Waking up to crying again, he wasn't quite used to the as of yet. In fact, when he first woke up, he hadn't remembered straight away and wondered why in the world there was a baby screaming in his room. However, he eventually remembered and made his way over the playpen and picked the screaming baby out of the crib and set about soothing her. To his complete and utter surprise, it didn't take very long. He changed her slowly out of her onesie and opened a new one. He wasn't almost out of onesies, he reminded himself that he had to do some laundry.

Today was Saturday. That meant no school or work for anyone. That meant that he could have a few minutes to himself or he could after he did something. He had to get her a birth certificate. He should have gotten it when he found her on his doorstep but he had to get her a car seat, plus he had to have a clearer idea on whether or not he was going to keep her. He wrapped her up in a blanket and brought her down the stairs. Dawn was in the kitchen, her cooking was about 50/50. Well, she could cook, but she was always trying new things and only half were any good. He sat down and to his surprise there were what looked suspiciously like chocolate chip pancakes. He looked up at her questioning wondering if she was trying to pull something. She shook her head.

"I know you're exhausted. I figured I'd make something for you that was more normal," she rolled her eyes, "you know since you like it that way." He smiled at her warmly and said.

"Thanks." Mrs. Summer's took the baby from him since he had yet to master the art of eating while holding a baby yet and didn't want to give it another try today. He dug in the pancakes. They were delicious he grinned at Dawn who smiled back.

It was a really long line and his arms would be tired except that he was able to sit her in her car seat, which doubled as a portable crib down, on the floor. He was glad that Mrs. Summers had packed her some toys to keep her occupied so that she wasn't wailing at the top of her lungs the entire time. It was hard enough when she did start crying. He eventually made his way to the front of the line and saw the person behind the counter looking at him expectantly.

"I need to a birth certificate." The process was long and he had to explain that the baby had been dropped on his doorstep to a few a different people before he was able to finally get someone who had authority over this kind of thing. Everything was going smoothly until the man who was in charged asked him one question that he knew was coming but floored him regardless.

"Are you planning on taking care of her?" He looked down at the girl in his arms then back to the man looking at him. He was an older man in his 50's. He was wearing a white shirt with a light blue sweater vest. His hair was predominately brown but there was a strong gray force trying to take it over. Xander didn't know what to say. The man seemed to understand because- well Xander had to explain to him after two others so the version he had told this man had been the smoothest of all.

"Can I think about it?" Xander said weakly. The man pointed to one spot on the sheet he was filling out.

Father's name_

"If the girl has no parents then she goes into the foster care system." He didn't want her to have to go into the foster care system. He had been there a few times when social services had removed him from his house when he was a kid. He was hit in both places, but at least at home he had Willow and Jesse. There were few people in Sunnydale and no one apparently had wanted to foster him there, so he had been fostered in a somewhat nearby town. He didn't want to subject her to that. But did he want to raise a child who wasn't his for 18 years just because he didn't want her to go into the foster care system?

"Can I have a grace period? I don't even know if she if she's really my daughter. She could be totally unrelated to me!" the man looked uncertain "Please just long enough for a DNA test to come back."

"What would do with her till then."

"I'll take care of her," Xander said automatically. The man looked uncertain but picked up his phone

"I'm going to have to make a few calls. Why don't you go wait in the waiting room?" Xander nodded, lifted up the car seat, made his way to the waiting room and sat down nervously as he waited for the man to get back to him. The baby was awake and he barely managed to keep her quiet by rocking her continuously, until the foot that had done the rocking was tired. She was looking at him and he looked right back at her. They stared at each other until Xander heard his name. He picked the baby up and made his way back. The man looked at him for a long second and the stomach full of butterflies, Xander already had got a few more visitors.

"I have discussed it with several people and we have agreed to grant you temporary custody of the child. However, there are a few stipulations. You must get a DNA test done today along with a full health workup and your temporary custody only last until the DNA test comes back. During your temporary custody, a social service worker will be by once of a week to make sure you are taking care of the girl. If at any time the worker finds the environment unfit, the baby will be put into the system." Xander nodded taking it all in. He didn't like social services but he supposed it would be irresponsible to leave her with someone who wasn't willing to take responsibility for her but wanted to look after her.

"Can I go?" he asked like he was asking to be excused from the table in one of those sitcoms. The man nodded and Xander took the baby and made his way to the waiting room. He took out the cell phone that Mrs. Summers had given him since she had dropped him off. He called her and told her the news and then sat down to wait for her to pick him up. He closed his eyes as he realized he had just volunteered to take care of her for as long as a DNA test took to do however that was. He would also have to pay for the DNA test and the full work up of the baby which he couldn't afford so that was going to be yet another thing he going to owe Mrs. Summers for. What if she wasn't even his? Would he just give her back to

He closed his eyes as he realized he had just volunteered to take care of her for as long as a DNA test took to do, however that was. He would also have to pay for the DNA test and the full work up of the baby which he couldn't afford. So that was going to be yet another thing he going to owe Mrs. Summers for. What if she wasn't even his? Would he just give her back to social services? Xander closed his eyes for a moment wishing that it was before he found the baby on his doorstep. Back when he was free to do pretty much whatever he wanted as long as he stayed out of his Dad's way. Of course, the moment his eyes closed was the moment she decided to try out her lungs again. People stared at him as if to say he was a horrible person for not being able to keep the girl from yelling. He was tired and he wanted to yell at them, but was just barely able to manage to keep all his scathing thoughts to himself. Good for him.

Hospitals he hated hospitals. Bad things happened at hospitals. They were poking at the poor baby with needles and checking all her vitals despite her screaming through it. He wanted to hold her, to protect her from it but he couldn't. The shots she got would be lifesaving and they were necessary. The DNA itself hadn't been hard to get. It was the least intrusive and painful of all the other tests and shots. He himself he had just had to swab the inside of his cheek. The DNA test would be back in 5 weeks and then he would find out whether or not the baby he was going to be taking care of was his or not.

The doctor finished the shots and Xander scooped her up into his arms. Shushing her and rocking her as she screamed. The doctor told him over the volume of her screaming that he was free to go. He left the room and saw Mrs. Summer sitting in a chair waiting for him. Guilt course through him. It was Saturday and Mrs. Summer was spending time and money waiting for him and paying for things he couldn't afford. He put the still screaming baby back into her car seat and followed Mrs. Summers back to her car where he strapped the baby into the car. He sat by her in the back seat and Mrs. Summers made her way into the driver's seat and started the car.

"I'm so sorry." Xander blurted. She turned around in her seat and looked at him with a smile.

"Xander for the last time it's okay. You'll pay me back when you get the money." Xander nodded. He had written it all every single cent and he wasn't sure he was ever going to be pay it all back to Mrs. Summers. He absently started rocking the car seat as much as it could while it was strapped into the car. "You will." she insisted seeing the doubtful look on his face and pulled forward. He hoped that she was right.