Willow woke to the strangest sound. At first, she thought she was still dreaming, because why would that sound be in the house? But as she became more coherent, the fog of sleep lifting from her mind, there was no denying the sound. There was a baby in the house.

Confused, Willow trailed downstairs.

"Buffy?"

"In the living room," came Buffy's voice.

Willow rounded the corner, and froze. Buffy was sitting on the couch, cradling a baby in her arms. She was feeding the little one from a bottle, which he was greedily drinking.

"Buffy, what?" Willow breathed, utterly confused.

Buffy have her a thin smile.

"It's almost too bizarre for words, Wil," she admitted.

"Who's baby is that?" Willow asked, coming forward to tentatively sit on the edge of the couch. "Cuz the last time I checked, which was, you know, yesterday, you weren't pregnant. I mean, were you?"

Buffy smiled.

"No, I wasn't pregnant yesterday. He's not my baby."

"That's good," Willow babbled. "Really good. Cuz for a minute there you scared me. I thought – demon pregnancy! I mean, who hasn't gone through one of those? But then the kid would be demon spawn, and that's a world of bad and…"

"Willow, breathe," Buffy instructed.

Willow stopped her gush of words, and took a deep breath.

"Ok. So tell me."

Now it was Buffy's turn to breathe deeply.

"It's Angel's son," she said.

Willow gasped. Despite all the scenarios that had flashed through her head, she hadn't been prepared for this one.

"But… Angel… he's a…"

"I know," said Buffy. "Wesley was here about sunrise. He left a few minutes ago. He says the little guy's in danger. We have to keep him safe."

Connor stopped feeding, his eyes drooping. He was asleep within seconds. Buffy put the bottle on the end table beside her.

"Buffy, a baby…" Willow said.

"I know," said Buffy softly. "A lot of responsibility, and we're already swamped. But he's Angel's. How can I not help?"

"How long is he staying here?" Willow asked.

Buffy shrugged.

"I don't know. Indefinitely. Wesley said there's some pretty nasty mojo out there after the kid, and we were the only people he knew with enough fire power to keep him safe."

Willow looked the child over for the first time.

"He is awfully adorable," she admitted. "What's his name?"

"Connor."

"He's even got an adorable name!" Willow exclaimed. "Can I hold him?"

Buffy passed Connor to her. Willow cradled him in her arms.

"He's so little! Look at his little fingers! He's just the sweetest thing!" Willow gushed. Then, her face turned serious as she looked up at Buffy. "Buffy, we can't keep him. You know that."

"Wesley said it was the only way," Buffy said, gently stroking Connor's head. "And it's only for a little while. Just until LA is safe for him."

Xander stared with open shock at the baby, who was currently kicking his tiny arms and legs about as he lay on a blanket on the table at the Magic Shop.

"Buff… you can't be serious!" he said. "You can't just pick him up like a lost puppy! 'Mommy I found him in the park, can I keep him?'"

Buffy rolled her eyes.

"I know that Xander, but…"

"But Deadboy dropped him in your lap, so it's all ok?"

Buffy felt her anger rising.

"Can you please see past your dislike of Angel for, like, a second? This isn't about him. "

"No," Xander cut her off. "I think it's very much about him! It always is."

Buffy felt the anger simmer inside her, but tamped it down as best she could.

"I'm keeping him. That's final."

Beside Xander, Anya pouted.

"I wanted to be the first to have cute babies," she complained.

Xander shot her a look equal parts dread and panic.

"Yeah, why do we have to keep him anyways?" Dawn complained. "Couldn't Angel find someone else to look after him? Why does it have to be us?" she glared down at Connor jealously. To say she had not been happy to find a baby in the house when she woke up that morning was an understatement. "He's only going to be a total pain."

"Boy wouldn't that be a change in the house," Buffy muttered.

Dawn glared at her.

Buffy was starting to regret her decision to wait until after Dawn got out of school so that she could tell everyone at once. Good thing she had had the day off from the Doublemeat Palace today. Most of the day had been spent looking after Connor, who despite being completely adorable, was a lot of work. She felt exhausted already. But that hadn't wavered her resolve.

"Please, guys," she said wearily. "Wesley said Connor was in danger in LA. Lots of cults after him because he's some mystical prophesied kid. Xander's right, he's not some lost puppy. We can't take him back to the pound when he's inconvenient to our lives. He's a helpless baby, and he needs us."

The room was silent for a long moment as everybody contemplated Buffy's words.

"Buffy's right," said Anya, surprising everybody. "I may not personally like Angel, and a child is a huge drain on resources, but we can't leave him all alone. He's all soft and pink and helpless."

Xander looked contemplatively down at Connor.

"How are you going to look after him, Buff? You're barely keeping it together as it is, and babies are really expensive. And what about your job?"

"Well, Wesley gave me some money…" Buffy admitted.

"How much?" asked Anya. "I'm good with money."

"About ten thousand dollars," Buffy said. "It's all getting used on Connor, for as long as it lasts, and I'm keeping my job at the Doublemeat Palace."

"What about babysitting while you're at work?"

"We can help with that!" Willow chipped in. "I don't mind working around my class schedule."

"I can keep him at the Magic Box the times you're in class," Anya offered. "He's a cute little thing. Besides, it'll be good practice for when we have children, Xander."

Xander was wearing that panicked expression again.

Buffy smiled tightly at her friends.

"Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it. Just two rules though. One: Angel can't ever know about this. It has to stay out of his head. Two: Connor must be in sight of one of us at all times. He can never be out of sight. Wes was pretty clear on those, to the point of being manic."

"Never let him leave our sight?" Dawn asked. "Why?"

"Crazy cults after him," Buffy answered. "In sight at all times."

Buffy's strength seemed to go out of her then, because she sagged into a chair, putting her head in her hands.

"How am I going to do this?" she asked.

"It doesn't seem fair," Dawn said, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder. "You didn't even do something irresponsible, why do you still have to live with the consequences?"

"Because life isn't fair," Buffy said, raising her head. She stood, and picked Connor up, cuddling the boy to herself. "And because it's the right thing to do," she murmured into his downy hair.

"Fine," grumbled Xander. "Have it your way. Be stubborn. Just don't expect me to babysit for you."

"How did we end up getting stuck babysitting?" moaned Xander.

"Because you have a day job that lets you out at 5, and I babysat yesterday," Dawn said, grabbing her purse. "I'm going to the Bronze. Bye."

The door closed behind her with a resounding thump.

Xander looked despairingly around his living room.

"I was looking forward to a quiet night," he complained. "Now we have to look after the crying, puking wonder?"

"You can still have a quiet night," Anya said briskly. "As long as you go somewhere else. I'm staying here with Connor." She scooped Connor out of the pram Dawn had brought him over in, cuddling him.

"I wanted a quiet night with you, though," Xander groused. "You know. You. Me. The bed. Getting all sweaty."

Anya covered Connor's ear with her free hand.

"Don't talk about sex in front of the baby, Xander!" she admonished. Ignoring her fiancé's pouting, Anya sat herself down on the couch, Connor on her knee. Connor graced her with a bright smile, and babbled happily.

"Aren't you just the sweetest bitty thing?" Anya cooed.

"You only like him cuz he likes you," Xander grumbled. "Me he hates."

"Well, it could be genetic," suggested Anya. "After all, you hate his father."

Xander drew his mouth up into a sour frown.

"Can we please not talk about Angel?"

"Besides," said Anya, ignoring his comment. "It will be good practice for us for when we have little Xanders running around. You want to hold him?"

Xander tried to make a hasty retreat, but Anya was already dumping the child on him. He extended his arms so that Connor wouldn't fall to the ground.

Placed in Xander's arms, Connor immediately began to scream bloody murder.

Anya snatched him back, frowning.

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" objected Xander. "That kid just hates me."

Anya soothed Connor, bouncing him up and down on her hip.

"Shhhh, tiny child. You should cease crying now."

It took a long time for Connor to quiet.

Xander, slumped on the couch, groaned quietly.

"How long till Buffy gets home?"