1. This story is a sequel to my BTVS story: "Have a little Faith; it's
only a Wedding". This story is A.U., and while most of the events of
the first three seasons of the BTVS show did happen, some things did
not. This story takes place after the BTVS episode "Graduation part
2".
2. The characters from the Buffy: The Vampire Slayer show belong to WB
(and/or UPN), Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, Sandollar and Joss Whedon. The
others are original characters created by myself.
The Births
by Scott R. Barnett
It was mid May and everything was going great with Buffy's pregnancy. Xander and her were just leaving the doctor's office from one of her multitude of checkups. Xander didn't mind though, he was just as excited as Buffy about the pregnancy. Truthfully, the whole group was excited about it. They were the first ones married, and now the first ones having a baby. The only complaints were from Buffy herself. Considering that she was always a small woman she was complaining that she now looked like the size of a house.
The group was going through other changes as well. Over the next several months the rest of the couples were going to be getting married. Angel and Cordelia will be getting married in June. Oz and Amy will be tying the knot in July and Willow and Tara's wedding is in August. Everyone hoped that the baby would come on time, as the due date was before any of the weddings. It was in early June, and Angel and Cordelia's wedding was set for late June. Also Angel, Oz and Amy would all be graduating from college in a couple of days. On top of all that Faith, who had just received her High School Diploma about a week ago, would be starting at the Police Academy in June.
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Saturday had rolled around and Buffy and Xander were getting ready to go to the college for the graduation ceremony. Three of their best friends were graduating and they wanted to see it. At eight months, Buffy's pregnancy was very obvious. One of the problems that they had run into was it was now rather difficult for her to climb up into Xander's jeep. They finally decided it was time to get Buffy a car of her own. With some financial help from Joyce and Giles, they did. Xander was helping Buffy get into the passenger seat of her Pontiac Grand Prix. She had trouble getting behind the steering wheel at this point.
"Are you ok honey?" asked Xander.
"As ok as I can be carrying something around the size of a house." stated Buffy.
Xander just smiled at this and started up the car. They drove over to the university and quickly found the rest of their group. They then found seats where they could see their loved ones graduate.
After graduation was over they all went back to the Giles residence for a graduation party. The party was a hit with everyone.
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It was about five in the evening and the only ones left were the Scoobies. Suddenly the doorbell rang.
"I wonder who that would be." said Giles, as he walked over to the front door. He looked out and then opened the door. It was his father.
"Father, what are you doing here?" asked Rupert.
"I came for two reasons. May I come in? This concerns your entire 'family'." said Lord Edward Giles.
"Certainly." said Rupert.
They walked back into the living room where everyone was sitting.
"Edward? What are you doing here?" asked Joyce.
"Good evening everyone. I came from England for two reasons. They concern the Slayers." said Edward.
"In what way Father?" asked Rupert.
"The first reason is that from your reports on Faith I believe she is ready to be tested. I know that you have not yet allowed her to go out on her own while patrolling. I agree with this. The problem is that she will need to be ready soon due to the other reason that I am here." said Edward.
Turning to Faith he said, "Do not worry about the test my dear. I believe that my son has more than prepared you for it. We will conduct it tomorrow."
"What is the other reason for your visit, Father?" asked Rupert.
"The other reason concerns the Prophecy of Dugmara." said Edward.
Both Rupert and Angel blanched at this.
"Oh God! I had not thought of that." said Angel.
"Neither had I." said Rupert.
"What's wrong? What's this Dugmara?" asked Buffy.
"The prophecy of Dugmara states that if a vampire were to sacrifice the unborn child of a Slayer in the last month of pregnancy then it would receive unmentionable powers." states Edward.
"What?!? That's not good. Buffy's just about to enter her last month." said Xander.
"Then you must protect her and the baby at all costs. They cannot be allowed to get her. I would recommend that you keep at least one or two people with her at all times." said Edward.
"Lord Giles is right. Buffy, why don't you and Xander come stay with us? We have plenty of room and at night there would be more people around. It will only be for a month. I know that you have taken a leave from school due to the pregnancy." offered Angel. Cordelia nodded her head in agreement.
"Thanks Angel, Cordy. What do you think Xander?" asked Buffy.
"Its probably not a bad idea. We'll also step up our patrols during the month. Willow, Giles I think it would be best if we kept all patrols to at least three people. I don't think single patrols are a good idea right now." replied Xander.
"I agree. Why don't we work out a schedule?" said Giles.
They quickly worked out a schedule for patrols. They decided to keep all patrols to a minimum of at least four people. Buffy, of course, would not be patrolling. She hasn't been for a few months already.
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The next night Lord Giles gave Faith the Council's test. She passed it with flying colors. He also accompanied the patrol that night to see her in action. He was very impressed with her performance, and told her so in front of everyone. She couldn't keep the smile off of her face all night. Everyone was happy for her. They even went to the Bronze to celebrate.
That night Buffy and Xander moved into Angel and Cordelia's house. They set them up in a guest room on the second floor. Lord Giles was also staying in town until the baby was born. He was house sitting Buffy and Xander's house for them while they stayed with Angel and Cordelia.
"Thanks for putting us up Angel, Cordy. We really appreciate it." said Xander.
"No problem. You guys are very important to us. We don't want to see anything happen to you or your unborn child." replied Cordelia.
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The next week went by peacefully. The group even had a baby shower for Buffy. Then it started. One morning Angel and Cordy were walking out the door to go to work and they found three dust piles on the porch. Cordy looked at Angel, but he just shrugged. He didn't know why they were there either. They left them there and continued on to work. When Angel got to work he called Xander and told him to look on the porch. Xander walked out and saw the piles. He was just as clueless as to how they ended up there as well. It was obvious to all of them that they were the remains of vampires, but they had no idea who killed them.
This continued over the next couple of weeks. About every other day they would find some dust piles here or there around the property. They were no closer to figuring it out then when it started. Truthfully they weren't trying too hard either.
They would get their answer sooner than they thought.
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The four of them were sitting in the backyard, enjoying a nice Saturday afternoon.
"Hey Cordy, would you mind if I invited Granddad over for dinner? He seems kind of lonely over in that house by himself." asked Buffy.
"Granddad? I didn't know you had a grandfather in the area." said Cordy.
"Who she means is Edward Giles. You know how Dawn, Faith and her have been calling Giles, Dad, for several months now. Well, they have been referring to Lord Giles as granddad for a couple of months as well. If you think about it, since Giles is her step-dad, then that technically makes Edward Giles her step-granddad. Besides, I've seen it when the three of them have called him granddad. He loves it just as much as Giles does when they call him dad. Like father, like son, I guess." replied Xander.
"Ok. Yeah, we can invite Edward over. I like him as well." said Cordy.
"I'll call him." said Xander. He went inside for a moment to call him.
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That night Lord Giles arrived for dinner. Angel answered the door.
"Good evening, Lord Giles."
"Good evening, Angel."
Angel held the door open for him. He stepped in and greeted the rest of them.
"You look lovely tonight Cordelia. Good evening Xander. You also look lovely Buffy."
"Thanks for coming granddad." said Buffy and gave him as big a hug as she could, considering she was more than eight months pregnant.
Xander, Angel and Cordy saw how Edward's face lit up at the greeting and hug from Buffy.
"I see what you mean." whispered Cordy.
Angel offered Edward a drink while Cordelia went to check on dinner. Pretty soon dinner was ready.
They moved into the dining room and sat down to dinner. Edward was directed to a seat next to Buffy. They enjoyed a delicious meal of Beef Stroganoff.
After dinner they retired to the living room to sit and talk.
"Edward, maybe you can help us with a mystery that we have. For a couple of weeks now we have found outside piles of vampire dust when we leave for work in the morning. We have no idea how they came to be there. We have not killed the vampires, and Faith told us that she hasn't been here. I can't imagine who else it would have been. The patterns of the piles looks vaguely familiar, but I just can't place it." said Angel.
"Explain the pattern to me. I might recognize it." replied Edward.
Angel explained the pattern to Edward. Edward sat still for a moment thinking about it. Suddenly he got up and asked, "Do you have an upstairs window that I can look out of over the back yard."
"Certainly, follow me." said Angel. He led him and the rest upstairs.
They went into the master bedroom and Edward looked out the window. He looked carefully around the whole yard for several minutes. Finally he stood back from the window and smiled at them.
"What did you see?" asked Cordy.
"I saw your silent protector. It was exactly what I figured it was. You have a visitor in your backyard. I imagine he has been there almost every night." replied Edward.
The four of them looked out the window. The two women turned away and shook their heads. They couldn't see anyone. Angel and Xander continued looking though. Finally they thought they saw a shape lying within the trees along the back of the property. It was easy to over look. The shape just blended right in during the night.
"I see what you mean Edward. I am shocked that I didn't think of that sooner." said Angel.
"Who? What?" asked Buffy.
"Cordy, Buffy come take a look. You'll see in a moment. We have four vampires entering the yard." said Xander.
They all gathered at the windows to watch. Just as the vampires had walked past the trees lining the back of the property they were bowled over by a large shape. Two of the vampires were turned to dust immediately. The other two stood back up. They charged the creature, but were also dusted rather quickly.
Suddenly Buffy looked farther away.
"What's wrong?" asked Xander.
"I see about fifteen more vamps coming down the street." said Buffy.
"Cordy, grab my cross bow from the closet." said Angel.
"Buffy can you grab my rifle from our room?" asked Xander.
The two ladies came back quickly with the weapons. Both loaded up and sighted through the now open windows. Xander was able to use his sooner due to the greater distance. He quickly sniped about five of them before they came into range of Angel's cross bow. Angel got three more. At this point the creature below was aware of the problem and jumped into the fray. He quickly took down five of them, while Angel and Xander took out the last three. When they were done the creature looked up at the window and nodded its head once. It then went back to its spot in the trees and laid back down, effectively disappearing from view once again.
They put the weapons away and then went back downstairs to talk some more.
"So it's been Oz out there all this time." said Buffy.
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The next night found everyone at the Giles residence for dinner. After dinner they all sat around the living room talking.
"Dad, remember the mystery that we were talking to you about the other day? Well, we found the answer last night." said Buffy.
"Oh, what or who was it?" asked Rupert.
"Oz." said Xander.
What are you talking about?" asked Dawn.
"Well, over the last couple of weeks we've been finding piles of vampire dust around the outside of the house when we leave for work in the morning. We've been wondering why they were there. We knew that we had not killed the vampires." said Cordy.
"Last night we were attacked by nineteen vampires. While we were shooting them from an upstairs window Oz was taking them apart outside. It appears that he has been guarding the house since Buffy and Xander moved in." said Angel.
"Did you know about this Amy?" asked Buffy.
"Yes I did. Is there a problem with it?" asked Amy.
"I would think so. He doesn't need to be there every night. He should be at home with you." said Buffy.
"He's doing what he has to do. You understand it, don't you Willow?" asked Amy.
"Yes I do. Buffy, he has to do this. He doesn't really have a choice." stated Willow.
"What are you two talking about? Everyone has a choice. Even you do Oz." said Buffy.
Oz just raised an eyebrow at her and said nothing. He then looked at Rupert and Edward.
"Maybe one of you could explain it to her." said Oz.
"I'll handle this Rupert." said Edward. He then turned in his chair to look at Buffy.
"My dear child, since you are saying this I must assume that you do not truly understand the wolf mentality. Young Mr. Osborne is a werewolf. Now I know that you are aware of this. What you don't seem to be aware of is that the wolf mentality plays a large part in how he acts at times. To the wolf there is nowhere else he can be. He must be there to protect you. You are the pack leader and are in danger. He is sworn to protect the pack. I expected as much when I saw his reaction to the prophecy. I am aware that you think that his expressions are hard to read, but I have had a lot of experience in my years. I was watching him specifically to see what his reaction would be when we told you of the prophecy. Miss Madison and Miss Rosenberg understand this. Now you have to. It is nature. You may be able to fight unnatural things, but you cannot fight the laws of nature. Think of it this way. You probably have the best bodyguard that you could ever find. A werewolf that is in control of its actions would lay down its own life to protect yours if it came to it. It is simply the way of the wolf. Even if you don't completely understand this now, at least accept it. As for a choice, he no more has a choice in this than you do with your being the Slayer." said Edward.
"Buffy, you need to understand something. Even if it weren't for the wolf in me I would still do what I could to protect you and your unborn child. I happen to be afflicted with the same disease that Xander and Angel have. We all have the burning desire to help and protect the ones that we love. Think back to all of times that Xander or Angel snuck after you to try to protect you when you went to fight some big nasty evil. They did this because they cared for you. I do too. If you think about it you might see that if it weren't for you none of us would be together here today. If you hadn't did what you did in LA as a freshman in high school, than Dawn, Joyce and you wouldn't have moved to Sunnydale. If you hadn't come here then neither Angel nor Giles would have either. Without you Xander and Willow would probably have continued on with their lives blissfully unaware of the dangers of the night. They also wouldn't have grown like they have. Xander would still probably be the class clown and Willow the shy unassuming girl. If that had happened then Cordelia would never have gotten involved with the fight and neither would have I. Also, if not for your influence on Willow then neither Tara nor Amy would be involved. Even Faith is here because of you. As you can see we all owe you a debt of gratitude for bringing us together. We all love you. You're very important to all of us." said Oz.
Buffy looked around the room and saw everyone nodding their heads in agreement with what Oz had said. She couldn't hold it in anymore and started crying tears of joy. Xander put his arm around her and held her tight while she cried. Her bent his head and kissed her on the forehead.
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It was a couple of weeks later. Buffy was laying on the couch in the living room reading a book in the afternoon. Suddenly the contractions started.
'Oh boy!' thought Buffy.
She quickly grabbed the phone and called Xander on his cell phone.
"Honey, it's started. I've already felt several contractions." said Buffy.
"Ok, I'll come home now. Call you parents and let them know." replied Xander.
Xander turned to the professor that he was working for as a graduate assistant.
"Professor White, I have to go. Buffy's contractions have started. She's going into labor." said Xander.
"Go right ahead my boy. Best of luck to you and the missus." said Professor White.
Xander rushed out to his jeep and drove home. When he got there he found Giles and Joyce already there. He rushed in to see how his wife was doing.
"Buffy, how are you doing?" asked Xander.
"The contractions are still coming. Mom's already called my doctor and she said to come on in." replied Buffy.
They quickly grabbed her overnight bag that they had kept packed and escorted her out to the car. The four of them drove to the hospital. On the way Giles called everyone and let them know what was going on.
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Several hours later the whole group was sitting in the waiting room waiting to hear. Xander was in the delivery room with Buffy. Suddenly the door opened and Xander came walking out.
"It's a boy!" said Xander, with a huge smile on his face.
A few minutes later everyone was allowed into the room to greet the new baby and new mother. Xander was sitting on the side of the bed with his arm around Buffy. She was sitting up in the bed with their new son in her arms.
"He's beautiful dear." said Joyce.
"So, what's his name?" asked Dawn, looking down at her new nephew.
"Everyone, please say hello to Jesse Giles Harris." said Xander.
"That's a great name." said Willow, smiling.
"Yes it is." agreed Rupert.
Everyone got a chance to hold him for a few minutes. Then they filed out to let the new family have some time to themselves. Xander walked out a few minutes later.
"Buffy and Jesse are sleeping. I wanted to thank all of you for coming down here. It means a lot to both of us." said Xander.
"You're welcome. Thank you for the honor of giving him my family name as well." said Rupert. Edward nodded his head in agreement.
"Buffy wanted to do that since all of your step children are girls. She didn't want the Giles name to just disappear. You two have meant a lot to her. I agree with her on this as well. We plan to have at least one more kid in a year or so. We plan to give him or her the middle name Summers for the same reason. All of our children will carry my name, we felt it was important for them to carry her family names as well." said Xander.
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Somewhere above, looking down on the scene at the hospital are two beings in white robes. They're both smiling.
"See, they haven't forgotten you Jesse. Xander and Buffy just named their first child in your honor." said on of the beings.
"Yes, I see that. I'm happy for them. Thanks for showing me this Ms. Calendar. You know, I think that if they have a daughter they will probably name her for you." said Jesse.
"You may be right. I'm happy for them as well. We'll of course continue keeping an eye on them." said Jenny Calendar, smiling down on them.
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It was now September and things had returned to normal. The three weddings had gone off without a hitch over the summer. Also, Buffy has now gone back to work and school and Faith was well into her classes at the Police Academy. While Buffy and Xander were at school, Joyce and Giles would baby- sit little Jesse.
It was Wednesday night and the whole 'family' had once again gathered at the Giles residence for dinner. After dinner found them in the living room sitting and talking over coffee.
"Ok, I've had enough. Faith, Amy, Cordelia, what gives? You three have been positively glowing all night." asked Buffy.
"Well, I don't know why they are glowing, but I just met the most amazing guy today at school." replied Faith.
"Who?" asked Buffy. She was happy to see her sister all glowy over a guy.
"His name is Dr. John Miller. He's the new town coroner. He was the guest speaker today and we talked for a while after class. He asked me if I would like to go out on Friday. I told him yes." replied Faith.
"That's great honey." said Joyce.
"Hey Cordy, do you think you can help me pick something out to wear on Friday? I don't have a lot of experience with this type of thing." asked Faith.
"Sure, no problem." replied Cordy.
"Ok, now that answers for Faith. What about you two?" asked Xander.
Cordy and Amy looked at each other. Instinctively they knew what the situation was with the other one. Cordy nodded to Amy to go ahead.
"Well the reason I'm all glowy, as you put it, is that Oz and I just found out that I'm pregnant." replied Amy, smiling.
"Before anyone else says anything I have the same reason. Angel and I just found out that I'm pregnant as well." said Cordy, also smiling.
Everyone started talking at once. They all congratulated the two couples.
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It was Friday night. Faith was upstairs in her bedroom getting ready for her date. Buffy was helping her. Cordy had been by earlier that day and had picked out an outfit for Faith to wear that night. Xander and Giles were sitting in the living room talking. Giles was holding Jesse. Dawn and Joyce were in the kitchen getting dinner ready.
At 6pm the doorbell rang. Giles got up and answered it. There was a gentleman standing there. He appeared to be in his mid to late twenties.
"Hello, can I help you?" asked Giles.
"Yes. My name is John Miller. I am here to pick up Faith for a date." replied John.
"Ah yes. Please come in. I'm Faith's father, Rupert Giles." said Giles.
John came in to the house and they shook hands. Giles led him into the living room and introduced him to Xander.
"John, this is Xander Harris. He's Faith's brother-in-law. He's married to her sister Buffy." said Giles.
"Good to meet you." said John.
"Good to meet you as well. Were you in the service at some point?" asked Xander.
"Yes I was. I served a couple of years with the Army Medical Corps right after medical school." replied John.
"I thought so. I recognized the way you carry yourself. I served two years active duty with the Green Berets. I'm still with them in a reserve status." said Xander.
Giles walked over to the stairs.
"Faith, John is here." shouted Giles up the stairs.
About a minute later Buffy came down.
"Hi, I'm Buffy, Faith's sister." said Buffy.
Joyce and Dawn walked out of the kitchen.
"Hi, I'm Joyce. I'm Faith's mother and this is her younger sister, Dawn." said Joyce.
"Good to meet you all." said John.
At that moment Faith came down the stairs.
"Hi John. I see you met the family." said Faith.
"Yes I did. Are you ready to go?" asked John.
"Yes. I'll see you guys later." said Faith.
"It was nice to meet you all." said John.
John and Faith left and Giles closed the door behind them.
"He seems like a decent chap." said Giles.
"Yes he does." agreed Joyce.
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It was Valentines Day and John had arrived at the Giles household to pick up Faith for their date. He had gotten to know all of the members of the Giles 'family' since he started dating Faith. He liked them. They were a friendly bunch. It appeared to him that they all liked him as well. He was happy for this, as it appeared that their approval was important to Faith. On their fourth date Faith had explained a little bit about her family to John. She left out the whole vampire bit, but she did tell him how Joyce and Giles were really her adopted parents. She also explained how most of the others weren't blood related, but were really good friends since high school and college.
He picked her up and they went to a nice restaurant in town. They had been dating for five months now and he knew that she was the one that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He had told her that he loved her about two months ago. She had said that she loved him as well.
They had been talking about a lot of things during dinner. Their plates from their main courses were cleared away and dessert was brought out. John had ordered soufflés for both of them. The plates were covered when they were placed in front of them. The waiter poured them each a glass of champagne and then uncovered the plates before walking away.
Faith gasped when she was her dessert. Right on top of the soufflé was a small doily with a diamond ring sitting on top of it. While she was staring at it John had gotten up from his chair and had knelt down on one knee next to her chair. She looked down at him. John reached up and picked up the ring. He then took her left hand into his. She had covered her mouth with her right one.
"Faith, you know I love you. You've become the most important thing in my life over the last five months. I don't think I could continue on if I didn't have you by my side. Will you marry me?"
Faith just stared at him in shock for a minute. She had tears running down her face. John slipped the ring onto her finger.
"Yes!" whispered Faith. She then pulled him up and kissed him.
The people around them that had realized what was going on started applauding them. A few of them told them congratulations as well.
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Meanwhile, back at the Giles residence Dawn was sitting in the living room with her baby nephew. She had agreed to baby-sit Jesse while Xander took Buffy out for Valentines Day. Her parents had also gone out. She was between boyfriends at the moment, so she didn't have a date. Besides, she was going to the Valentines Dance on Saturday at the school.
"So Jesse, do you think I will soon have a new brother-in-law?" asked Dawn.
Jesse, however, just yawned at her and closed his eyes. Dawn just smiled at this. She loved her little nephew. She knew about the proposal as John had stopped by the other night while Faith was out to talk to her parents about it. He was old fashioned when it came to these things, and Giles had liked that about him. Dawn had over heard the conversation. She had kept quiet about it.
It was about nine o'clock when her parents had arrived home. They sat down with Dawn and Jesse in the living room. About a half-hour later Buffy and Xander stopped by to pick up Jesse. They sat down for a little while as well.
At ten o'clock they all heard the door opening. In walked Faith and John. She had invited John to come in. They walked into the living room. Everyone could see the big smile on her face.
"Mom, Dad, everyone, John asked me to marry him. I said yes." said Faith. She showed them the ring.
They all gathered around and congratulated the couple. They also looked at the ring.
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The next morning at breakfast Faith looked a little worried. She was sitting at the table with Giles, Joyce and Dawn.
"What's wrong honey?" asked Joyce.
"I just thought of something. How do I tell John about the Slayer bit? If I'm going to marry him I can't keep that a secret. Buffy had it easy in this regard. Xander already knew about it." asked Faith.
"Why don't you invite him over one of these nights and I'll help you tell him about it." offered Giles.
"Thanks Dad. I'll talk to him after school today. Remember that I'll be a little late tonight. I have that extra training session that my teacher scheduled for after normal classes." said Faith.
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That evening Faith walked into the Medical Examiner's office at the Hospital. As she walked in she heard some talking, so she waited in the outer office. She stood there in her Police Cadet uniform. The door to the examining rooms opened up and John stuck his head out of it.
"Oh, hi Faith. I didn't know you were stopping by. Come on in here, I want you to meet someone." said John.
Faith walked in to the examining room. She saw a gentleman in his thirties standing there.
"Faith, I'd like you to meet the new Chief of Police for Sunnydale. This is Chief Stephen Jenkins. Chief, this is my fiancé, Faith Giles. She's attending the Police Academy." said John.
"Good to meet you Cadet Giles. So, where do you want to work when you graduate?" asked the Chief.
"I'd like to join the force here in Sunnydale. I'm hoping to make detective." replied Faith.
As soon as she had replied her Slayer senses started going off. She started looking around. That's when she noticed the body under a sheet on one of the examining tables sit up. It pulled down the sheet and exposed a vampire.
"What the hell?" shouted John.
The Chief reached for his gun. He pointed it at the vampire and shouted for it to stop. The vampire ignored him and continued towards them. Faith in the meanwhile had reached behind her back and pulled out a wooden stake. She pushed John and the Chief back and advanced on the vampire. She kicked out and sent the vampire flying back. It got up again and swung at her. She punched back and kicked it again. This went on for a couple of minutes. She was finally able to slam it up against the wall and stake it in the heart. It quickly turned to dust. She turned around and found John and the Chief staring at her.
"What was that? What happened to it?" asked the Chief.
Faith was little nervous now. She had planned on telling John about this in private, but now her possible future boss had seen her in action as well.
"Let me make a quick call and then I'll explain it." said Faith.
She walked over to the phone and called home.
"Hello?" asked Giles.
"Dad, I have a problem. I came over to John's office to ask him to stop by and the new Chief of Police was standing here. While we were talking one of the bodies woke up as a vampire. John and the Chief saw me slay it. The Chief is new to Sunnydale." said a worried Faith.
Giles could here the worry in her voice.
"Its ok honey. Why don't you have both of them come to our home and I'll explain it? I'll have the others stop by. The Chief is a good man. He should be able to handle this." said Giles. Giles was on the town council and had been on the selection committee for the new Chief of Police.
"Thanks Dad. We'll be there shortly." said Faith and hung up.
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About twenty minutes later the three of them showed up at the Giles residence. When they walked in they found everyone there.
"Good evening Chief Jenkins, John. Please take a seat and I'll try to explain to you what you saw tonight." said Giles.
"Councilman Giles, how are you involved in this and who are all of these people?" asked Chief Jenkins.
"These people are my family. Now, what you saw tonight was a vampire. Faith is what is called a Slayer. It is her job to slay vampires and other evils. Her older sister Buffy is also one." said Giles.
He went on to explain to the two men about Slayers, Watchers and the darkness that they fought against. When the Chief asked him how they fight it he explained about the various skills and attributes that each of the family members had. He also told them about the previous mayor's actions.
"So, that is about it. I ask you to keep all of this information to as few people as possible. The public as a whole is not equipped to handle the truth about what is out there. Chief, your police officers are not capable of fighting these things, we are. What you need to do is to continue weeding out those on the force that are corrupt. That is one of the main reasons that I nominated you for the position. I had read the reports of how you cleaned up the force in Merion. Do you have any questions?" asked Giles.
"No, I think that you answered most of them. I will do as you ask and try to keep this information classified. I am going to poke around the department and see who on the force is familiar with the things that go bump in the night, though. On a side note, Cadet Giles, I wanted to tell you that I was impressed with your actions earlier. You handled yourself well under the pressure of it. Not only did you eliminate the threat quickly, you got the possible victims out of the way and you directed us to those that could explain what had happened. I am going to talk to your instructors at the academy about your actions. I will of course amend the story a little. Also, when it gets closer to graduation please come see me. I'd like to see your records at that time with the intention of hiring you for my force." said Chief Jenkins.
"Thank you sir. I'll do that." said Faith. She turned to John. "Can I see you in the other room a minute John?"
They walked into the kitchen.
"John, there's something's that you don't know about me. I couldn't tell you earlier without telling you about this."
She went on to tell him about the events that had happened during their high school years and the coma. She explained to him what had led her to working for the mayor and about the attempted murder of Angel and the fight with Buffy. She also explained how after four years of being in that coma she awoke to the forgiveness of these people and the chance at a new family.
"John, I'd understand if you wanted to break the engagement now that you know about the true me."
She looked down at her shoes. She couldn't look him in the eyes, afraid to see the rejection that she was sure was there.
John looked at her for a moment and then reached out and lifted her chin up so that he could look into her eyes.
"Faith, I still love you and still want you to be my wife. You've moved on past those events of years ago and have really turned your life around. As for the Slayer part, I now understand where you're coming from now on certain points. It really does help to define who you are. I don't mind it. Your father explained it well."
He leaned forward and captured her lips with his and they kissed for a while. He then led her back into the living room by the hand. Everyone smiled when they saw that, they had been nervous that these revelations had caused John to reconsider their engagement.
"Don't worry folks, the engagement is still on." said John.
"Faith, your father and sister explained to me some of the events that led to your being in a coma for a few years. Don't worry about that. From what I saw tonight and from what I expect your Academy records will show I can see that you have turned your life around for the better. Now don't get me wrong, I will look into these events, but my offer still stands at this time." said Chief Jenkins.
The Chief and John then got up and took their leave of them. They were followed by most of the others. The only ones left were those that lived there.
"Thanks for your help tonight Dad." said Faith, while she hugged him.
"Your welcome honey." said Giles.
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I was May 3rd and we find the entire family at the hospital. They are there for the birth of Amy's twins. They found out a few months ago that she was going to have twins. She had started to go into labor over night. The only ones not in the waiting room were Amy, of course, and Oz and Tara. Oz of course was with Amy, and Tara was working with the doctor. This was the field that she was studying in Medical School to go into and was interning at Sunnydale General. She had asked if she could assist in this particular birth. Amy's doctor had agreed, so had Amy and Oz. She had already made arrangements to assist with Cordy's delivery as well, which should be in another couple of weeks.
The pregnancy was going fine. There had been some worry early on about the possibility of Oz's werewolf status being inherited by their children. They had also worried a little about the fact that Amy's witchcraft was hereditary. They looked into this, but couldn't find any examples of where a witch and a werewolf had children. They ended up taking a wait and see attitude. They lucked out some, the full moon was still a couple of days away.
A few hours later Tara walked out of the delivery room with a big smile on her face.
"Everyone, you can come in and meet Oz and Amy's twins."
They all walked in. They found Amy holding one baby and Oz holding the other.
"Hey everyone. Thanks for coming. Let me introduce you to our son, Andrew Edward Osborne and our daughter, Lori Willow Osborne." said Oz.
Everyone crowded in to see the babies.
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A few nights later the new family was at home resting. Oz and Amy had magically inspected their children and were pretty sure that only Lori had inherited her mother's witchcraft. They were also pretty sure that only Andy had inherited Oz's werewolf nature. What they did not know was if he had also inherited the spell that had been placed on Oz, allowing him control over the wolf. Due to this they put the two babies into separate cribs for the night. They didn't want to take a chance that Andy, not knowing what was going on, would attack Lori.
When the sun went down they watched over the two babies. Sure enough Andy started changing into a werewolf. Lori, on the other hand, did not. Now they knew that she was not one. Andy let out some cries while he went through the change. Oz expected this as he knew that the change could be somewhat painful at times, especially the first few times you go through it. He had told this to Amy earlier. What surprised them was when Lori cried out in sympathy for what Andy was going through.
After the change finished Andy sniffed around his crib. He appeared to be looking for something. He finished sniffing around and began to whine. Lori also started to cry. Oz reached down and put his hand near Andy's nose. Andy stopped whining for a moment and licked his father's hand. He looked up at his father and let out a small woof. He soon started whining again. Amy did the same thing and the same thing happened. She had also tried to calm Lori down and couldn't. Amy looked at Oz for an explanation of this. Oz thought about it for a few minutes.
"I think he is looking for Lori. He can smell her scent in the crib, since she is normally in there with him. He just can't find her, which is why he is whining. I think she misses him as well. It is obvious that they share quite a bond between them. You noticed how Lori also cried while Andy was going through the change. I think she sensed something was happening to Andy. I want to try putting Lori in there with him. I don't believe he will do anything to her. I'll pull her out if he tries something." said Oz.
"Ok. But get her out of there quickly if he tries to attack her." said Amy.
Oz picked up Lori and placed her on her back in the crib with Andy. Andy immediately stopped whining and padded over to her. He sniffed her for a moment and then licked her face. He then curled up next to her with his head resting on her tummy. Lori had also stopped crying and had a small smile on her little face. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Andy also closed his eyes and fell asleep. One eye was partially open though.
"Wow. I think you're right honey. It appears that they do have a strong bond. I had read where some twins do. Andy looks like he is protecting Lori there." said Amy.
"He is. See how he still has one eye partially open. The wolf in him told him it was his job to protect his littermate. I think that he did inherit the spell too. He definitely knew who we were and who Lori was. He also did not try to get out of the crib. He just needs to learn how to control the change. That will come with time. I think they'll be ok. Let's go to bed. I'll keep an ear open for anything amiss." said Oz.
They went to bed and in the morning they found Andy changed back to a human baby. He was still lying next to Lori in the crib. They had been awoken a couple times that night for feedings. Amy was unsure at first how to feed Andy while in his wolf state, but soon figured it out.
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About a week later they were all at the hospital again. This time it was Cordelia that was giving birth. Once again Tara was assisting with the delivery.
Oz and Amy had told the rest of the family what had happened during the full moon. They were all surprised at the turn of the events that took place. Currently Lori and Andy were playing on a blanket on the floor. Jesse was playing with them as well. Their parents were keeping an eye on them.
Pretty soon Tara came out of the delivery room and told them that they could all come in now. They all followed her in and found Cordy propped up in bed holding her new son. Angel was sitting next to her on the bed.
"Hey everyone. Please let me introduce you to our new son, Alexander Liam O'Rourke." said a proud Angel.
They all gathered around to see the new baby.
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It was June 20th and everyone was gathered on the grounds of the Police Academy to see Faith graduate. The ceremony started and Faith led the other graduating cadets in. She had been selected as the Cadet Commander. She was so honored as she was graduating at the top of her class.
During the ceremony Faith received a plaque stating that she was the valedictorian of the class. Chief Stephen Jenkins of the Sunnydale Police Force presented her it. He then went on to tell the assembled people that Faith would be joining the Sunnydale Police Force immediately.
After the ceremony was over Faith was mobbed by her family. John grabbed her up in a hug and kissed her deeply. She then got hugs from her parents and sisters.
"Congratulations Faith!" said Xander.
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It was July 12th and Faith had been working as a police officer for less than a month. She loved it. The Chief had paired her up with a veteran officer that had been one of the few decent officers that Sunnydale had had. He was taking his time in showing her the ropes of the job. They were getting along great and he had even had her and John over for dinner one night with him and his wife.
Though she had just started working, she was already taking a week off. She had arranged this ahead of time with the Chief. The reason for it was that she and John were getting married. In fact today was the day of the wedding. She was at her house with her mother, sisters and the other girls getting ready for the wedding. She was just glad that her slight hangover had gone away. Her friends on the force had insisted that they take her out last night for some drinks to celebrate her impending nuptials. It had been a long night.
A few hours later they arrived at the church for the wedding. The guys were already there. John stood down in front with his best man and groomsmen. Xander was his best man and Angel and Oz were groomsmen. He hadn't really known anyone here in town when he had moved her a little over a year ago.
Faith's matron of honor was Buffy. Her bridesmaids were Dawn, Tara, Willow, Amy and Cordelia. Giles and Joyce were both escorting her down the aisle. Lord Edward, Chief Jenkins and her partner were in the audience. Edward had come over for the wedding.
The music started and the procession started down the aisle.
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A couple of hours later and the ceremony was over and everyone was at the hotel for the reception. The DJ was announcing everyone from the wedding party into the reception. He finally came to the bride and groom.
"May I introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. John and Faith Miller."
They waltzed in to a thunderous applause.
The reception ended up being a hit. Everyone had a great time. It was about eleven o'clock when Faith and John decided to head for their room for the night. They were leaving the next morning for Hawaii for their honeymoon.
"Hey Angel, were you able to get it?" asked Xander off to one side. He was standing there with Oz.
"Yep. The champagne should be on its way up to their room now. I was able to get a bottle of Grand Krug 1985. It's a really good year for that brand." said Angel.
"Cool. Did we give you enough?" asked Oz.
"Yep. Here's what's left." replied Angel.
Everyone then wished the happy couple a good time on their honeymoon and left.
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It was October 10th and the whole family was present at the Miller's house. This was the first family dinner that Faith and John were hosting in their new house. Everyone was having a great time. Dinner had been Indian curries. Faith had taken an interest recently in learning how to cook different foods. They had turned out great.
They were now all sitting around the living room and talking. The kids were playing on the carpet in front of them.
"Hey everyone, Xander and I have an announcement to make. We're pregnant again." said Buffy.
"Hey, thanks for stealing my thunder in my own house." said Faith.
"Excuse me?" asked Buffy, confused.
Joyce suddenly gasped. "You mean you're pregnant too?"
"Yep. John and I just found out this morning from the doctor." said Faith.
Everyone congratulated the two couples. While this was going on Giles was sitting back with a thoughtful expression on his face.
Joyce noticed this and asked him what was wrong.
"I was just trying to figure out what we are going to do when both Buffy and Faith are too far along to patrol. Also, we do have to worry about that damned prophecy again, but this time on two fronts." said Giles.
This statement made everyone start thinking. Xander quickly filled John in on the prophecy and what had happened the last time.
"As far as the patrolling is concerned, it's only for a month or so. We should be ok. Worse comes too worse I'll see if I can get Major Albright and his men to help us. As to the prophecy, maybe we should consider in the last month to have both Slayers living in the same house. It would make protecting them easier." said Xander.
"As for what house, why don't you come stay with us during the last month? There's plenty of room." suggested Joyce.
"That's sounds fine to me, Mom." said Buffy.
"Me too." said Faith.
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It was April 22nd and Willow and Tara were sitting in the office of Mrs. Pamela Brennan, Director of Adoption Services for Sunnydale and the surrounding communities.
"Well Miss Rosenberg and Miss Maclay, your paperwork seems to be in order. Now you do know that it may take a while to find a child for you to adopt. Even when we do there will have to be a couple of meetings with you to make sure that there is a good fit." said Mrs. Brennan.
"Yes, we understand that. Thank you for all of your help." said Willow.
"You're welcome and good luck." said Mrs. Brennan.
With that Willow and Tara walked out of the office and the building. They were in the process of adopting a child. They had decided to undertake this about a month ago. They had been discussing it for quite some time. They had not told anyone else about it yet. They wanted to make sure that they would be able to do so before telling anyone else.
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It was June and both Buffy and Xander and Faith and John were now living at Joyce and Giles's house. The house seemed a little crowded, but everyone knew that it was only for a month. Though it had not been discussed at all, they now also had a nightly visitor, every night. Oz had once again taken it upon himself to guard the house every night until both of the Slayers gave birth. Due to this Willow and Tara were helping Amy out as she had two one year olds to take care of by herself at night. She did not mind that Oz wasn't there though, she understood the importance of his task.
It was midnight and Xander and John were just arriving home from their patrol. Xander had taught John the art of patrolling and vampire slaying.
"Man, I'm beat. I'm going to head to bed." said John.
"Me too." said Xander.
About two hours later Xander was woken up by the sounds coming from outside. It sounded like a major battle going on out there. He looked out the window and it appeared that that was what was going on. Oz was battling about twenty vampires out there.
He quickly grabbed his rifle and opened the window. He got one in his sight and fired. Without even waiting for the dusting he re-sighted and fired again. While he was doing this he heard another gun firing. He looked along the side of the building and saw that it was John leaning out his window firing his pistol.
Suddenly he heard his two year-old crying for his mommy. He quickly ducked his head back in and woke up Buffy.
"Honey, go to Jesse. He's scared. I have to stay here and help Oz. There's still about fifteen vamps down there."
She quickly got up and went to see to her son. As she was doing this she saw her father walk down the stairs and out the door. She also saw Dawn with her cross bow leaning out her window, firing at the vamps.
Xander continued firing at the vamps. Every shot he made dusted another vamp. Suddenly he saw fireball coming from the side of the house. He glanced over there and saw that it was Giles. Giles had his hands out in front of him and was throwing fireballs at the vamps.
Finally they were down to the last vamps. Giles burnt one to a crisp, John, Xander and Dawn each got one and Oz tore the last one to pieces. Oz then looked around and acknowledged the help of the others and then walked back to his resting spot and lay down once more. He did this all without making a single sound. At this point the rest of them put there weapons away and also went back to bed.
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It was two days later when Buffy went into labor. Joyce called Xander at the university and told him to meet them at the hospital. When he got there he was quickly rushed into his protective clothing and lead into the delivery room. Tara was once again in attendance. She was actually delivering the baby.
A few hours later Tara walked out to the waiting room and signaled for them to come on in. The whole group was there by this point, even Faith. They walked in to find Xander sitting next to Buffy on the bed. Buffy had their new daughter in her arms and a tired smile on her face.
"Let me introduce you all to Jenny Summers Harris." said Xander.
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About a week later it was Faith's turn to give birth. The whole group was once again sitting in the waiting room waiting to hear. Tara was once again delivering the baby.
After about five hours Tara walked out and invited them all in. They came in to see John sitting next to a happy Faith. She was holding their new baby girl.
"Everyone, meet Abigail Joyce Miller." said John.
Joyce leaned down and said, "She's beautiful dear. Thank you for the honor." She kissed Faith on the forehead.
"You know, you Summers women sure do make some beautiful babies." said a smiling Xander.
Everyone laughed at this.
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It was the middle of July and Willow and Tara were once again at the Sunnydale Adoption Agency. The reason was that they were there to pick up their new son. The adoption had been finalized yesterday, all that they needed to do know was sign the papers and they could take him home.
The baby boy was only a week old. They had been told that the mother was single and couldn't afford to take care of the baby. She had freely given him up to a good home.
They sat down with Mrs. Brennan again and signed the last of the papers.
"Alright, the last thing we need is to fill in the name of the child. The mother did not name him, as she knew she was giving him up right away. It is up to you two to give him a name."
"We know what it will be. He will be named Thomas William Maclay- Rosenberg." said Tara.
"Very good. Nice name. Alright, its been recorded. Now let me take you to him." said Mrs. Brennan.
She led them down the hall to a nursery. They walked in and she reached down into a crib and pulled out a baby boy. She handed him to Tara. Willow stood next to Tara looking at their new son with her.
"Congratulations ladies. I wish you three the best in your new lives together." said Mrs. Brennan.
They stood there for a little while looking at their son. They then got everything together and left to begin their new lives together. That night was their regular family dinner. This time it was at their house. They would introduce little Tom to the rest of the family at that time. The others still didn't know that they were even considering adopting a child.
They took Tom home and sat down with him on the sofa. The two ladies just watched him sleep for several hours. They couldn't get enough of watching him. Even Miss Kitty Fantastico, their cat, came over to watch him.
After a few hours they took Tom into the kitchen with them and put him in his car seat which they had sitting on the counter. This way they could keep an eye on him while they prepared dinner. They already had everything they needed for him. They had purchased all of the stuff over the last several months. They did most of the purchasing out of town so that no one who knew them would see them.
At one point during dinner preparation Tom woke up and started crying. Willow grabbed a bottle of formula from the fridge and quickly warmed it on the stove. She then handed it to Tara who had been holding Tom. Tara fed him and when he was done she put the bottle down and burped him. She then put him back into his seat and got back to helping Willow.
At six o'clock their guest started arriving. By 6:15pm they were all there and sitting in the living room talking. Willow walked into the room and got everyone's attention.
"Could I have everyone's attention for a moment? Tara and I have an announcement that we would like to make. Over the last four months we have been meeting with some people to arrange for something. We would like to finally share that with you all." said Willow.
At that cue, Tara walked into the living room carrying Tom and sat down next to Willow on the love seat. Everyone had his or her mouth open in shock.
"Everyone, we'd like to introduce you to our new son, Thomas William Maclay- Rosenberg. The adoption was just finalized this morning." said a smiling Tara. Willow also had a smile plastered on her face.
Everyone gathered in close to see their new son.
"He's beautiful Willow, Tara." said Giles.
"Congratulations!" said Buffy.
"How old is he?" asked Dawn.
"He's a week old. He was born July 10th. His mother was a single mom who couldn't afford a baby. She gave him up at birth. That's all we were told." said Tara.
"Well, congratulations you two. I know that you'll both make excellent mothers." said Joyce.
END
The Births
by Scott R. Barnett
It was mid May and everything was going great with Buffy's pregnancy. Xander and her were just leaving the doctor's office from one of her multitude of checkups. Xander didn't mind though, he was just as excited as Buffy about the pregnancy. Truthfully, the whole group was excited about it. They were the first ones married, and now the first ones having a baby. The only complaints were from Buffy herself. Considering that she was always a small woman she was complaining that she now looked like the size of a house.
The group was going through other changes as well. Over the next several months the rest of the couples were going to be getting married. Angel and Cordelia will be getting married in June. Oz and Amy will be tying the knot in July and Willow and Tara's wedding is in August. Everyone hoped that the baby would come on time, as the due date was before any of the weddings. It was in early June, and Angel and Cordelia's wedding was set for late June. Also Angel, Oz and Amy would all be graduating from college in a couple of days. On top of all that Faith, who had just received her High School Diploma about a week ago, would be starting at the Police Academy in June.
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Saturday had rolled around and Buffy and Xander were getting ready to go to the college for the graduation ceremony. Three of their best friends were graduating and they wanted to see it. At eight months, Buffy's pregnancy was very obvious. One of the problems that they had run into was it was now rather difficult for her to climb up into Xander's jeep. They finally decided it was time to get Buffy a car of her own. With some financial help from Joyce and Giles, they did. Xander was helping Buffy get into the passenger seat of her Pontiac Grand Prix. She had trouble getting behind the steering wheel at this point.
"Are you ok honey?" asked Xander.
"As ok as I can be carrying something around the size of a house." stated Buffy.
Xander just smiled at this and started up the car. They drove over to the university and quickly found the rest of their group. They then found seats where they could see their loved ones graduate.
After graduation was over they all went back to the Giles residence for a graduation party. The party was a hit with everyone.
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It was about five in the evening and the only ones left were the Scoobies. Suddenly the doorbell rang.
"I wonder who that would be." said Giles, as he walked over to the front door. He looked out and then opened the door. It was his father.
"Father, what are you doing here?" asked Rupert.
"I came for two reasons. May I come in? This concerns your entire 'family'." said Lord Edward Giles.
"Certainly." said Rupert.
They walked back into the living room where everyone was sitting.
"Edward? What are you doing here?" asked Joyce.
"Good evening everyone. I came from England for two reasons. They concern the Slayers." said Edward.
"In what way Father?" asked Rupert.
"The first reason is that from your reports on Faith I believe she is ready to be tested. I know that you have not yet allowed her to go out on her own while patrolling. I agree with this. The problem is that she will need to be ready soon due to the other reason that I am here." said Edward.
Turning to Faith he said, "Do not worry about the test my dear. I believe that my son has more than prepared you for it. We will conduct it tomorrow."
"What is the other reason for your visit, Father?" asked Rupert.
"The other reason concerns the Prophecy of Dugmara." said Edward.
Both Rupert and Angel blanched at this.
"Oh God! I had not thought of that." said Angel.
"Neither had I." said Rupert.
"What's wrong? What's this Dugmara?" asked Buffy.
"The prophecy of Dugmara states that if a vampire were to sacrifice the unborn child of a Slayer in the last month of pregnancy then it would receive unmentionable powers." states Edward.
"What?!? That's not good. Buffy's just about to enter her last month." said Xander.
"Then you must protect her and the baby at all costs. They cannot be allowed to get her. I would recommend that you keep at least one or two people with her at all times." said Edward.
"Lord Giles is right. Buffy, why don't you and Xander come stay with us? We have plenty of room and at night there would be more people around. It will only be for a month. I know that you have taken a leave from school due to the pregnancy." offered Angel. Cordelia nodded her head in agreement.
"Thanks Angel, Cordy. What do you think Xander?" asked Buffy.
"Its probably not a bad idea. We'll also step up our patrols during the month. Willow, Giles I think it would be best if we kept all patrols to at least three people. I don't think single patrols are a good idea right now." replied Xander.
"I agree. Why don't we work out a schedule?" said Giles.
They quickly worked out a schedule for patrols. They decided to keep all patrols to a minimum of at least four people. Buffy, of course, would not be patrolling. She hasn't been for a few months already.
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The next night Lord Giles gave Faith the Council's test. She passed it with flying colors. He also accompanied the patrol that night to see her in action. He was very impressed with her performance, and told her so in front of everyone. She couldn't keep the smile off of her face all night. Everyone was happy for her. They even went to the Bronze to celebrate.
That night Buffy and Xander moved into Angel and Cordelia's house. They set them up in a guest room on the second floor. Lord Giles was also staying in town until the baby was born. He was house sitting Buffy and Xander's house for them while they stayed with Angel and Cordelia.
"Thanks for putting us up Angel, Cordy. We really appreciate it." said Xander.
"No problem. You guys are very important to us. We don't want to see anything happen to you or your unborn child." replied Cordelia.
***********************************************************************
The next week went by peacefully. The group even had a baby shower for Buffy. Then it started. One morning Angel and Cordy were walking out the door to go to work and they found three dust piles on the porch. Cordy looked at Angel, but he just shrugged. He didn't know why they were there either. They left them there and continued on to work. When Angel got to work he called Xander and told him to look on the porch. Xander walked out and saw the piles. He was just as clueless as to how they ended up there as well. It was obvious to all of them that they were the remains of vampires, but they had no idea who killed them.
This continued over the next couple of weeks. About every other day they would find some dust piles here or there around the property. They were no closer to figuring it out then when it started. Truthfully they weren't trying too hard either.
They would get their answer sooner than they thought.
***********************************************************************
The four of them were sitting in the backyard, enjoying a nice Saturday afternoon.
"Hey Cordy, would you mind if I invited Granddad over for dinner? He seems kind of lonely over in that house by himself." asked Buffy.
"Granddad? I didn't know you had a grandfather in the area." said Cordy.
"Who she means is Edward Giles. You know how Dawn, Faith and her have been calling Giles, Dad, for several months now. Well, they have been referring to Lord Giles as granddad for a couple of months as well. If you think about it, since Giles is her step-dad, then that technically makes Edward Giles her step-granddad. Besides, I've seen it when the three of them have called him granddad. He loves it just as much as Giles does when they call him dad. Like father, like son, I guess." replied Xander.
"Ok. Yeah, we can invite Edward over. I like him as well." said Cordy.
"I'll call him." said Xander. He went inside for a moment to call him.
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That night Lord Giles arrived for dinner. Angel answered the door.
"Good evening, Lord Giles."
"Good evening, Angel."
Angel held the door open for him. He stepped in and greeted the rest of them.
"You look lovely tonight Cordelia. Good evening Xander. You also look lovely Buffy."
"Thanks for coming granddad." said Buffy and gave him as big a hug as she could, considering she was more than eight months pregnant.
Xander, Angel and Cordy saw how Edward's face lit up at the greeting and hug from Buffy.
"I see what you mean." whispered Cordy.
Angel offered Edward a drink while Cordelia went to check on dinner. Pretty soon dinner was ready.
They moved into the dining room and sat down to dinner. Edward was directed to a seat next to Buffy. They enjoyed a delicious meal of Beef Stroganoff.
After dinner they retired to the living room to sit and talk.
"Edward, maybe you can help us with a mystery that we have. For a couple of weeks now we have found outside piles of vampire dust when we leave for work in the morning. We have no idea how they came to be there. We have not killed the vampires, and Faith told us that she hasn't been here. I can't imagine who else it would have been. The patterns of the piles looks vaguely familiar, but I just can't place it." said Angel.
"Explain the pattern to me. I might recognize it." replied Edward.
Angel explained the pattern to Edward. Edward sat still for a moment thinking about it. Suddenly he got up and asked, "Do you have an upstairs window that I can look out of over the back yard."
"Certainly, follow me." said Angel. He led him and the rest upstairs.
They went into the master bedroom and Edward looked out the window. He looked carefully around the whole yard for several minutes. Finally he stood back from the window and smiled at them.
"What did you see?" asked Cordy.
"I saw your silent protector. It was exactly what I figured it was. You have a visitor in your backyard. I imagine he has been there almost every night." replied Edward.
The four of them looked out the window. The two women turned away and shook their heads. They couldn't see anyone. Angel and Xander continued looking though. Finally they thought they saw a shape lying within the trees along the back of the property. It was easy to over look. The shape just blended right in during the night.
"I see what you mean Edward. I am shocked that I didn't think of that sooner." said Angel.
"Who? What?" asked Buffy.
"Cordy, Buffy come take a look. You'll see in a moment. We have four vampires entering the yard." said Xander.
They all gathered at the windows to watch. Just as the vampires had walked past the trees lining the back of the property they were bowled over by a large shape. Two of the vampires were turned to dust immediately. The other two stood back up. They charged the creature, but were also dusted rather quickly.
Suddenly Buffy looked farther away.
"What's wrong?" asked Xander.
"I see about fifteen more vamps coming down the street." said Buffy.
"Cordy, grab my cross bow from the closet." said Angel.
"Buffy can you grab my rifle from our room?" asked Xander.
The two ladies came back quickly with the weapons. Both loaded up and sighted through the now open windows. Xander was able to use his sooner due to the greater distance. He quickly sniped about five of them before they came into range of Angel's cross bow. Angel got three more. At this point the creature below was aware of the problem and jumped into the fray. He quickly took down five of them, while Angel and Xander took out the last three. When they were done the creature looked up at the window and nodded its head once. It then went back to its spot in the trees and laid back down, effectively disappearing from view once again.
They put the weapons away and then went back downstairs to talk some more.
"So it's been Oz out there all this time." said Buffy.
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The next night found everyone at the Giles residence for dinner. After dinner they all sat around the living room talking.
"Dad, remember the mystery that we were talking to you about the other day? Well, we found the answer last night." said Buffy.
"Oh, what or who was it?" asked Rupert.
"Oz." said Xander.
What are you talking about?" asked Dawn.
"Well, over the last couple of weeks we've been finding piles of vampire dust around the outside of the house when we leave for work in the morning. We've been wondering why they were there. We knew that we had not killed the vampires." said Cordy.
"Last night we were attacked by nineteen vampires. While we were shooting them from an upstairs window Oz was taking them apart outside. It appears that he has been guarding the house since Buffy and Xander moved in." said Angel.
"Did you know about this Amy?" asked Buffy.
"Yes I did. Is there a problem with it?" asked Amy.
"I would think so. He doesn't need to be there every night. He should be at home with you." said Buffy.
"He's doing what he has to do. You understand it, don't you Willow?" asked Amy.
"Yes I do. Buffy, he has to do this. He doesn't really have a choice." stated Willow.
"What are you two talking about? Everyone has a choice. Even you do Oz." said Buffy.
Oz just raised an eyebrow at her and said nothing. He then looked at Rupert and Edward.
"Maybe one of you could explain it to her." said Oz.
"I'll handle this Rupert." said Edward. He then turned in his chair to look at Buffy.
"My dear child, since you are saying this I must assume that you do not truly understand the wolf mentality. Young Mr. Osborne is a werewolf. Now I know that you are aware of this. What you don't seem to be aware of is that the wolf mentality plays a large part in how he acts at times. To the wolf there is nowhere else he can be. He must be there to protect you. You are the pack leader and are in danger. He is sworn to protect the pack. I expected as much when I saw his reaction to the prophecy. I am aware that you think that his expressions are hard to read, but I have had a lot of experience in my years. I was watching him specifically to see what his reaction would be when we told you of the prophecy. Miss Madison and Miss Rosenberg understand this. Now you have to. It is nature. You may be able to fight unnatural things, but you cannot fight the laws of nature. Think of it this way. You probably have the best bodyguard that you could ever find. A werewolf that is in control of its actions would lay down its own life to protect yours if it came to it. It is simply the way of the wolf. Even if you don't completely understand this now, at least accept it. As for a choice, he no more has a choice in this than you do with your being the Slayer." said Edward.
"Buffy, you need to understand something. Even if it weren't for the wolf in me I would still do what I could to protect you and your unborn child. I happen to be afflicted with the same disease that Xander and Angel have. We all have the burning desire to help and protect the ones that we love. Think back to all of times that Xander or Angel snuck after you to try to protect you when you went to fight some big nasty evil. They did this because they cared for you. I do too. If you think about it you might see that if it weren't for you none of us would be together here today. If you hadn't did what you did in LA as a freshman in high school, than Dawn, Joyce and you wouldn't have moved to Sunnydale. If you hadn't come here then neither Angel nor Giles would have either. Without you Xander and Willow would probably have continued on with their lives blissfully unaware of the dangers of the night. They also wouldn't have grown like they have. Xander would still probably be the class clown and Willow the shy unassuming girl. If that had happened then Cordelia would never have gotten involved with the fight and neither would have I. Also, if not for your influence on Willow then neither Tara nor Amy would be involved. Even Faith is here because of you. As you can see we all owe you a debt of gratitude for bringing us together. We all love you. You're very important to all of us." said Oz.
Buffy looked around the room and saw everyone nodding their heads in agreement with what Oz had said. She couldn't hold it in anymore and started crying tears of joy. Xander put his arm around her and held her tight while she cried. Her bent his head and kissed her on the forehead.
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It was a couple of weeks later. Buffy was laying on the couch in the living room reading a book in the afternoon. Suddenly the contractions started.
'Oh boy!' thought Buffy.
She quickly grabbed the phone and called Xander on his cell phone.
"Honey, it's started. I've already felt several contractions." said Buffy.
"Ok, I'll come home now. Call you parents and let them know." replied Xander.
Xander turned to the professor that he was working for as a graduate assistant.
"Professor White, I have to go. Buffy's contractions have started. She's going into labor." said Xander.
"Go right ahead my boy. Best of luck to you and the missus." said Professor White.
Xander rushed out to his jeep and drove home. When he got there he found Giles and Joyce already there. He rushed in to see how his wife was doing.
"Buffy, how are you doing?" asked Xander.
"The contractions are still coming. Mom's already called my doctor and she said to come on in." replied Buffy.
They quickly grabbed her overnight bag that they had kept packed and escorted her out to the car. The four of them drove to the hospital. On the way Giles called everyone and let them know what was going on.
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Several hours later the whole group was sitting in the waiting room waiting to hear. Xander was in the delivery room with Buffy. Suddenly the door opened and Xander came walking out.
"It's a boy!" said Xander, with a huge smile on his face.
A few minutes later everyone was allowed into the room to greet the new baby and new mother. Xander was sitting on the side of the bed with his arm around Buffy. She was sitting up in the bed with their new son in her arms.
"He's beautiful dear." said Joyce.
"So, what's his name?" asked Dawn, looking down at her new nephew.
"Everyone, please say hello to Jesse Giles Harris." said Xander.
"That's a great name." said Willow, smiling.
"Yes it is." agreed Rupert.
Everyone got a chance to hold him for a few minutes. Then they filed out to let the new family have some time to themselves. Xander walked out a few minutes later.
"Buffy and Jesse are sleeping. I wanted to thank all of you for coming down here. It means a lot to both of us." said Xander.
"You're welcome. Thank you for the honor of giving him my family name as well." said Rupert. Edward nodded his head in agreement.
"Buffy wanted to do that since all of your step children are girls. She didn't want the Giles name to just disappear. You two have meant a lot to her. I agree with her on this as well. We plan to have at least one more kid in a year or so. We plan to give him or her the middle name Summers for the same reason. All of our children will carry my name, we felt it was important for them to carry her family names as well." said Xander.
**********************************************************************
Somewhere above, looking down on the scene at the hospital are two beings in white robes. They're both smiling.
"See, they haven't forgotten you Jesse. Xander and Buffy just named their first child in your honor." said on of the beings.
"Yes, I see that. I'm happy for them. Thanks for showing me this Ms. Calendar. You know, I think that if they have a daughter they will probably name her for you." said Jesse.
"You may be right. I'm happy for them as well. We'll of course continue keeping an eye on them." said Jenny Calendar, smiling down on them.
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It was now September and things had returned to normal. The three weddings had gone off without a hitch over the summer. Also, Buffy has now gone back to work and school and Faith was well into her classes at the Police Academy. While Buffy and Xander were at school, Joyce and Giles would baby- sit little Jesse.
It was Wednesday night and the whole 'family' had once again gathered at the Giles residence for dinner. After dinner found them in the living room sitting and talking over coffee.
"Ok, I've had enough. Faith, Amy, Cordelia, what gives? You three have been positively glowing all night." asked Buffy.
"Well, I don't know why they are glowing, but I just met the most amazing guy today at school." replied Faith.
"Who?" asked Buffy. She was happy to see her sister all glowy over a guy.
"His name is Dr. John Miller. He's the new town coroner. He was the guest speaker today and we talked for a while after class. He asked me if I would like to go out on Friday. I told him yes." replied Faith.
"That's great honey." said Joyce.
"Hey Cordy, do you think you can help me pick something out to wear on Friday? I don't have a lot of experience with this type of thing." asked Faith.
"Sure, no problem." replied Cordy.
"Ok, now that answers for Faith. What about you two?" asked Xander.
Cordy and Amy looked at each other. Instinctively they knew what the situation was with the other one. Cordy nodded to Amy to go ahead.
"Well the reason I'm all glowy, as you put it, is that Oz and I just found out that I'm pregnant." replied Amy, smiling.
"Before anyone else says anything I have the same reason. Angel and I just found out that I'm pregnant as well." said Cordy, also smiling.
Everyone started talking at once. They all congratulated the two couples.
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It was Friday night. Faith was upstairs in her bedroom getting ready for her date. Buffy was helping her. Cordy had been by earlier that day and had picked out an outfit for Faith to wear that night. Xander and Giles were sitting in the living room talking. Giles was holding Jesse. Dawn and Joyce were in the kitchen getting dinner ready.
At 6pm the doorbell rang. Giles got up and answered it. There was a gentleman standing there. He appeared to be in his mid to late twenties.
"Hello, can I help you?" asked Giles.
"Yes. My name is John Miller. I am here to pick up Faith for a date." replied John.
"Ah yes. Please come in. I'm Faith's father, Rupert Giles." said Giles.
John came in to the house and they shook hands. Giles led him into the living room and introduced him to Xander.
"John, this is Xander Harris. He's Faith's brother-in-law. He's married to her sister Buffy." said Giles.
"Good to meet you." said John.
"Good to meet you as well. Were you in the service at some point?" asked Xander.
"Yes I was. I served a couple of years with the Army Medical Corps right after medical school." replied John.
"I thought so. I recognized the way you carry yourself. I served two years active duty with the Green Berets. I'm still with them in a reserve status." said Xander.
Giles walked over to the stairs.
"Faith, John is here." shouted Giles up the stairs.
About a minute later Buffy came down.
"Hi, I'm Buffy, Faith's sister." said Buffy.
Joyce and Dawn walked out of the kitchen.
"Hi, I'm Joyce. I'm Faith's mother and this is her younger sister, Dawn." said Joyce.
"Good to meet you all." said John.
At that moment Faith came down the stairs.
"Hi John. I see you met the family." said Faith.
"Yes I did. Are you ready to go?" asked John.
"Yes. I'll see you guys later." said Faith.
"It was nice to meet you all." said John.
John and Faith left and Giles closed the door behind them.
"He seems like a decent chap." said Giles.
"Yes he does." agreed Joyce.
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It was Valentines Day and John had arrived at the Giles household to pick up Faith for their date. He had gotten to know all of the members of the Giles 'family' since he started dating Faith. He liked them. They were a friendly bunch. It appeared to him that they all liked him as well. He was happy for this, as it appeared that their approval was important to Faith. On their fourth date Faith had explained a little bit about her family to John. She left out the whole vampire bit, but she did tell him how Joyce and Giles were really her adopted parents. She also explained how most of the others weren't blood related, but were really good friends since high school and college.
He picked her up and they went to a nice restaurant in town. They had been dating for five months now and he knew that she was the one that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He had told her that he loved her about two months ago. She had said that she loved him as well.
They had been talking about a lot of things during dinner. Their plates from their main courses were cleared away and dessert was brought out. John had ordered soufflés for both of them. The plates were covered when they were placed in front of them. The waiter poured them each a glass of champagne and then uncovered the plates before walking away.
Faith gasped when she was her dessert. Right on top of the soufflé was a small doily with a diamond ring sitting on top of it. While she was staring at it John had gotten up from his chair and had knelt down on one knee next to her chair. She looked down at him. John reached up and picked up the ring. He then took her left hand into his. She had covered her mouth with her right one.
"Faith, you know I love you. You've become the most important thing in my life over the last five months. I don't think I could continue on if I didn't have you by my side. Will you marry me?"
Faith just stared at him in shock for a minute. She had tears running down her face. John slipped the ring onto her finger.
"Yes!" whispered Faith. She then pulled him up and kissed him.
The people around them that had realized what was going on started applauding them. A few of them told them congratulations as well.
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Meanwhile, back at the Giles residence Dawn was sitting in the living room with her baby nephew. She had agreed to baby-sit Jesse while Xander took Buffy out for Valentines Day. Her parents had also gone out. She was between boyfriends at the moment, so she didn't have a date. Besides, she was going to the Valentines Dance on Saturday at the school.
"So Jesse, do you think I will soon have a new brother-in-law?" asked Dawn.
Jesse, however, just yawned at her and closed his eyes. Dawn just smiled at this. She loved her little nephew. She knew about the proposal as John had stopped by the other night while Faith was out to talk to her parents about it. He was old fashioned when it came to these things, and Giles had liked that about him. Dawn had over heard the conversation. She had kept quiet about it.
It was about nine o'clock when her parents had arrived home. They sat down with Dawn and Jesse in the living room. About a half-hour later Buffy and Xander stopped by to pick up Jesse. They sat down for a little while as well.
At ten o'clock they all heard the door opening. In walked Faith and John. She had invited John to come in. They walked into the living room. Everyone could see the big smile on her face.
"Mom, Dad, everyone, John asked me to marry him. I said yes." said Faith. She showed them the ring.
They all gathered around and congratulated the couple. They also looked at the ring.
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The next morning at breakfast Faith looked a little worried. She was sitting at the table with Giles, Joyce and Dawn.
"What's wrong honey?" asked Joyce.
"I just thought of something. How do I tell John about the Slayer bit? If I'm going to marry him I can't keep that a secret. Buffy had it easy in this regard. Xander already knew about it." asked Faith.
"Why don't you invite him over one of these nights and I'll help you tell him about it." offered Giles.
"Thanks Dad. I'll talk to him after school today. Remember that I'll be a little late tonight. I have that extra training session that my teacher scheduled for after normal classes." said Faith.
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That evening Faith walked into the Medical Examiner's office at the Hospital. As she walked in she heard some talking, so she waited in the outer office. She stood there in her Police Cadet uniform. The door to the examining rooms opened up and John stuck his head out of it.
"Oh, hi Faith. I didn't know you were stopping by. Come on in here, I want you to meet someone." said John.
Faith walked in to the examining room. She saw a gentleman in his thirties standing there.
"Faith, I'd like you to meet the new Chief of Police for Sunnydale. This is Chief Stephen Jenkins. Chief, this is my fiancé, Faith Giles. She's attending the Police Academy." said John.
"Good to meet you Cadet Giles. So, where do you want to work when you graduate?" asked the Chief.
"I'd like to join the force here in Sunnydale. I'm hoping to make detective." replied Faith.
As soon as she had replied her Slayer senses started going off. She started looking around. That's when she noticed the body under a sheet on one of the examining tables sit up. It pulled down the sheet and exposed a vampire.
"What the hell?" shouted John.
The Chief reached for his gun. He pointed it at the vampire and shouted for it to stop. The vampire ignored him and continued towards them. Faith in the meanwhile had reached behind her back and pulled out a wooden stake. She pushed John and the Chief back and advanced on the vampire. She kicked out and sent the vampire flying back. It got up again and swung at her. She punched back and kicked it again. This went on for a couple of minutes. She was finally able to slam it up against the wall and stake it in the heart. It quickly turned to dust. She turned around and found John and the Chief staring at her.
"What was that? What happened to it?" asked the Chief.
Faith was little nervous now. She had planned on telling John about this in private, but now her possible future boss had seen her in action as well.
"Let me make a quick call and then I'll explain it." said Faith.
She walked over to the phone and called home.
"Hello?" asked Giles.
"Dad, I have a problem. I came over to John's office to ask him to stop by and the new Chief of Police was standing here. While we were talking one of the bodies woke up as a vampire. John and the Chief saw me slay it. The Chief is new to Sunnydale." said a worried Faith.
Giles could here the worry in her voice.
"Its ok honey. Why don't you have both of them come to our home and I'll explain it? I'll have the others stop by. The Chief is a good man. He should be able to handle this." said Giles. Giles was on the town council and had been on the selection committee for the new Chief of Police.
"Thanks Dad. We'll be there shortly." said Faith and hung up.
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About twenty minutes later the three of them showed up at the Giles residence. When they walked in they found everyone there.
"Good evening Chief Jenkins, John. Please take a seat and I'll try to explain to you what you saw tonight." said Giles.
"Councilman Giles, how are you involved in this and who are all of these people?" asked Chief Jenkins.
"These people are my family. Now, what you saw tonight was a vampire. Faith is what is called a Slayer. It is her job to slay vampires and other evils. Her older sister Buffy is also one." said Giles.
He went on to explain to the two men about Slayers, Watchers and the darkness that they fought against. When the Chief asked him how they fight it he explained about the various skills and attributes that each of the family members had. He also told them about the previous mayor's actions.
"So, that is about it. I ask you to keep all of this information to as few people as possible. The public as a whole is not equipped to handle the truth about what is out there. Chief, your police officers are not capable of fighting these things, we are. What you need to do is to continue weeding out those on the force that are corrupt. That is one of the main reasons that I nominated you for the position. I had read the reports of how you cleaned up the force in Merion. Do you have any questions?" asked Giles.
"No, I think that you answered most of them. I will do as you ask and try to keep this information classified. I am going to poke around the department and see who on the force is familiar with the things that go bump in the night, though. On a side note, Cadet Giles, I wanted to tell you that I was impressed with your actions earlier. You handled yourself well under the pressure of it. Not only did you eliminate the threat quickly, you got the possible victims out of the way and you directed us to those that could explain what had happened. I am going to talk to your instructors at the academy about your actions. I will of course amend the story a little. Also, when it gets closer to graduation please come see me. I'd like to see your records at that time with the intention of hiring you for my force." said Chief Jenkins.
"Thank you sir. I'll do that." said Faith. She turned to John. "Can I see you in the other room a minute John?"
They walked into the kitchen.
"John, there's something's that you don't know about me. I couldn't tell you earlier without telling you about this."
She went on to tell him about the events that had happened during their high school years and the coma. She explained to him what had led her to working for the mayor and about the attempted murder of Angel and the fight with Buffy. She also explained how after four years of being in that coma she awoke to the forgiveness of these people and the chance at a new family.
"John, I'd understand if you wanted to break the engagement now that you know about the true me."
She looked down at her shoes. She couldn't look him in the eyes, afraid to see the rejection that she was sure was there.
John looked at her for a moment and then reached out and lifted her chin up so that he could look into her eyes.
"Faith, I still love you and still want you to be my wife. You've moved on past those events of years ago and have really turned your life around. As for the Slayer part, I now understand where you're coming from now on certain points. It really does help to define who you are. I don't mind it. Your father explained it well."
He leaned forward and captured her lips with his and they kissed for a while. He then led her back into the living room by the hand. Everyone smiled when they saw that, they had been nervous that these revelations had caused John to reconsider their engagement.
"Don't worry folks, the engagement is still on." said John.
"Faith, your father and sister explained to me some of the events that led to your being in a coma for a few years. Don't worry about that. From what I saw tonight and from what I expect your Academy records will show I can see that you have turned your life around for the better. Now don't get me wrong, I will look into these events, but my offer still stands at this time." said Chief Jenkins.
The Chief and John then got up and took their leave of them. They were followed by most of the others. The only ones left were those that lived there.
"Thanks for your help tonight Dad." said Faith, while she hugged him.
"Your welcome honey." said Giles.
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I was May 3rd and we find the entire family at the hospital. They are there for the birth of Amy's twins. They found out a few months ago that she was going to have twins. She had started to go into labor over night. The only ones not in the waiting room were Amy, of course, and Oz and Tara. Oz of course was with Amy, and Tara was working with the doctor. This was the field that she was studying in Medical School to go into and was interning at Sunnydale General. She had asked if she could assist in this particular birth. Amy's doctor had agreed, so had Amy and Oz. She had already made arrangements to assist with Cordy's delivery as well, which should be in another couple of weeks.
The pregnancy was going fine. There had been some worry early on about the possibility of Oz's werewolf status being inherited by their children. They had also worried a little about the fact that Amy's witchcraft was hereditary. They looked into this, but couldn't find any examples of where a witch and a werewolf had children. They ended up taking a wait and see attitude. They lucked out some, the full moon was still a couple of days away.
A few hours later Tara walked out of the delivery room with a big smile on her face.
"Everyone, you can come in and meet Oz and Amy's twins."
They all walked in. They found Amy holding one baby and Oz holding the other.
"Hey everyone. Thanks for coming. Let me introduce you to our son, Andrew Edward Osborne and our daughter, Lori Willow Osborne." said Oz.
Everyone crowded in to see the babies.
************************************************************************
A few nights later the new family was at home resting. Oz and Amy had magically inspected their children and were pretty sure that only Lori had inherited her mother's witchcraft. They were also pretty sure that only Andy had inherited Oz's werewolf nature. What they did not know was if he had also inherited the spell that had been placed on Oz, allowing him control over the wolf. Due to this they put the two babies into separate cribs for the night. They didn't want to take a chance that Andy, not knowing what was going on, would attack Lori.
When the sun went down they watched over the two babies. Sure enough Andy started changing into a werewolf. Lori, on the other hand, did not. Now they knew that she was not one. Andy let out some cries while he went through the change. Oz expected this as he knew that the change could be somewhat painful at times, especially the first few times you go through it. He had told this to Amy earlier. What surprised them was when Lori cried out in sympathy for what Andy was going through.
After the change finished Andy sniffed around his crib. He appeared to be looking for something. He finished sniffing around and began to whine. Lori also started to cry. Oz reached down and put his hand near Andy's nose. Andy stopped whining for a moment and licked his father's hand. He looked up at his father and let out a small woof. He soon started whining again. Amy did the same thing and the same thing happened. She had also tried to calm Lori down and couldn't. Amy looked at Oz for an explanation of this. Oz thought about it for a few minutes.
"I think he is looking for Lori. He can smell her scent in the crib, since she is normally in there with him. He just can't find her, which is why he is whining. I think she misses him as well. It is obvious that they share quite a bond between them. You noticed how Lori also cried while Andy was going through the change. I think she sensed something was happening to Andy. I want to try putting Lori in there with him. I don't believe he will do anything to her. I'll pull her out if he tries something." said Oz.
"Ok. But get her out of there quickly if he tries to attack her." said Amy.
Oz picked up Lori and placed her on her back in the crib with Andy. Andy immediately stopped whining and padded over to her. He sniffed her for a moment and then licked her face. He then curled up next to her with his head resting on her tummy. Lori had also stopped crying and had a small smile on her little face. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Andy also closed his eyes and fell asleep. One eye was partially open though.
"Wow. I think you're right honey. It appears that they do have a strong bond. I had read where some twins do. Andy looks like he is protecting Lori there." said Amy.
"He is. See how he still has one eye partially open. The wolf in him told him it was his job to protect his littermate. I think that he did inherit the spell too. He definitely knew who we were and who Lori was. He also did not try to get out of the crib. He just needs to learn how to control the change. That will come with time. I think they'll be ok. Let's go to bed. I'll keep an ear open for anything amiss." said Oz.
They went to bed and in the morning they found Andy changed back to a human baby. He was still lying next to Lori in the crib. They had been awoken a couple times that night for feedings. Amy was unsure at first how to feed Andy while in his wolf state, but soon figured it out.
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About a week later they were all at the hospital again. This time it was Cordelia that was giving birth. Once again Tara was assisting with the delivery.
Oz and Amy had told the rest of the family what had happened during the full moon. They were all surprised at the turn of the events that took place. Currently Lori and Andy were playing on a blanket on the floor. Jesse was playing with them as well. Their parents were keeping an eye on them.
Pretty soon Tara came out of the delivery room and told them that they could all come in now. They all followed her in and found Cordy propped up in bed holding her new son. Angel was sitting next to her on the bed.
"Hey everyone. Please let me introduce you to our new son, Alexander Liam O'Rourke." said a proud Angel.
They all gathered around to see the new baby.
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It was June 20th and everyone was gathered on the grounds of the Police Academy to see Faith graduate. The ceremony started and Faith led the other graduating cadets in. She had been selected as the Cadet Commander. She was so honored as she was graduating at the top of her class.
During the ceremony Faith received a plaque stating that she was the valedictorian of the class. Chief Stephen Jenkins of the Sunnydale Police Force presented her it. He then went on to tell the assembled people that Faith would be joining the Sunnydale Police Force immediately.
After the ceremony was over Faith was mobbed by her family. John grabbed her up in a hug and kissed her deeply. She then got hugs from her parents and sisters.
"Congratulations Faith!" said Xander.
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It was July 12th and Faith had been working as a police officer for less than a month. She loved it. The Chief had paired her up with a veteran officer that had been one of the few decent officers that Sunnydale had had. He was taking his time in showing her the ropes of the job. They were getting along great and he had even had her and John over for dinner one night with him and his wife.
Though she had just started working, she was already taking a week off. She had arranged this ahead of time with the Chief. The reason for it was that she and John were getting married. In fact today was the day of the wedding. She was at her house with her mother, sisters and the other girls getting ready for the wedding. She was just glad that her slight hangover had gone away. Her friends on the force had insisted that they take her out last night for some drinks to celebrate her impending nuptials. It had been a long night.
A few hours later they arrived at the church for the wedding. The guys were already there. John stood down in front with his best man and groomsmen. Xander was his best man and Angel and Oz were groomsmen. He hadn't really known anyone here in town when he had moved her a little over a year ago.
Faith's matron of honor was Buffy. Her bridesmaids were Dawn, Tara, Willow, Amy and Cordelia. Giles and Joyce were both escorting her down the aisle. Lord Edward, Chief Jenkins and her partner were in the audience. Edward had come over for the wedding.
The music started and the procession started down the aisle.
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A couple of hours later and the ceremony was over and everyone was at the hotel for the reception. The DJ was announcing everyone from the wedding party into the reception. He finally came to the bride and groom.
"May I introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. John and Faith Miller."
They waltzed in to a thunderous applause.
The reception ended up being a hit. Everyone had a great time. It was about eleven o'clock when Faith and John decided to head for their room for the night. They were leaving the next morning for Hawaii for their honeymoon.
"Hey Angel, were you able to get it?" asked Xander off to one side. He was standing there with Oz.
"Yep. The champagne should be on its way up to their room now. I was able to get a bottle of Grand Krug 1985. It's a really good year for that brand." said Angel.
"Cool. Did we give you enough?" asked Oz.
"Yep. Here's what's left." replied Angel.
Everyone then wished the happy couple a good time on their honeymoon and left.
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It was October 10th and the whole family was present at the Miller's house. This was the first family dinner that Faith and John were hosting in their new house. Everyone was having a great time. Dinner had been Indian curries. Faith had taken an interest recently in learning how to cook different foods. They had turned out great.
They were now all sitting around the living room and talking. The kids were playing on the carpet in front of them.
"Hey everyone, Xander and I have an announcement to make. We're pregnant again." said Buffy.
"Hey, thanks for stealing my thunder in my own house." said Faith.
"Excuse me?" asked Buffy, confused.
Joyce suddenly gasped. "You mean you're pregnant too?"
"Yep. John and I just found out this morning from the doctor." said Faith.
Everyone congratulated the two couples. While this was going on Giles was sitting back with a thoughtful expression on his face.
Joyce noticed this and asked him what was wrong.
"I was just trying to figure out what we are going to do when both Buffy and Faith are too far along to patrol. Also, we do have to worry about that damned prophecy again, but this time on two fronts." said Giles.
This statement made everyone start thinking. Xander quickly filled John in on the prophecy and what had happened the last time.
"As far as the patrolling is concerned, it's only for a month or so. We should be ok. Worse comes too worse I'll see if I can get Major Albright and his men to help us. As to the prophecy, maybe we should consider in the last month to have both Slayers living in the same house. It would make protecting them easier." said Xander.
"As for what house, why don't you come stay with us during the last month? There's plenty of room." suggested Joyce.
"That's sounds fine to me, Mom." said Buffy.
"Me too." said Faith.
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It was April 22nd and Willow and Tara were sitting in the office of Mrs. Pamela Brennan, Director of Adoption Services for Sunnydale and the surrounding communities.
"Well Miss Rosenberg and Miss Maclay, your paperwork seems to be in order. Now you do know that it may take a while to find a child for you to adopt. Even when we do there will have to be a couple of meetings with you to make sure that there is a good fit." said Mrs. Brennan.
"Yes, we understand that. Thank you for all of your help." said Willow.
"You're welcome and good luck." said Mrs. Brennan.
With that Willow and Tara walked out of the office and the building. They were in the process of adopting a child. They had decided to undertake this about a month ago. They had been discussing it for quite some time. They had not told anyone else about it yet. They wanted to make sure that they would be able to do so before telling anyone else.
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It was June and both Buffy and Xander and Faith and John were now living at Joyce and Giles's house. The house seemed a little crowded, but everyone knew that it was only for a month. Though it had not been discussed at all, they now also had a nightly visitor, every night. Oz had once again taken it upon himself to guard the house every night until both of the Slayers gave birth. Due to this Willow and Tara were helping Amy out as she had two one year olds to take care of by herself at night. She did not mind that Oz wasn't there though, she understood the importance of his task.
It was midnight and Xander and John were just arriving home from their patrol. Xander had taught John the art of patrolling and vampire slaying.
"Man, I'm beat. I'm going to head to bed." said John.
"Me too." said Xander.
About two hours later Xander was woken up by the sounds coming from outside. It sounded like a major battle going on out there. He looked out the window and it appeared that that was what was going on. Oz was battling about twenty vampires out there.
He quickly grabbed his rifle and opened the window. He got one in his sight and fired. Without even waiting for the dusting he re-sighted and fired again. While he was doing this he heard another gun firing. He looked along the side of the building and saw that it was John leaning out his window firing his pistol.
Suddenly he heard his two year-old crying for his mommy. He quickly ducked his head back in and woke up Buffy.
"Honey, go to Jesse. He's scared. I have to stay here and help Oz. There's still about fifteen vamps down there."
She quickly got up and went to see to her son. As she was doing this she saw her father walk down the stairs and out the door. She also saw Dawn with her cross bow leaning out her window, firing at the vamps.
Xander continued firing at the vamps. Every shot he made dusted another vamp. Suddenly he saw fireball coming from the side of the house. He glanced over there and saw that it was Giles. Giles had his hands out in front of him and was throwing fireballs at the vamps.
Finally they were down to the last vamps. Giles burnt one to a crisp, John, Xander and Dawn each got one and Oz tore the last one to pieces. Oz then looked around and acknowledged the help of the others and then walked back to his resting spot and lay down once more. He did this all without making a single sound. At this point the rest of them put there weapons away and also went back to bed.
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It was two days later when Buffy went into labor. Joyce called Xander at the university and told him to meet them at the hospital. When he got there he was quickly rushed into his protective clothing and lead into the delivery room. Tara was once again in attendance. She was actually delivering the baby.
A few hours later Tara walked out to the waiting room and signaled for them to come on in. The whole group was there by this point, even Faith. They walked in to find Xander sitting next to Buffy on the bed. Buffy had their new daughter in her arms and a tired smile on her face.
"Let me introduce you all to Jenny Summers Harris." said Xander.
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About a week later it was Faith's turn to give birth. The whole group was once again sitting in the waiting room waiting to hear. Tara was once again delivering the baby.
After about five hours Tara walked out and invited them all in. They came in to see John sitting next to a happy Faith. She was holding their new baby girl.
"Everyone, meet Abigail Joyce Miller." said John.
Joyce leaned down and said, "She's beautiful dear. Thank you for the honor." She kissed Faith on the forehead.
"You know, you Summers women sure do make some beautiful babies." said a smiling Xander.
Everyone laughed at this.
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It was the middle of July and Willow and Tara were once again at the Sunnydale Adoption Agency. The reason was that they were there to pick up their new son. The adoption had been finalized yesterday, all that they needed to do know was sign the papers and they could take him home.
The baby boy was only a week old. They had been told that the mother was single and couldn't afford to take care of the baby. She had freely given him up to a good home.
They sat down with Mrs. Brennan again and signed the last of the papers.
"Alright, the last thing we need is to fill in the name of the child. The mother did not name him, as she knew she was giving him up right away. It is up to you two to give him a name."
"We know what it will be. He will be named Thomas William Maclay- Rosenberg." said Tara.
"Very good. Nice name. Alright, its been recorded. Now let me take you to him." said Mrs. Brennan.
She led them down the hall to a nursery. They walked in and she reached down into a crib and pulled out a baby boy. She handed him to Tara. Willow stood next to Tara looking at their new son with her.
"Congratulations ladies. I wish you three the best in your new lives together." said Mrs. Brennan.
They stood there for a little while looking at their son. They then got everything together and left to begin their new lives together. That night was their regular family dinner. This time it was at their house. They would introduce little Tom to the rest of the family at that time. The others still didn't know that they were even considering adopting a child.
They took Tom home and sat down with him on the sofa. The two ladies just watched him sleep for several hours. They couldn't get enough of watching him. Even Miss Kitty Fantastico, their cat, came over to watch him.
After a few hours they took Tom into the kitchen with them and put him in his car seat which they had sitting on the counter. This way they could keep an eye on him while they prepared dinner. They already had everything they needed for him. They had purchased all of the stuff over the last several months. They did most of the purchasing out of town so that no one who knew them would see them.
At one point during dinner preparation Tom woke up and started crying. Willow grabbed a bottle of formula from the fridge and quickly warmed it on the stove. She then handed it to Tara who had been holding Tom. Tara fed him and when he was done she put the bottle down and burped him. She then put him back into his seat and got back to helping Willow.
At six o'clock their guest started arriving. By 6:15pm they were all there and sitting in the living room talking. Willow walked into the room and got everyone's attention.
"Could I have everyone's attention for a moment? Tara and I have an announcement that we would like to make. Over the last four months we have been meeting with some people to arrange for something. We would like to finally share that with you all." said Willow.
At that cue, Tara walked into the living room carrying Tom and sat down next to Willow on the love seat. Everyone had his or her mouth open in shock.
"Everyone, we'd like to introduce you to our new son, Thomas William Maclay- Rosenberg. The adoption was just finalized this morning." said a smiling Tara. Willow also had a smile plastered on her face.
Everyone gathered in close to see their new son.
"He's beautiful Willow, Tara." said Giles.
"Congratulations!" said Buffy.
"How old is he?" asked Dawn.
"He's a week old. He was born July 10th. His mother was a single mom who couldn't afford a baby. She gave him up at birth. That's all we were told." said Tara.
"Well, congratulations you two. I know that you'll both make excellent mothers." said Joyce.
END