael. "Well, I'm convinced. I think that this is a
very healthy family for her to be in."

"You can't be serious," Michael said, slack jawed.

"I am. I've seen Mina in class, Michael. She's a wonderful child, and she'
s very well adjusted. So what if her fathers are vampires. They love her,
and she loves them. Michael, you don't want to buck me on this. And I don'
t think you want to buck them." She crossed her arms.

Willow reached out and patted Abigail's back. "Thanks," she said softly.

Michael rolled his eyes. "Fine." He grabbed his briefcase and stormed to
the door. He turned back to them. "But I will let you know that we will be
keeping an eye on your little. . .'family'." He opened the door and walked
out, slamming the door behind him.

Mina squealed, hugging Spike's neck tightly. She bounced on his hip,
reaching for Angel. Angel stood up and took her from Spike, allowing the
little girl's arms to circle his neck. He held her tightly for a moment
until she turned, reaching for Willow. The redhead smiled and took Mina in
her arms. She hugged her tightly.

Willow and Mina turned to Abigail. "Thank you," Willow said softly.

"Yes, thank you, Miss Robinson," Mina whispered, leaning her head against
Willow's.

~*~

Xander glanced up. "So everything's ok?" he asked softly, snuggling deeper
in Graham's arms.

Willow flashed her best friend a smile. "Yea, everything's cool. They aren
't going to take her from us. They said they will keep an eye on us, but
seriously, does it look like we mistreat her?" She turned her head,
smiling.

Mina was giggling, running through the lobby of the hotel Angel had gotten
for them to live in almost four and a half years before. "I'll rescue you,
Daddy-Spikey!" she yelled, running to Angel, who was holding his Childe.
She stopped at Angel's legs and hit him playfully on the knee. "Let my
Daddy go, big meany head!"

"But Queen Cordelia wants him," Angel said, nodding to Cordelia who was
sitting in one of the chairs against the wall. She was wearing child's
costume jewelry, and a plastic crown.

Cordelia waved her arm. "Bring him to me, Faithful Servant."

"Ok, Cordelia, the Faithful Servant part is going a little overboard," Angel
growled.

Spike chuckled. "I bloody like it myself. The great Angelus a Faithful
Servant to the Cheerleader."

Angel rolled his eyes. "Childe. . ." he said threateningly.

Spike chuckled. "Just take me to the Queen, or let the Princess save me."

"Oh, yea!" Mina exclaimed. "I forgot I was saving you! I was too busy
giggling because you are being silly!" She pushed on Angel's leg, growling
at him. "Give him back! He belongs to me!"

"I'm sorry, Little One, but I can't," Angel said.

A truly devious look spread over Mina's features as she stood back. She
crossed her arms, putting on her mother's resolve face. "You see this?
This is my resolve face. You always do what Momma says when she puts it on,
so I'm going to use it too. Now, I want my Daddy-Spikey. *And*, on top of
that, I want you too, Mr. Faithful Servant. I am Princess Mina! You can't
resist me!"

Angel glanced over at Cordelia and shrugged. "She's got a point, Queen
Cordelia. I don't think I could resist her."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Fine, run off with Princess Mina."

A sparkle entered Mina's eyes. "I want your crown too, Queen Cordelia."
She grinned, her small giggle filling the lobby of the hotel.

~*~End~*~

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