A/N I know, these have all been one shots before, but for some reason this one wanted to continue a little bit. So here it is. I hope you all enjoy it. :)
When they arrived at the compound, Dee gave an excited squeal and had to get a hug after she let them in the gate.
Xander then drove the vehicle inside the garage attached to one side of the south wing of the African slayer complex.
The youngest Summers got out of the car and looked around, perplexed before she asked, "Where are the hyenas? I thought they'd have come to see us by now."
"Oh, did I forget to tell you? They actually left a couple of days ago. It was time for the annual gathering of all the smaller packs into one big one, the purpose of which was to either choose another top leader or find out the same one is still tough enough to kick everyone else's asses. Oh and then to go on a massive hunt after that to cull down a herd of something or other," Xander grinned at her.
Dawn grinned back, "Let me guess, you're betting on Vyeo to win top spot again, this year, aren't you?"
He laughed, "Of course? No way am I betting against my girl!"
As they gathered Dawn's bags from the back seat of the car, the two carried them into the huge kitchen, laughing and she asked, "Will they be back by next week when we're scheduled to leave?"
Xander nodded, "Vyeo is sure of it, so I'm not worried. It helps that they didn't have to travel as far this year."
Looking at him in surprise, she asked, "You're speaking in present tense, so does that mean you're still able to 'hear' her?" At his nod, she grinned, "That is so cool!"
Dawn passed a window, stopped dead in her tracks and gasped in surprise, "You never said the last wing was finished. When did that happen?" She never took her eyes off of the new building that fully enclosed a football field length inner courtyard of green grass, flowers and fountains. The newest building closed off the end of that length and looked almost like it had always been there.
Xander laughed, "Yesterday. You're just in time for the dedication ceremony tomorrow." He grinned, unrepentant, at her glare. "Oh there are a bunch of little things that are still needed here and there, but all the big stuff is done. Really though, did you think I wanted just anybody dedicating the new wing where my family will be sleeping?"
Dawn rolled her eyes, but smiled without rancor as she guessed, "Willow couldn't do it, huh?"
Looking sheepish now, Xander admitted, "Well, no." Face taking on a serious expression, he added, "But you're stronger than any other witch we have without half trying and you know it, Dawn. Willow is constantly amazed at what you do on instinct that she had to study long and hard for in the beginning."
Seeing the sudden look of fear on Dawn's face, he dropped the bags he was carrying, went to her and caught her as she dropped hers and grabbed onto him as if for dear life. Arms around her, he rested his cheek on the top of her head and whispered, "Hey, what's this? I thought you were okay with the magic now."
Unable to repress a shudder, Dawn admitted, "I still have nightmares sometimes. About what happened with Willow in Sunnydale... I don't want to ever be like that, Xander. Whenever I hear someone say anything about how much more powerful I have the potential to become, it frightens me. So no, I'm not okay with it."
Sighing, Xander gave her an extra squeeze before pushing her back enough to be able to look her in the eye as he said, "And that is why I trust you with my family's lives. You know what can happen, so you'll be on guard against it and you won't let it happen. Plain and simple. That and the fact that Willow says your magic is different from that practiced by her kind of witch. It's a part of you, the very fabric of your being even, none of it coming from an outside source." He shrugged, "I guess you're more like my sisters in that regard."
Dawn looked startled by that, "I am? Wow... Never thought about it that way." She looked up and smiled in relief, "Thanks, Xander." They hugged again and began picking up her bags and walking once more.
Leading the way, he asked, "Would you consider talking to the Charmed Ones about your magic? I'm sure they'd agree to help you, especially now that Billy isn't getting into quite so much trouble anymore."
They'd gotten as far as the foyer and the large staircase there. Before Dawn could answer, a young voice shrieked at the top of his lungs, "She's here!"
Hopping up onto and sliding down the curved bannister, Jimmy glided quickly while calling out gleefully, "Aunt Dawn! Aunt Dawn! Aunt Dawn!"
Xander dropped the bags again and darted forward to catch the boy as he got to the end of the railing, before he could slide off and hit the marble floor. "What were you thinking? You could've gotten hurt!"
Jimmy frowned, puzzled, "But you caught me, Papa, I knew you would. You also told me not to run down the stairs, so I didn't."
Xander couldn't say anything to that without snapping at the moment, so he bit his tongue. It didn't help him any that Dawn was obviously trying not to laugh at the child's logic.
Wriggling now, Jimmy reached out for his favorite aunt, "Aunt Dawn we missed you!"
Finally allowing herself to laugh, Dawn stepped away from her bags and pulled the boy from his father's arms. She hugged him tight and sighed with happiness as she told him, "I missed all of you, too."
Laibah came into sight next at the top of the stairs. She also yelled at the top of her lungs, "Aunt Dawn!" She jumped over the railing and down, skipping the stairs entirely, ran over and wrapped herself around Dawn's waist.
Dawn freed one arm to hug the girl while failing not to laugh at Xander's present facial expression. She could guess that admonitions against doing what Laibah had just done were on the tip of his tongue.
Before he could say anything, however, the remaining slayers of the house appeared, Astrid in the lead with Jesse in her arms. She and a couple of others ran down the stairs while the rest started to jump over the railing.
Xander yelled, "Stop!"
Rachel was already vaulting over. On Xander's order she yelped as she kept her hold on the bannister and slammed into the railing and wall. Scrambling back up and over, she hung her head and looked embarassed.
Astrid froze on the landing, the wriggling five year old fighting to get down. She let him slide to the floor and he half walked, half ran the rest of the way down to Dawn who went down on one knee to meet him.
Xander glared up at the girls who had been about to jump down, "Okay, now I see where Laibah learned that little trick and it stops now. Unless there's an emergency of some kind, or we're under attack, there will be no more jumping over that railing or any other. Is that understood?"
A chorus of, "Yes, sir." "Sure thing, Boss." and other, equally respectful variations could be heard.
At that moment, Dawn was overbalanced and fell backward with a yelp and a laugh onto her overstuffed duffle bag. All the children followed her down, piling on top and giggling like mad.
High pitched squeals erupted and down the walls raced the genbua. They loved happy people piles and jumped on the one in progress with glee.
Dawn was delighted, "Oh my, you're all so adorable and look how much you've grown. I'm so glad I finally get to meet all of you in person!" She made sure to try and pet each and every one, the children chattering to her about them and telling her all their names. Dawn was careful not to laugh when she realized they were all named after either Dragonriders of Pern or Star Wars characters.
The genbua all began to make the burbling noise that Xander equated with pleased genbua. Looking at the happy group on the floor with a smile, he turned back to the rest of his slayers, his family and asked, "Well, what are you all waiting for?" He waved expansively, "Get on down here!"
All sixteen of them raced down the stairs.
Before Dawn knew it, she'd been hugged and welcomed back by every single slayer and her belongings had been carried upstairs to one of the guest rooms.
Everyone who wanted to stay awake all trooped into the kitchen and breakfast was started by various girls. They'd obviously gotten into a proper routine for this as there was very little jostling and no real bickering. That's not to say there was no teasing and playful snarking, though.
All the genbua hitched rides on children and slayers alike. Dawn was surprised the little female that bossed the others around, Wirenth, perched on her own shoulder.
Through it all, Dawn was monopolized by Xander's children and the litter of genbua who seemed facinated by everything about her.
