MISTLETOE AND WINE
Wonders Never Cease
By Sauscony

E-mail: sauscony@forty-two.co.nz
Rating: G
Pairings: Buffy/Giles and others
Summary: Reply to a 2000 Christmas Challenge
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel characters are copyrighted ©20th Century Fox, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, UPN and the WB, and are used without permission. No copyright infringment is intended.

The room was dark, except for the flickering of the TV screen in the corner. Susan took a moment to pull the curtains, shutting out the night, before curling up on the couch beside her husband.

Wesley had Jeremy in his arms. The baby was sleeping peacefully, a stark contrast to half an hour ago, when he had been screaming fit to wake the dead. Wesley had escaped to the downstairs lounge with the baby and a bottle, in a desperate attempt to avoid waking the other sleeping children that were being bustled off home by their parents and grandparents.

Susan had stayed with her in-laws to bid farewell to their guests. She carried a sleeping Katie out to the van and helped Xander strap her into her carry seat, while all around her the rest of the Harris clan readied for departure. It had taken the better part of an hour to get everyone strapped in and all the farewells said, and when she returned to the house, it was blessedly quiet.

"He's asleep," Wesley whispered unnecessarily. "But for a while there, I didn't think it was going to happen."

"It's his new teeth."

"I know," Wesley agreed. "But Miri wasn't nearly as miserable as poor little Jemmy." He unconsciously brushed a hand across his son's hair as he spoke, and the baby gurgled and slept on.

Susan shrugged. "Buffy says every baby is different, and when I asked my mom, she said the same thing. You, I hear, were a diabolical child when you were teething."

Wesley, who had heard such defamatory stories many times before, refused to rise to the bait. "Well, I hope our little man gets those new teeth of his soon. I hate it when he cries like that."

"I know," Susan agreed. "So do I."

Suddenly, Wesley grinned. "But I know how to make him go to sleep, now. I walked him around the room for a good twenty minutes without it doing any good, so I turned on the TV. He was captivated, watched for a while and drifted off to sleep."

Susan looked at the screen, seeing James Stewart and Donna Reed in all their black and white glory. "It's a Wonderful Life?" she said in surprise. "That's what put him to sleep?"

Wesley nodded. "I think we should buy it on disk, and when he won't sleep, we play it."

"You do realise that film must be nearly 100 years old by now," Susan pointed out, shaking her head. "And it's probably been played at Christmas every single one of those years."

"Just proves you can't beat the classics."

She laughed softly and rested her head against his shoulders, partly watching the screen, mostly aware of her husband's warm, solid presence beside her. "It was a good day, wasn't it?"

"The best," he agreed.

"Do you think Brianna will be happy?"

Wesley chuckled. "If it hadn't been for their ... ah ... unusual ... circumstances, Bree and Angel would have been married before I even met you."

"So, that's a yes?"

"A definite yes," Wesley agreed.

"I married into a very bizarre family," Susan commented reflectively.

"And would you have it any other way?"

She lifted her head and kissed him lightly. "Not at all. Come on, let's get this little fellow to bed and do the same ourselves."

Wesley smiled, and kissed her back. "I think I can handle that."