Author: Dray
Rating: PG-13 to R
Summary: Sequel to White Picket Fences. Spike is back, with a little help from Willow, and in LA with Xander and their newly adopted children. Picks up right after White Picket Fences
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot and Ariel and Nicholas.
AN: I apologise for this chapter being so short. And update should follow within the next day or so.
Chapter 1: A house of our own
It was early two months after the destruction of Sunnydale that Spike had found a suitable place for them to live. The only thing left now was to tell Xander about it and move in. The blonde haired vampire had finally taken looking for a house seriously and, with a little help from Angel and his associates, bought a house in the suburbs not too far from Wolfram and Hart.
With the help of Cordelia and Angel's son, Connor, Spike had all their belongings moved from his sire's home to the new house while he and Xander were at work and their two adopted children were in school. Most of the furniture that he had purchased, with quite a bit of help from Cordelia and Harmony, had been delivered the week prior just after the installation of necro-tempered glass.
"Um, Will, where are we going?" Xander asked Spike as they drove down a street lined with picturesque houses that could have been pulled out of a movie from the '50s.
"Home." He said simply then turned and smiled at his mortal lover. In response, Spike received a questioning look from Xander and Ariel.
The rest of the ride was in silence until Spike pulled the car into the drive of a two storey house surrounded by a white fence. Spike beamed proudly at Xander and kissed his cheek. "Come on." He unlocked the doors and got out. Xander and the children followed shortly.
"Is this where you've been disappearing to in the evenings?" Xander asked, placing Nicholas down once they were inside. Spike nodded and closed the front door. "Was this the reason for going out to dinner tonight?" Again, Spike nodded and tugged Xander's hand so he could show them around the house. Lifting Nicholas up, Xander and Ariel followed Spike as he showed them the house.
Of course, both children wanted to see their rooms. Nicholas had his own room with his own bathroom. So Spike had gone a tad overboard with all the toys, it had only been to balance out all the things Cordelia and Harmony had bought for Ariel. Nicholas squirmed out of Xander's grasp and hopped over to his bed with intent to jump on it. Both fathers warmed the young boy to be careful about jumping on the bed while Ariel went in search of her own bedroom which happened to be diagonally down the hall. Before following their daughter out of the room, Spike asked Nicholas if he would be okay if they left the room and again, warned him to be careful. The boy had giggled and squealed happily before tearing into the brown boxes that were filled with his belongings in search of his blanket.
Ariel's bedroom was everything she had ever wanted in a space of her own. On the bed, just like in her brother's room, sat a little stuffed bear wearing a little Manchester United shirt. When asked about it, Spike merely shrugged and mumbled something incomprehensible. When Spike and Xander had walked in the room, Ariel was studying the photographs on he cork board above her desk and the framed photographs on her dresser. There were two photographs in particular that caught her eye.
Sitting side by side in a hinged frame were two, medium sized photos. One was black and white and the other was colour. It was clear that the second photograph had been handled quite a bit from the cracks and creases around the edge of the picture. In the first picture, a young, bespectacled man in his late teens to early twenties was seated on a bench in what looked to be a park. His suit looked fresh from the tailor's and his hair was neatly combed to the side. The picture next to it had obviously been handled quite a bit as evident from the creases. From the looks of it, it had probably been kept in a wallet or back pocket.
"Where did you get that?" Xander asked, indicating his graduation photo.
"I took it from your basement." Spike answered sheepishly. He watched amusedly as Ariel continued to look around the room once she lost interest with the photos then threw herself at her father.
"Thank you." She said, her arms flung around Spike's narrow waist.
"Thank your Aunt Cordelia and Harmony. They did your room." Spike laughed as he lifted the girl in his arms and kissed her cheek. "But I'm glad you like it." Turning to Xander, Spike asked, "And what do you think of it?"
"Thank you but I'm still not getting why you didn't include me in this." He answered, leaning in to kiss his blonde lover.
"I told you that when we got to LA, I would buy you a nice house in a nice neighbourhood, with a white fence out front, didn't I?" Spike smirked. "I always keep my promises." Their lips connected again but this time, only very briefly. Placing a hand on each of her father's shoulders, Ariel pushed them apart and told them to 'do that somewhere else.'
When asked if he could see their bedroom, Spike shook his head and told Xander to wait patiently until later. In response, Xander smiled widely and pulled the vampire close. "Hey, kid, did you do your homework?" Xander called into Ariel's bedroom. Slowly, the girl emerged and dragged herself over to her book bag that had been thrown on the floor upon entering her new home. He laughed as he watched his newly adopted daughter trudge over to the dark stained oak dining table in the fair sized dining room.
Leaving Ariel to do her homework, Xander and Spike went to check on Nicholas. The boy had given up jumping on the bed for rummaging through the two brow boxes, spilling their contents all over the soft navy carpet. The two men spotted the boy nestled under several stuffed toys with his head resting on his arm and a thumb in his mouth. Smiling at the sleeping form of the toddler, Xander carefully lifted him up and tucked him into the small sleigh bed and turned out the light in the room.
Once they had both said goodnight to the little boy, Spike led Xander down the hall and through the dining room to the den. Several wooden bookcases were up against on wall along with a wooden cabinet that Xander suspected held a fair amount of weapons. A comfy looking brown leather couch sat in the middle of the room facing an entertainment armoire.
"I know it looks a bit empty now bu-" Spike was cut off before he could even finish a word.
"It looks fine, Will." Xander smiled, still looking in awe at everything around him. He would really have to ask his lover at some other time how he was able to get all of this done without him knowing. He yawned. "Come on, show me the bedroom so I can o to sleep. I have a pile of crap that needs to be signed and initialled before a meeting tomorrow morning. Can you stay up and make sure Ariel gets her homework done?"
Spike laughed at how easily Xander tended to forget the blonde was a vampire these days. When asked why he was laughing he always just shrugged and told him it was nothing. Taking him by the hand, Spike led the former Scooby to their bedroom at the end of the hall and opened the door.
The room was perfect. A maple stained four post bed sat against the wall opposite the window. A green comforter lay atop the bed made up with deep purple satin sheets. In the opposite corner near the bed was a television on a glass caddy corner stand. An armoire that matched the bed was on the other side of the doorway along with a dresser. But the thing that caught Xander's eye was a black box sitting in the centre of the bed.
Happily, Spike hopped onto the bed and picked up the box. "Red came across something in one of the Watcher's books and after hours of reworking it, she reworked a spell that she found and she finished with this," Spike opened the box to reveal a gold ring with small markings in between three, small, jade-like stones. "just a few days ago. Works a bit like the Gem of Amarra but isn't as strong." Spike explained, slipping the ring onto his forefinger. "The Witch said that sunlight will probably still affect me to some extent but at leas I won't immediately burst into flames." He was pleasantly surprised when Xander grabbed him and pulled him close for a demanding kiss.
"Now you can come to parent visiting day at Ariel's school next week." Xander said as he climbed under the blankets. With one last kiss, Spike left the bedroom to check on Ariel and occasionally helping her with history homework before he himself retired for the night.
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