Thine Own Self

By Gidgetgirl

Chapter Two

“Come on, Cale baby, Mommy has an appointment to go to,” the woman said, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder as she bent down to her son’s level. It was hard to believe he was almost two years old.

“Okay, Mommy,” the little boy replied cheerfully. She reached out and tousled his blonde hair. He growled at her good naturedly. She laughed.

“Juice, Mommy? Better juice, please.” Cale’s voice was hopeful and wheedling. His mother sighed. She’d been trying to add less blood to the juice over time, but Cale always noticed. She looked at him. He looked pale. She picked him up, and the tiny boy rested his head on her shoulder.

“When I grow up, I’m gonna be fireman,” the little boy mumbled sleepily, “or maybe a puppy-dog.” Cale laid his head on his mother’s shoulder, and she offered him a finger.

He sucked contentedly on her finger, his little fangs piercing it just a bit. As he fell fast asleep, she removed her finger from his mouth, and he groggily put his entire hand in his mouth, slurping messily in that little-boy-fast-asleep way.

With the sun playing off of his blonde hair, she thought he looked like an angel.

“Vroom Vroom!” the little boy said in his sleep.

His mother sighed. Her little boy was a demon for energy, in more ways than one, and she was about to figure out why.

“Why?” Hopie asked the dentist when he informed her that she needed to open her mouth wide.

“Because I’m going to look at your teeth,” the dentist replied with a goofy grin. Cordelia struggled not to roll her eyes at him.

“They’re all there,” Hopie promised.

“What are?” the dentist asked.

“My teeth,” Hopie said. She opened her mouth and closed it quickly. “See, all there. Let’s go, Momma.” Hopie hopped down from the chair she was sitting in, pulling at Cordy’s hands.

Cordy scooped her up. “All right, you little monkey,” she said, “be good for the doctor, and then we’ll go home and you can play with the girls and Aunt Faith.”

Hopie climbed back into the chair, the look on her face so morose she looked as if she was climbing to her death.

Very bravely, she opened her mouth wide and let out a war cry.

The dentist jumped, startled. Hopie shrugged.

“Somehow,” she said seriously, “it just felt like the right thing to do.”

Kendall stared at Joss as the girl struggled through the basic training exercises Buffy was putting them through. She rolled her eyes. Joss was such a wuss. Even Chance, barely half Joss’s size, was doing fine, as was Anni, though she was years younger than Joss. Granted, Anni and Chance had both already received slayer powers, but Kendall shrugged off that thought.

“Okay,” Buffy said finally. “Let’s spar.” Kendall struggled not to rub her hands together.

Buffy looked at the four girls in front of her and realized that Chance, Kendall, and Anni were all looking very anxious for the chance to flounce Joss.

“Chance and Joss, Kendall and Anni,” Buffy said, taking the safe way out. Chance was still small enough that she wouldn’t hurt Joss too badly, and of the three, she was the least likely to relish kicking Joss’s ass.

As the girls fought, Wes and Willow watched them from the back porch. As he watched Anni move around in the poor excuse for a shirt she was wearing, a pained expression came over Wes’s face.

“So now she’s wearing a napkin exercise outfit instead of the Travel-sized-clue-sized bikini,” Wes said, glumly.

“It’s called a sport bra, Wesley,” Willow said, her voice wry and a smile on her face. “Kiss the baby and shut up.”

Wes obediently bent down to kiss Willow’s stomach but then surprised her when he picked her up and tickled her. She screamed with giggles.

“Put down the pregnant lady,” Willow instructed, trying to keep her voice serious. “See my not-happy-I’m-up-in-the-air face? Put me down, mister.”

Chance turned to watch, her sense of romance heightened, as Wes brought Willow gingerly down and pressed a long, dramatic kiss to her lips.

Anni rolled her eyes. Wes was always doing that.

Joss took Chance’s distraction as an opportunity to throw the younger girl on the ground. Anni and Kendall both gritted their teeth, an instant away from jumping into the fray and pummeling Joss the Weasel.

From on the ground, Chance spun quickly to her feet, kicking Joss’s legs out from underneath her as she flew to her feet.

“And that,” Kendall said loudly, “is why you don’t piss off a demi-slayer.”

Buffy walked over to Joss, who was lying on her back in the yard, the breath knocked out of her by the fall.

“Are you okay?” Buffy asked her, trying to forget the fact that she didn’t like the girl either.

Joss nodded and slowly rose to her feet.

All of a sudden, Chance’s eyes glazed over, and Buffy knew that she was having another flash of the other demi-slayer.

“Okay,” she said, making Wes wince, “that’s it for training. You guys are free to do what you want.”

Anni made eye contact with Willow, and she knew that she had magic lessons with the Wiccan who was becoming like a sister to her.

After a moment, Chance’s head cleared, and she walked inside and sat down on the kitchen floor, curling into a small ball next to the refrigerator.

Dakota walked carelessly toward the fridge, swinging it open with careless vigor. She looked inside.

“Damn,” she said out loud, “nothing good.” She shrugged and, quickly finding her father’s hiding space for what he considered chunk change, pulled out a wad of bills.

“This,” she said out loud, “could be fun.” It was good to be home.

“Well, well, well,” a voice said from the doorway, “if it isn’t the little princess home at last.”

Kody turned to smirk at the blonde woman. Her father went through them so quickly that she didn’t bother to learn names. Instead, she named them after famous TV dogs. After looking at the woman a moment, she smiled a dangerous smile.

“Astro, right?” she asked. The woman, whose name was actually Astrid, gave Kody a confused look.

Dakota slapped her forehead. “What was I thinking?” she asked herself, her voice drawing out with the words. “Astro was the frigid bitch with the bad perm who just wanted my dad’s money. You’re the slutty bimbo with the bad dye job who just wants his money, which would make you…” Kody stared at the woman long and hard. “…Old Yeller.” Kody put emphasis on the word old, before slinging the fridge door shut and sauntering past the blonde woman.

Astrid gave the fourteen year old a sharp look. “What is wrong with you?” she asked.

Kody turned around as she backed out the door. “Me? Nothing. I’m five by five.”

And with that, she walked out the door, leaving Astrid, still dripping wet from being knocked off her raft by Kody’s potpourri missile, to contemplate the Old Yeller comment.

Kody put the money in the back pocket of her too-tight jean and spoke softly to herself. “Five by five,” she mused. “I wonder where that came from?” She shrugged. It didn’t really matter.

Dakota Kincaide walked down the street of her affluent neighborhood, just daring anyone to mess with her.

“Are you all right?” Lindsey asked Faith as she finished putting up the weapons. The Potentials had all skedaddled to different parts of the hotel, and Faith was going through the motions of her post-training routine.

Faith brought her head to Lindsey’s chest, taking in the smell of his body. Even without wearing cologne, he smelled like something she couldn’t put her fingers on. Something wonderful.

“Five by five,” she whispered into his chest. He put his fingers underneath her chin and lifted her face to meet his eyes.

Faith struggled to take the emotion out of her face, but she couldn’t do it when she was looking into those darkly lashed eyes of his.

“I just really hope it’s her this time,” she said, her voice catching. “The world can be a nasty place, you know, and I don’t want her to have to…”

Faith trailed off, and Lindsey knew she was thinking about her own experiences. “Sorry,” she said, punching him in the chest playfully. “Don’t mean to go all weepy on you. I don’t know what’s up with me lately.”

Lindsey rubbed his shoulder, thinking that the slayer hit with a little more punch than she meant to.

She leaned up and kissed him, full on the lips. As always, she kissed with more punch than she meant to.

Maddy watched from the stares, entranced. She wondered if kissing like that was a slayer thing. After a moment, the girl decided that she needed some kissing practice. If she was going to be a slayer, she was convinced she needed to know how to lock lips with the best of them.

Skipping happily off, she went to find Connor.

“Hello, pet.”

Chance looked up when she heard Spike’s roughly accented voice. Her heart beat a little faster when she took in the way the black t-shirt fit his body.

“Hey Spike,” Buffy said casually, and Chance realized that neither of them realized she was there.

Spike stood, looking silently at the slayer for a moment.

“What?” Buffy asked, a smile entering her voice.

“I was just thinking,” Spike whispered, “that you look awfully well-rested for someone who didn’t sleep much last night.” He pushed a piece of hair tenderly off her face, and Chance sighed, caught up again the romance of the moment and completely missing the implications of what Spike had just said.

“It make you think about having your own?” he asked suddenly. “All those little slayer-ettes running around, including the little Buffy. Make you feel all ready to be a mum?” Chance smiled when he referred to her. She wondered briefly if there was a little Spike out there: a bad boy with a British accent and a great bod who’d look at her the way Spike looked at Buffy.

Buffy shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said.

“Children can provide a valuable tax deduction,” Anya said, coming into the room. “I’ve been thinking of having a couple myself.” Buffy and Spike stared at her, shocked. “Of course that means I’ll have to have sex,” Anya said, “but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. On a totally unrelated note, where did that whip cream go?”

“Well, little lady, I don’t think it will be that long until you have your first loose tooth,” the dentist told Hopie.

He turned to Cordelia. “She looks good,” he said simply.

“Uh, thanks,” Cordy said, not sure how she should respond.

“Loose tooth?” Hopie asked suspiciously.

The dentist nodded. “And then the tooth fairy will come.”

Hopie, remembering stories she’d heard at kindergarten, nodded. “And I won’t shoot her with my crossbow,” Hopie promised.

The dentist looked confused.

Cordy laughed nervously. “Kids,” she said. “Go figure.”

Cale was still sleeping on her shoulder when his mother received the news. “So what you’re telling me,” she said, “is that my son is the way he is, because somewhere on the other side of the country, a vampire gave birth to a human baby?”

“Nearly human,” one of the mystics corrected her.

“Just as your son is nearly a vampire,” another said. “There are forces that must be balanced in this world. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Your son just happened to be born in a moment when the balance was thrown off. His birth, and his condition, simply restored the magical balance.”

“What’s his name?” she asked finally. “The human born to two vampires?”

“Connor Angel,” one of the mystics replied. The woman, her eyes opening wide with memories, said nothing.

Finally, regaining her steely composure, the woman cleared her throat.

“Is there anything I can do?” she asked, “to change it?”

The mystics were silent for a moment. “There’s a witch,” one of them said finally. “In Sunnydale, California, a powerful wiccan in her own right, and her power is magnified by the child she carries, also a child of balance. If anyone can give you those answers, she can.”

“Concentrate, Anni,” Willow instructed the girl gently. Anni, thinking of the fact that none of the others had to take magic lessons, tried to comply.

A small ball of fire appeared in her hand.

Willow smiled. “Good,” she said.

“Wills,” Anni said, giving her best batting eyelashes look. “I learned how to do this a long time ago. Can’t we try something a little more… I don’t know, fun?”

All of a sudden, Willow gasped, and Anni’s hand flew to the older woman’s stomach.

Anni felt power flowing from her hand into Willow’s womb, and she felt her energy draining from her. She tried to remove her hand, but she couldn’t, so she just took a deep breath and waited for the moment to pass.

Hopie burst through the door to the Hyperion, yelling at the top of her lungs. “I’m home! You can come play with me now.”

Cordy laughed at the little girl’s queenly manner. “Indoor voice,” she reminded her.

“What?!” she heard an outraged male voice yell from upstairs.

“Connor, it has nothing to do with you,” Maddy was saying when Cordy and Hopie found her and Connor talking. “If I want to be a slayer, I have to learn how to kiss. The only other guy even close to my age here is Clay, and he’s my brother. So it’s gotta be you. Pucker up.”

Connor, his whisker wishing moments behind him, started backing toward the door as Maddy advanced on him. The small girl backed him into the corner and placed a cautious kiss on his lips. Connor relaxed, reminding himself that Maddy was just a kid.

Maddy, remembering what Faith’s kiss had looked like, tried to kiss Connor like that. Connor pulled away.

“Are you crazy?” he asked her. “Maddy, you’re twelve!” Cordy started cracking up at the beet red color Connor’s face turned.

Maddy glared at him, secretly delighted with the kiss. “Fine,” she said. “Be that way. I guess I’ll just have to find someone else to kiss.”

“I guess you will,” Connor replied, stammering and shooting a pained look at Cordelia.

Maddy stalked out the door and past Nicolaa and Clay in the hallway. Her brother was leaning in to kiss the older Potential.

“ARG!” Maddy said, scaring them both as she ran by.

Clay and Nic looked at each other and started cracking up. “Any idea what that was about?” she asked him.

He shook his head. “We’re talking about Maddy here, so it could be pretty much anything.” he said, smelling her hair and nuzzling the side of her face. She stiffened.

“Clay,” she said, “you don’t won’t to do this.”

He rolled his eyes and kissed her on the lips. “How many times do I have to tell you I do?” he asked her.

“I don’t want this,” she said, still determined not to get involved.

“Don’t you?” he asked, leaning in for another kiss.

Connor, suddenly realizing what Maddy had gone to do, ran out into the hall, directly into Clay and Nicolaa.

“Have you seen Maddy?” he asked.

“She ran by here a minute ago,” Nic replied. Connor groaned.

‘ “What did she go to do this time?” Clay asked.

“She’s looking for guys to kiss,” he said. “The same way you were just kissing Nic.”

Clay’s wrinkled his forehead. Maddy? Kissing? This was just unacceptable. “Well, where’s she gonna find guys to kiss?” Nic asked reasonably.

“Gonna go play some pick up basketball down the street. See you later,” Maddy yelled from downstairs.

For a moment, Connor, Clay, and Nicolaa paused at the top of the stairs, and then the three of them went running off after Maddy.

Cordy leaned down to Hopie. “I think we’re seeing what Connor is going to be like when you start dating,” she said.

Angel walked into the room. “Hopie is never going to date,” he said firmly. “You don’t like boys, do you baby?” he asked for confirmation.

“I like some of them,” Hopie said thoughtfully, thinking of all of her uncles, “but most boys are yucky.”

Angel thanked the Powers that Be for small favors. He kissed the top of Cordelia’s head, hugging her from behind and putting his hands around her waist.

“But then again,” Hopie said thoughtfully, “Aunt Anya says that…”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Cordy interjected. Hopie complied. She tilted her head to the side for a moment and then smiled.

“Something big is happening,” she said. “All over, something big is happening.”

Faith and Lindsey prepared to leave for their journey.

Kody pocketed a package of cigarettes at the convenient store.

Anni broke her hand away from Willow’s stomach, amazed.

And, packing clothes for herself and her son, Kate Lockeley climbed in the car and started the long drive to Sunnydale. Cale murmured in his sleep.

“Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig,” he said.

Kate brushed the tears out of her eyes. It hadn’t been easy to hear his name again, to know that Caleb was the way he was because of Angel’s son.

She put on her tough police woman face. She’d find a way to make this better for her little boy. Caleb sucked his fingers loudly.

Hopie popped her thumb in her mouth and began sucking it in experimentation. She took it out after a moment.

“Baby coming,” she commented. Her parents, caught in a kiss, didn’t hear her.

Lots of babies coming, Hopie thought.

 

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