Just another Sunday

AUTHOR: Sarah A. David

E-MAIL: SarahADavid@aol.com

DISCLAIMER: „Buffy the Vampire Slayer", „Angel" and associated characters are copyright by Joss Whedon, David Greenwalt, Mutant Enemy Inc., Greenwolf Corp., Kuzui Enterprises, Sandollar Television, Twentieth Century Fox, WB and UPN.

No infringement is intended.

TIMELINE: A year after the End of Day (2008)

SPOILERS: Everything up to BTVS S6 and AtS S3 happened

SYNOPSIS: My sight of the future

SUMMARY: Xander thoughts about his life (a year after the End of Days) and the past. Why has Xander a bunch of kids who are not all his own and what has his wife to do with that?

DISTRIBUTION: FanFiction.net, my own site (not yet). You want it? Ask me!

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I want you to know that English is NOT my mother language, so please ignore my mistakes.

FEEDBACK: Yes please.

RATING: I'm not so sure about the rating system but I guess everyone who watches the shows can read this fic

Xander Harris was sitting in his car waiting for his wife after he had returned from the cemetery. He knew it would be a while before she would be back. So he found himself with some time so think about his life. The life his neighbours envied him for. He had to chuckle about that. The loser as an object of jealousy - yes time changed a lot of things.

***

Just this morning he had a little small talk with Roger Boyd from next door while going for the morning paper. Roger was divorced and had a job he didn't like. He had told him that he longed for a family - a beautiful wife and several children. Yes for Roger Boyd the life of Xander Harris might be something to wish for, to envy him for.

And had he followed Xander into his home he would have believed that he was right:

After finishing the conversation with Roger Xander met his family at the kitchen table for breakfast. The usual beginning of every Sunday for the Harris family. They would eat together and talk about last weeks events. And from the outside you could here happy laughter. Of course, the children wouldn't contribute too much because they were too young but that didn't count. Yes the Harris family was a happy family. There was dad who made enough money with his construction company that he could be sure that his family would want for nothing. There was mom who cared for the children and who now wrote books about the past adventures of the Scooby Gang - a way to make her own money and - what was even more important - a way to deal with the past. Then there were the children: three of them - two girls and a boy . The oldest of them was just four years old. So they were a happy family - if you didn't look too close.

The truth looked different. They were a group of survivors. They had fought in the prophesised End of Days and they had won. The Hellmouth was closed forever, demons no longer endangered the human race. The fight was over - forever. But the price had been high. Loved ones and friends had been killed, families had been destroyed.

The remaining members of the A.I. team and the Scooby Gang had left Sunnydale were the battle had took place. Nobody wanted to live there anymore and most of them had decided to go to L.A. to build a new life there. Only Fred had decided to go home to her family. Having lost all her friends and her lover had nearly cost her her mind and so she returned to Texas into the arms of her family to recover.

Willow had not been that "lucky". After staying clean for years she was forced to use magic in this final war. It had been to much for her and especially her mind. Now she lived in a sanatorium near the Harris family home. So after their usual Sunday breakfast the Harris family went to visit her. Willow could recognize her friends and the children but she never talked to them - hadn't said a single word since the battle was over.

***

Yes, Xander thought, another reason to envy him: visiting your crazy friend in the madhouse.

***

After visiting Willow Xander and his family would return home for lunch. And here we go again: if you looked closer the term his family was not really correct. Of course all the papers said that the children were all his and his wife's but that was not the truth.

The oldest of the children was a girl. She was four years old. Alexandra Tara Harris was the only child of Xander and Anya. Anya hadn't survived the End of Days and had left Xander a widower and little Alex without a mother.

The second child was also a girl. Catherine Caroline was three years old and had lost both her parents in the final battle against evil. Cordelia and Wesley had been killed by a group of Chaktoroh demons. There had been nothing left to bury.

And last but not least there was the baby of the family. A little boy named Liam Eoin Breen who was just three months old. Both his parents had survived the battle and he was conceived during a private celebration in the aftermath. But Liam had never even had the chance to meet his father because he died only days later.

About a month after Liam's birth Xander had decided to form a new family especially for the children. Cathy had been in Lorne's care until then and he didn't really know who to care for a child. Liam's mother struggled with her grief and was barely able to care for the boy. Only with the help of Connor and Dawn - who had not only survived the battle as a team but had also fallen in love with each other - did she manage to continue. Seeing how fragile the "families" were the three kids lived in Xander had asked her to marry him and to care together for all the children. She agreed and a week later they married and moved into their new home.

After that Dawn and Connor moved into an apartment of their own. And while Connor began to work for Xander Dawn went to College.

Lorne was relieved to give Caroline into a real family. He decided to reopen the "Caritas" with - unbelievable enough - the help of Giles who found himself the proud grandpa of the kids.

He would come every Sunday afternoon to visit "his" children. And later he would stay with the kids while Xander and his wife would visit the graves of those they had lost.

***

Still waiting in the car Xander looked at his watch. An hour had already past and his wife would soon return. Looking through the window at the mansion he thought about the jealousy he once had connected to this place and the man who lived here. But the time for this feeling was long past.

***

Wesley had been right with his translations. For fighting in the End of Day the vampire with a soul - or make that the two vampires with a soul had been rewarded with their Shanshu. Both Angel and Spike had turned human the moment the Hellmouth had been closed for good. But nobody had Wesley expected to be "too" right (to live until you die) and they were shocked when only a few days later Angel and Spike had been found dead - passed away in their sleep.

Buffy had been devastated. After all she had been through she had finally found her happiness with Angel only to have him taken away so soon and this time for good. Xander was sure that she would have killed herself sooner or later if she had not realized that she was pregnant.

***

Again Xander looked and his watch and then at the gate. And there she was Buffy Summers - his wife - returning from grieving at Angel's grave - her soul mate and husband in her heart.

The Xander Harris who had been in high school with her would have been enthusiastic about the fact that they were married. But things had changed during the years. This older version of Xander Harris still loved Buffy but he loved her as a friend and he knew she did, too. The love the boy had longed for had always belonged to Angel and still did. But he wasn't jealous anymore because he had found that kind of love with Anya. And Buffy might be his wife on the paper but in life they were friends who shared a family but not the bed.

And being a family was what was important and they were determined to make to best out of it - for themselves for their children and for those who weren't with them anymore but always in their hearts.

And with that thought Xander Harris wiped the tears from his face, turned to his wife, kissed her on the cheek and prepared for the drive home. Another Sunday was over and Giles would be waiting with the kids.

The End