December 25, 2006

Buffy slowly opened her eyes, but shut them again quickly.

The feeling of Angel's lips on her neck intensified with her eyes closed, it sent a rush of tingling throughout her body. 'Now this is a pleasant way to wake up.' She thought happily, running her fingers threw his thick dark spikes.

It was early, too early for even the kids to be awake. At one and a half and ten months, they were still too young to fully grasp the concept of Christmas. In fact, this would be Liam's first.

She smiled thinking of their little faces lighting up upon seeing the tree filled with presents. It had taken some convincing, but Angel finally relented on the Santa debate.

He hadn't wanted to tell them about Santa, he explained with agonizing detail how it was lying to them, it would ruin their trust in them, and how he wouldn't be apart of that.

She'd convinced him eventually that believing in Santa was something magical, that all children deserved to experience the awe of waking up Christmas morning to see their tree bursting with gifts from the famous jolly elf himself.

Angel had scowled, "I didn't grow up with Santa." He had continued, "In fact, there were tales in England of a Father Christmas as far back as the 16 century. The actual character of Santa was invented in the 1820's. Christians absorbed the mid-winter tradition from the Norse god Odin, who at Yuletide would appear as a ghostly procession in the winter sky and led the Wild Hunt. His appearance stems from the Dutch figure Sinterklass, who was based on the Christian Bishop St. Nicholas. In 1823 Clement Clarke Moore's poem 'A Visit from St. Nicholas', also known as 'The Night Before Christmas', led to Santa's increased popularity. In fact, there were originally only eight reindeer as in the poem, but in 1939 Rudolph was invented as a marketing scheme for a department store." He finished with a smirk.

Buffy blinked at her husband, "Just so you know Honey, if you repeat ANY of that to our children, I'm staking you." She said in all seriousness.

The wind had fallen out of his sails, especially after she promised him there would be no sex until he agreed to Santa. That trick didn't always work anymore, but it did for that argument.

That had been a few months ago, and currently, there was defiantly sex going on.

His lips had wandered from her neck some time ago, in fact, he was under their sheets and doing some very interesting things with his tongue at the moment.

'God I love this man.' She thought, hands still clamped firmly in his hair, slightly pushing him deeper, which he obliged all too eagerly. 'Man, times like this, I really miss him not needing breathe. Although he can hold his breath for an impressive amount of time and that is pretty damn awesome too.'

Not that she wished him still a pure vampire; she had long since fallen in love with his heartbeat, his warmth, his life. 'His tongue.'

…

Once the kids woke, the real fun began.

Angel was struck by the awe clearly shown on Katie's face; her deep brown eyes the size of saucers.

Her first Christmas she had been too young to fully understand what was going on, but even at a year and a half, she could clearly see the difference in the tree from the previous day. The presents had tripled, and with the glow from the lit tree they seemed to sparkle.

She let of an excited scream and struggled in her father's arms to be put down. "Santa came, santa came!" She screeched over and over. The second her onsie covered feet hit the ground she was running towards the enchanted sight.

Buffy glanced at her husband a moment and smiled, he had the same look on his face as Katie, except not for the gifts he placed under the tree that night, but for the magical expression on his little girl's face.

"Told you so." Buffy sang playfully in his ear, and then hurried past him with Liam kicking and squealing in her arms.

Quickly shaking off the dumbstruck paralysis, he sat and scooped his daughter into his lap before she could tear open all the gifts under the tree, especially those that weren't hers. To appease the sudden scream of protest, he shoved the closest gift with her name on it into her little hands, the screaming instantly stopped as she tore into it.

Buffy leaned beside him, both parents watching their children unwrap the gifts from their laps, helping when the tots encountered something too hard to open and encouraging them to move to the next gift.

"Damn!" Buffy whispered just loud enough for Angel to hear.

"What?" he questioned, feeling everything was perfect right now.

"I forgot the camera! How could I forget the camera! It's Liam's first Christmas!" She exasperated. "I wanted to get a pic of Katie's face this morning…" She sighed.

He grinned and wrapped an arm around her, placing a kiss on her golden crown. "I'll draw it later, trust me, that's not a face I'll soon forget."

She looked up at him and smiled in relief. He always kept a sketchpad nearby, often he'd lounge in bed and just unload the day's memories in his art before settling down to sleep. In her mind, the images he drew were far better than any camera, he captured the intricately details so fully that even film had a hard time comparing. "You're a godsend." She whispered, kissing his cheek.

He simply grinned and resumed watching their children tear open gifts.

…

Later, after the kid's gifts were open, the two youngsters sat on the floor together playing with the recently uncovered toys. Katie flipping threw a picture book while Liam chewed the ears of his new stuffed dragon. Every now an again they would switch to another toy strewn around them as their parents watch on with interest.

Buffy looked down when a small check sized box slid into her lap.

"What's this?" She asked, looking up into her husband's mischievous face.

"Open it and see." He replied coolly.

Eyeing him a second, she turned her attention to the present and slowly opened it.

When she pulled the top off the box and looked inside, here eyes widened and she quickly turned her head towards Angel. "Really?" She asked, excited.

He simply nodded.

She shrieked and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him madly.

The two children turned at the sound to see their mother tackle their father to the floor. After a second, they turned their attention back to their presents. That scene was nothing new.

"You're evil." Buffy muttered in between passionate kisses. "Very…evil."

He laughed, "Love to see what I get for being good." He suggested with a mischievous smirk.

"We may never know." She teased wickedly.

After a moment she settled, content to just lie on top of him and listen to his heartbeat as she watched their children play.

"So" He grinned, "What did you get me?" He asked from beneath her, his hands wandering.

She turned her head to look at him, "Was I supposed to get you something? Oops, I must have forgotten…" she teased.

"Really?" He asked with a smirk, "Well I suppose I could let you make it up to me in sexual favors…" He finished by squeezing a firm cheek in his large hand.

She gasped at his bluntness and slapped her hand over his mouth, "Shh, kids…right there." She shushed him, looking at their babies playing only feet away.

Mmm..hmmhmm...mmm" He muttered under her hand.

"Huh?" She asked, then realizing her hand was still over his mouth, she released him.

With the same mischievous glint he repeated, "I can be quiet."

She slapped his chest and sat up. "Perve." She muttered to him.

"I see how it is" He mock taunted, "I give you a checkbook to an unlimited account, and you give me, hmm…nothing…"

"I thought you said you didn't want anything? That I was enough…" she jokingly countered, remembering the numerous times he'd told her that. "Besides, you said you never wanted to use this money, that is was blood money." She stated, knowing she had this conversation with him shortly before their wedding when he admitted to having an account Angelus opened over a century ago with the money he stole from his victims. He had been adamant about only using it in extreme emergencies, if that. He had felt he didn't deserve to use the money; it was just another reminder of the terrible atrocities he'd performed in the past.

He shrugged as he sat up and scooted beside her, "I had a change of heart, besides, I'm not the one who will be using it." He grinned, puller her closer so he could nip and kiss at her neck.

She sighed in contentment at his warmth tickling her neck. But her mind was still unsettled, "A change of heart?" she questioned, puling back.

"I am half Angelus now Buffy, that money is rightfully mine. I understand how it came to be mine is wrong, but I'm not going to just let it sit and rot when it can be used to support my family. Besides, I know a certain sexy blond slayer I married is in desperate need of some retail therapy." He finished pulled her back in to kiss at her neck.

"Mmm…I am…that's because someone keeps tearing my lingerie off…I'm down to a dangerous few..." She added a second later, "not to mention most of my clothing is vomit and food stained…"

"Hey, I'm only guilty of the first one." He denied, "Although, I wouldn't need to tear so many panties off you if you'd just stop wearing them…" He suggested.

"I'm not walking around commando for the sole purpose of protecting my underwear from you." She shot down.

"Doesn't have to be the sole purpose." He suggested with a leer.

She playfully shoved him back and stood, "You're such a horn dog now." She scolded, rolling her eyes and hiding a grin. She wouldn't admit she loved every second of it.

He smirked and stood, "What can I say?" He pulled her against him, his arms wrapped around her waist from behind, "You bring you the beast in me." He whispered into her ear.

"That's what I can't figure out." She stated, she turned in his arms and looked up at him, studying his face. "I totally got your broody side, even understood your evil psycho counterpart…but where did Mr. Lusty come from?" She questioned, honestly never seeing this touchy lovey side of him in the past.

He furrowed his brow in thought, looking into himself for an answer. After a moment he replied, "I'm assuming that's a side effect of a century of suppressed sexual urges finally being released."

She digested that for a moment, "You were celibate the whole time you had your soul?" She asked astounded, wondering how something who looked like him could be celibate…at all…ever.

He shifted a little, slightly pulling back, "Not exactly celibate…but when you're constantly miserable and depressed…that craving for love doesn't actually get satisfied by having desperate and meaningless sex just to feel anything at all." He admitted.

She may have been offended by that admission in the past, but now, she understood. She'd felt the same needs when she was sleeping with Spike, the desperate and meaningless desire to feel anything. Spike never gave her the satisfaction she had craved, but it didn't stop her from trying. Like a junkie looking for a fix, reason had no concept.

She nodded, wrapping her arms about him and pulling him closer to close the gap he'd created. "And now?" She probed.

He leaned down and captured her mouth, after a long moment he pulled back and told her, "Now, I think I'm overflowing with love." He muttered, using his mouth to make love to her neck.

She smiled and turned her head, giving him better access. "I know the feeling." She admitted, knowing he satisfied her is ways she hadn't even known she was missing...and not just in physical expressions.

The fact she went to bed with him beside her every night, and she woke with him still next to her in the morning acted as a soothing balm to the burn of rejections she'd left for a good deal of her adult life. Starting with her father, so many men left her over the years, including Angel...but his constant presence now helped heal those old scars.

…

Despite the heated kisses, they forced their hormones back into their pants.

It was Christmas morning, in a few hours their house would be filling with friends and family, and right now on the couch in front of their kids was not the time to be flinging clothes and satisfying urges.

Buffy stood, smoothed out her pajama top and adjusted her bottoms back on straight after Angel's wandering hands had shifted them.

She bent under the tree the pulled a medium sized box from under it, she heard Angel groan on the couch as she purposely pushed her bottom out for him to admire from behind her.

Quickly moving back to the couch, and slightly guilty for teasing him, she slid herself into his lap and placed the box into his hands when his arms wrapped around her waist.

"What's this?" He questioned, giving the box a little shake.

"Open it and see." She teased, repeating back his words to her from earlier.

He did so, and smiled at the contents.

"Perfect." He grinned, pulling out the fresh sketchpad and charcoal pencils he preferred and moving the box to the floor. His eyes fell to the two youngsters miraculously still occupied by the new toys while his hands opened the pad and began to sketch.

Buffy loved watching him draw; she was amazed at how his hands could take the world around them and simplify it into a few short but perfect strokes, capturing the complexity of three dimensional life into a two dimensional surface with only a white background and a collection black lines and curves. Her eyes followed his strokes, feeling his hands pushing down on the paper as it sat in her lap, watching their children magically appear out of nothing on the once blank sheet.

"I love watching you do that." She muttered, her arm wrapping around his neck as she nuzzled against his cheek, her hands idly toying with his dark spikes.

He grinned at the contact, but his dark eyes never left the kids, his focus totally consumed.

After only minutes, the picture was complete.

She looked down at it, newly amazed each and every time. "I want to hang it up." She suggested.

He looked over at her, amused, "You want to hang then all up." He accused.

"They're all hang worthy." She declared. After a second, "Seriously, you should submit some of your work to a gallery, I know they'd take them, you'd be an instant hit."

He shook his head, "No, the only place I want my work displayed is with my family. For me, these pieces are intimate, not for the public to..." He trailed, his eyes focused on the scene playing out across the room.

Buffy noticed his gaze shift and turned her head to see what he was looking at.

"What are you looking at?" She whispered.

Angel was grinning against her ear, holding her tighter as he watched their children play.

Katie stood and grabbed Liam's new stuffed dragon, holding the larger than her stuffy in her small arms above the floor. The younger child crawled over to reach for the item but his sister held it above the boy's reach.

"Now that's a familiar scene." Buffy muttered, remembering stealing toys from Dawn when they were young.

On cue, Liam's hazel green eyes filled with tears and he started to pout.

"Liam, up." Katie commanded, in her own way trying to get her little brother to stand and take his toy.

Buffy moved to diffuse the situation before a meltdown occurred, but Angel's grip tightened on her, refusing to release.

"Just wait." He suggested, feeling something really special was about to happen.

Katie was standing in front of Liam now, the toy tossed aside.

The older tot had been practically walking since she was nine months old, having always been extremely ahead of her age.

Buffy vividly remembered on her birthday, January 19, 2006, she had been sitting on the floor with Katie, her belly full and nearly ready to pop with Liam. She had been holding Katie's hands, helping her stand when Angel had walked into the room, heading towards the stairs. Katie had turned and watched him a moment, then repeated his movements, rushing towards him. Buffy had nearly collapsed in shock as her nine month old nearly ran across the room. She only made it a few steps before she'd tumbled to the floor, but both parents had witnessed the act. Within a second, Angel forgot whatever he'd been doing and had slipped down into the floor and helped the baby stand again, over the course of a few hours; they watched and cheered as Katie learned to walk from one parent to the other. Buffy would always consider that to be her best birthday present.

Now, as Katie stood in front of her little brother, she leaned down and grabbed his chubby outstretched hands, and pulled him into a standing position. The ten month old wasn't quite as eager and independent as his sister had been, but his small face was bunched in concentration as Katie took a step backwards, and led him an unsteady step forwards.

"Oh my god." Buffy whispered, her hands covering her mouth and eyes filling with tears at the touching scene. Angel's eyes never wavered from the kids, but his hands were sketching at a furious rate.

Katie took two more steps back, Liam taking two forwards before he lost balance and fell forwards. Katie landed on her butt as Liam collapsed on top of her.

After a moment of heavy silence, both babies starting laughing and giggling.

Buffy glanced down at the sheets of paper covering her legs and saw the scene she just witnessed in a few quick sketches.

Smiling, she slid off his lap and onto the floor beside the kids.

"You helping Liam learn to walk sweetie?" She asked her daughter, who had a guilty expression like she had been caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar before dinner.

At the words of praise, Katie grinned and nodded. "Liam up." She repeated.

"Yeah, he was." She agreed, holding her son's hand and helping as he stood shakily with help. "You want to walk like us honey?" She asked the boy as he took an unsteady step in front of her.

Angel sat still on the couch a few moments, sketching, before he put the pad down and joined his family on the floor.

Liam's whole hand wrapped around his father's index finger as he pulled himself up, and took a few steps towards his mother.

They were all grinning ear to ear as he walked his first steps.

Both Buffy and Angel agreed which was their favorite Christmas present that year.

…