He crouched low to the ground. Silent, he paused. He could hear his prey. He strained his hearing, trying to capture the sound once again. That soft breath that kept escaping.

It came, and again he began moving towards the sound. Carefully avoiding the obstacle in his path, he paused again, trying to be sure he knew where to look.

In the darkness, he could hear a tiny whisper. They had found each other. Were formulating a plan as he searched for them. He knew he'd better find them quickly before the elder had moved them to a safer, more concealed spot. Smart boy, he was.

Tracking the whispers, he drew nearer to the enclosed area. Keeping his footsteps light, he crept closer and closer. He was almost upon them. He could hear the rustling of their clothing as they began to move.

He had to make his move now.

Jumping forward, Spike whipped the door to the closet open and swiftly looped an arm around each of their waists, allowing them to dangle at his sides.

"Gotcha!" He chuckled as he held the squirming pair in his arms. Each child giggling insanely.

William managed to gasp out, "I told you that was an awful hiding place Joyce!" She replied by sticking her tongue out at her brother.

"Hey, none of that now. How 'bout we play again?" Spike set both of them down when they nodded, "Alright, I'll count to-"

"What is this?" He was interrupted by a figure who stood silhouetted in the doorway. A hand reached out and flicked the light on in the den to reveal the trio standing in a guilty line. Buffy crossed her slender arms across her chest and arched an eyebrow at her husband.

The three stood before her, looking down at the floor for a moment before Spike, who stood between William and Joyce, stepped forward to speak, "I know what this looks like..." he trailed off when she snorted in laughter.

"Yeah. It looks like the kids were supposed to be in bed about an hour and a half ago," She responded, glancing at the clock on the wall.

Spike let out a nervous laugh, "Ya' see, what happened was, we were watchin' a picture on the t.v. and it was gettin' on that time, but the kids wanted to play a game quick before they went to bed so I figured that Hide 'n Go Seek would be a real quick game and then off to bed, but one game turned into two, turned into nine and here we are, and I know you're upset Buffy, but really we didn't think that you'd be back from patrol so soon and then-"

"Stop," she cut off his rambling, holding a hand up, "I'm not mad. Just wanted to know what was goin' on here. Besides, they don't have school tomorrow."

"I don't have school ever!" Joyce spoke up, stepping forward and holding out her arms to be picked up. Buffy obliged her and started walking towards the kitchen with Spike and Will trailing behind, "But you will some day, little one."

She set her daughter down at the kitchen table and turned around to face her husband and son who were holding hands as they entered a second later. She smiled lovingly at them both.

"How about hot chocolates all around?"

When the sun finally rose in the sky, four sleeping figures littered the couch in the living room...and the next day, the Slayer needed to buy more Hot Chocolate Mix.

END




Bedtime
Gotcha!
Did You Ever Know...?
Ever Notice How Alike Vampire and Umpire Sound?
Her Portrait
Twenty Questions
Why?