August 20th, 2003

Buffy paced back and fourth nervously at the local airport as the gang waited for Giles' flight to arrive.

"Babe," Angel said wrapping his arms lovingly around her waist and kissing her neck, "Calm down, it's just Giles."

Buffy sighed, "I know, but he hasn't seen me since I've gotten pregnant and I'm huge, I'm not the slayer he used to watch over."

"You have been growing at an alarming rate Buffy." Anya smiled helpfully.

"Not helping things here Anya." Xander said elbowing her.

"And... Giles said he had a surprise, what if it's like. a new slayer or something?"

"Then it's a new slayer and you can quit and be a mommy. Look Buff, Giles is like, your dad, he's so proud of you that you've made it this far and you're pregnant. You're like.. Carrying his grandbabies, you're the closest thing to a daughter he'll ever have and he loves you."

"You think Will?"

"I know Buff."

"I still think Giles surprise is that he got me a car, after all, my birthday IS in September."

"Uh, Dawnster, you can't get a car on an airplane." Xander pointed out.

"Yeah, and he said the surprise was for ALL of us Dawnie."

"Besides, you are SO not driving."

Dawn sighed and looked defeated, "Okay, so the surprise isn't a new car."

"Maybe Giles has a new girlfriend." Xander spoke up.

"Maybe, but wouldn't he have told us?" Willow pointed out

"Who knows?" Xander shrugged.

"Here comes his plane." Anya pointed out the window.

"Okay." Buffy fidgeted, "how do I look?" "Beautiful." Angel said kissing her.

"You look pregnant."

Dawn elbowed Anya in the side and glared at her.

"What, I'm just being honest, she does look pregnant, doesn't mean she can't look nice, looking pregnant isn't a bad thing, because she is. Now if she wasn't.. well that would be another story. Buffy I think you look pretty."

Buffy smiled a little at Anya. "Thank you"

Anya smiled back approvingly at Buffy and bounded up to wait for Giles by the gate. She was like a young child anxious and excited to see Giles again.

"You ready?" Angel asked taking her hand and helping her to her feet.

"Yep." She said following him to wait with Anya at the gate.

"Come on Dawnie." Willow said as she took Dawn's hand to lead her forward.

"You excited?"

Willow nodded, "I've really missed Giles, he was there for me after, well.. When it wasn't safe for anyone else to be."

Dawn smiled and hugged Willow, "I'm glad he was."

The scoobies watched as the endless line of people exited the plane.

"Where is he?"

"Give him time Buffy, he'll be off the plane eventually."

"I know. I'm just excited."

"There he is!" Anya exclaimed excitedly, she was the first to recognize Giles. The others looked down the long corridor in search of Giles face. Dawn and Buffy's mouths fell open in shock when they saw him.

"What's he carrying?"

"Well, it sure isn't a car." Dawn said, still in shock.

Xander squinted his eyes, " Looks like a little girl."

Anya pouted, "Giles surprise is a little girl? Where'd he find a little girl anyways? Well, I'm disappointed, I was hoping he would bring me something of monetary value."

"Would Giles actually have a love child?"

"I don't know Xander, be quiet, let's just listen to his story."

Giles finally reached the end of the corridor and immediately walked to the group of friends. Xander was right, Giles was indeed carrying a child. She was slumped over his shoulder sleeping soundly and wore a butterfly backpack; in her arm she clutched a realistic looking baby doll.

"Giles!!" The group instantly began to chatter around him, he felt as if he were in a game of 20 questions.

"Who is she?"

"Is she yours?"

"What's her name?"

"Did you bring me anything?" Giles had to laugh at Anya's question.

"It's nice to be home." He said smiling at them all. "Come on sweetie, wake up." He said as he gently shook the child to wake her from her deep slumber.

"Are we there yet?" She asked groggily as she reached up a small hand to wipe the sleep from her eyes.

"Yes we're here." He placed her on the ground and held onto her hand for a second, giving her time to regain her footing. As soon as Giles released the small girls hand Anya ran up to him and hugged him tightly, almost knocking him to the ground.

" I missed you, and I'm glad your back." Giles smiled and patted her on the back. As soon as Giles was released from Anya's grasp, he was quickly surrounded with another hug from Willow.

"It's so good to see you again."

He hugged her back tightly. "How have you been?"

"Good." Willow stepped back from Giles, knowing that Buffy was dying to see him.

Buffy stepped up to Giles and smiled at him, "Hello Buffy." He pulled her in closer and hugged her as tightly as her belly would allow. She buried her face in Giles shoulder.

"I'm so glad you're here again, these babies are going to need a grandpa." She said in a muffled voice, her face still pressed against him in a tight hug.

"Let me get a good look at you." He pulled her away from him slowly and looked at her smiling.

"You look wonderful Buffy, I couldn't be prouder of you."

She smiled at him, "Thank you."

"May I?" He asked holding his hand out to touch the babies growing inside her stomach.

"Of course, they might even kick a little for you." She said taking his hand and guiding it to the location on her stomach where most of the kicking occurred.

Giles smiled, "Are they strong?"

Buffy laughed, "Like you wouldn't believe."

Angel and the others stood watching the heartwarming exchange between the Slayer and her Watcher when Angel felt a slight tug at his sleeve. He looked down to see the beautiful little girl Giles had been carrying looking up at him. The questions of her origin had been momentarily forgotten.

"Will you pick me up?" She asked holding her arms up towards Angel.

"Sure sweetie." He said bending to scoop the child up. She wasn't shy at all.

"Hi." She said once she was more level with Angel's face.

"Hello."

"What's your name?"

"Angel."

"Like angels that fly in the sky?"

Angel smiled, "Yeah I guess. What's yours?"

" Ella Rose Parker Giles." The little girl said proudly. She had beautiful sparking blue eyes and long brown hair that formed into little ringlets. She was wearing a cute spaghetti strapped sundress that was sky blue and brought out the color of her eyes.



"Looks as if someone's taken a bit of a liking to you." Giles said coming up to Angel after he had finished talking to Buffy and greeted Dawn and Xander.

Angel smiled, "She's beautiful."

"Thank you." Both Giles and Ella repeated in unison. It was obvious the little girl knew Angel was referring to her.

"It's good to see you again Angel, congratulations." He held out his hand and Angel shook it.

"Thank you, we couldn't be happier."

"Why don't we go sit down and get something to eat in the foot court, I'm sure you must be starving. We can talk more there." Buffy said eyeing the little girl.

" Of course, that's a good idea."

"Can I get nice cream?"

"No El, you have to get real food." The little girl pouted at Giles answer, hoping to melt his heart.

Buffy came up and stood beside Angel, smiling as she looked at the tiny girl, "We've got ice cream back at my house, you can have some later okay? I like ice cream too, and so does Dawn." She said indicating her sister.

"Yeah, we all do as a matter of fact." Dawn smiled at the child.

Ella wiggled in Angel's arms indicating that she wanted to be put down. When he placed her on the ground she walked straight to Dawn and took her hand.

"Want to be my friend?"

Dawn smiled, "Of course I do."

"Come on, let's go find a table."

The gang all sat at a big table enjoying lunch and talking. Ella moved from person to person charming them all immediately. Giles still hadn't brought up exactly who Ella was and Buffy figured it was because he didn't want to talk about it in front of the small child.





Buffy smiled as she felt a small hand on her leg. The others at the table continued to chatter as she talked with the enchanting young girl "Hello Ella." She said looking under the table at the child.

"Hi." She said as she tried to climb up in Buffy's lap.

"You want to come sit up here?" She asked, Ella nodded excitedly; she loved all the attention. Buffy picked the child up and placed her on what was left of her lap so that Ella was facing her.

"What's in there?" Ella asked pointing to Buffy's rounded stomach.

"Babies." Buffy said smiling.

The little girls eyes lit up with excitement. "Really???"

Buffy nodded, "Yep."

The child smiled and then giggled, "In your tummy?"

"Well. not really."

"Are they going to live in there forever or will they come out?"

"They'll come out and you can play with them when they get a little older. Right now I'm just protecting them until they're strong enough to live out here."

"How long til they come out?"

"Well, about four months."

The child frowned, "That's a forever and a half."

Buffy laughed, "Sometimes it feels that way. But we have lots of stuff to do before they get here, would you like to help us?" She didn't know who the child was or where she came from, but she knew Giles loved her and that she was a sweetie.

"Okay! How many babies are in there?"

"Two."

Ella's eyes grew wide. "Wow, that's this many." She said holding up two fingers.

"That's right."

"Does everybody have two babies or are they special?"

"They're very special. Would you like to feel them move?"

Ella nodded excitedly and allowed Buffy to take her hand and guide it to a spot on her stomach.

Ella giggled, "They kick hard, do you think they like me?"

"I'm sure they do."

"Does it feel funny?"

"It kind of tickles, sometimes it hurts a little but that's okay. It feels kind of like a flutter."

'Like a flutter bye? I gots flutter byes on my backpack."

Buffy smiled at her, "Yeah, I guess it is kind of like a butterfly."

Giles cleared his throat. "Ella, would you like to go to the gift shop with Dawn so that I can talk to the adults?"

"Yes please." She said climbing off of Buffy's lap and going to Dawn. "Can Willow come too?"

"If she likes."

"Sure, I'll come."

Giles looked to Willow and then Dawn, "I'll fill you two in later." He then looked to Ella, "Be good okay pumpkin?"

"K, can I bring Alyssa?" She asked pointing to the realistic looking doll sitting on the table. The doll had brown hair and blue eyes like Ella, and was sucking a pacifier. It felt quite similar to a real baby when held.

"Okay." Giles picked up the doll and handed it to Ella who cradled it lovingly.

"K, I'm ready." She said reaching out for Willow's hand and looking to Dawn.

The gang stared anxiously at Giles waiting for an explanation. He sat for a moment, waiting until he was sure Ella was out of hearing range.

"I'm sorry to spring this on you all, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you before I came. Ella is. well she's the daughter of a watcher and a witch who were friends of mine. They were killed much earlier this year while fighting the forces of evil, and they had asked me to take Ella if anything were to ever happen to them. So, when her parents died, I took her and adopted her as my own."

Buffy's mouth hung open, "Oh my god, that poor baby."

"She seems to be.. Adjusting well."

Giles smiled a little, "Yes, she has her moments, but she really is an amazing child, very strong. She's very loving and trusting, and she knows her mother and father loved her very very much. Reminds me a lot of a younger version of someone I know." He said looking to Buffy.

"Do you think she could be..."

"A slayer? Only time will tell."

"Does she have her mothers powers?"

" Not completely sure on that one either, we'll have to wait and see."

" So you're her.."

"Uncle Giles, that's what she calls me."

"She's a very enchanting child."

Giles smiled, "Don't let her looks fool you, she can be quite a handful. Again, I'm so sorry for not mentioning this before. If it's too much for us to stay with you, we can rent a hotel until we find somewhere to live."

"Oh don't be ridiculous Giles, you're staying with us for as long as you need. We're happy to welcome such a sweet little girl into our lives." Angel insisted. "We've done lots of adding on to the house since you last visited and there's plenty of room for everyone."

"Are you sure it won't be too much of a bother?"

Buffy looked at him, "Yes, you're staying with us. You can live with us for as long as you need."

"Thank you."

"Yeah, it'll be great to have the little munchkin around the house."

Anya laughed, "You like her because she laughs at your lame jokes."

" True, but.." He looked to Giles, "You shouldn't have to raise her alone, we're family remember?"

Ella skipped happily through the airport with her new friends Dawn and Willow holding her hands. She felt loved and welcomed and knew that her Uncle Giles had not lied to her when he told her everyone would be friendly.

"Thank you for the candy Willow." She said greedily sucking on a lollipop.

"Oh, you're welcome sweetie, just don't tell your... your." She looked to Dawn as she searched for a word. "Your dad?"

Ella laughed, "No silly, he's my Uncle Giles."

"Oh, okay." Willow said, not sure what to say.

"You know what?"

"What Ella?"

"We all have nature names, Willow is a tree and it's pretty and butterflies like to play there, and Dawn is when the sun comes up and the bad night goes away, and Rose is a pretty flower, daddy said I was as sweet as a rose."

"Quite an extensive bit of knowledge for a little one your size, how old are you Ella?" Dawn asked, impressed with the child's intelligence.

"I'm this many." She said holding up three little fingers.

"Wow, only three?"

Ella nodded proudly.

"How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen."

Ella's eyes got huge. "Wow that's.." She held up all ten of her fingers, "That's 6 more than this, can I use my toes too?"

Willow laughed, "I think you better leave your shoes on."



Later that evening after everyone had arrived back at the house, Dawn sat in her bedroom sending an email to one of her friends. She figured everyone else was busy helping Giles unpack or trying to fix up Ella's room. Dawn didn't hear the tiny feet creep across her room over the clickety-click of her keyboard.

"BOO!!" Ella yelled, Dawn jumped and let out a yelp.

"Oh my gosh Ella, you scared me."

Ella giggled, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay kid, what have you got there?" She asked indicating Ella's butterfly backpack, the child hadn't put it down since she'd arrived in the airport.

"Oh, these are my reallllllly special treasures, do you want to see?"

"Sure." Dawn said leaving her email unattended. She picked up the small child and put her on the bed.

"Okay, now pays close attentions cause this is important." Ella said, being sure to make close eye contact with Dawn and making her most serious face.

"Okay." Dawn said smiling.

"This." She said dramatically. "is my coloring book. It's got Pooh bear on it. Uncle Giles bought it for me before we left cause I was crying. Planes are scary."

"Yeah, I guess they would be to someone your size."

Ella nodded and pulled something else from the bag, "This is my pink crayon." She held up a hot pink crayon like it was her prized possession.

Dawn laughed, "That's very pretty sweetie, but don't you have any other colors or is Giles holding out on you?"

"No, Uncle Giles bought me a whole box of colors but I like the pink one the best. The other colors are all together in my suitcase."

"Oh, good."

"This is my Barbie!" She said pulling out her Barbie doll by the hair, the poor thing was half naked and her hair was in desperate need of combing. "I've had her for a forever." Dawn tried to suppress her laugh, "she's very pretty."

"I know." Ella was busy searching through her bag again, "This is fuzzy." The child pulled a plush bunny with soft brown fur out of her bag. Dawn could tell it had been loved.

"Awww, Ella, he's cute."

"She." The small child said pointing to the bow on the rabbit's ears.

"Sorry, she's cute.. But you have to promise me something."

"Okay."

"Never ever show Anya that okay?"

"Hmmmm, why?"

"Because she's scared of bunnies."

Ella frowned, "Why is she scared of little bunnies? They got cute little tails and ears and pink noses."

"I'm not quite sure really."

Ella shrugged and began searching through her bag again, "This is blankie." She held up a warn pink blanket. "I love it, and this is the most specialist of all so pay attention." She pulled out a picture, "This is mommy and daddy and Ella." The tiny child said looking sad.

"Oh sweetie." Dawn said, pulling the small child in closer to her. The faces in the picture stared back at her, a beautiful young woman with brown curly hair just like Ella and a handsome younger man, much younger and less stuffy looking than your average Watcher.

"I miss them lots sometimes."

Dawn kissed Ella on the top of her head, "I'm sure you do sweetie."

"But they loved me very lots much and they watch over me and keep me safe. That's what Uncle Giles said, that they loved me enough to die for me."

Dawn nodded as she held back the tears that seemed to be building up behind her own eyes. "I'm sure they loved you tons."

"Where's your mommy?" "She's not here anymore."

"Did she die?"

"Yeah El, she died."

Ella looked up at Dawn and reached up and placed two tiny hands on Dawn's cheeks. "I'm sorry, it'll be okay your mommy loved you lots and tons like mine."

"I know she did Ella, thank you."

"Did bad people hurt your mommy too?"

"No Ella, my mom was sick."

Ella frowned a little, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright Ella, I miss her but it's okay."

Giles stood outside the door to Dawn's bedroom watching the entire exchange between Ella and Dawn. His heart felt comforted seeing that Ella had already bonded so well with Dawn. Giles had feared that the move to America would have been too much trauma for the little girl, but he could tell she'd found a very special friend in Dawn. He knew that this new relationship would do wonders, for both the girls.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's bedtime for you little miss." He said sticking his head into Dawn's room.

"But Uncle Giillles" Ella whined. "I wanna stay with Dawn!" She crossed her arms and made her resolve face, which was remarkably similar to Willow's.

Giles looked helplessly at Dawn.

"It's alright, she can stay in here with me tonight if she likes."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive, big bed, little body."

"I warn you, she kicks."

Dawn rolled her eyes and laughed a little, "Giles, give me a break. Are you forgetting who my old sister is? The slayer? Used to climb into her bed when I was little when I had nightmares, and she kicked like she was fighting a big bad."

Giles smiled a little and nodded."Okay Dawn, thank you." "No problem."

"Makes sure she gets some sleep."

"Alright, I'll do my best." Dawn said knowing full well the child had too many questions with too many answers to sleep.

"Dawn?"

"Yeah El?"

"Your sister has babies in her tummy."

"Yep, she sure does."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Okay." Dawn said, afraid she knew where this one was going.

"Where do babies come from?"

Dawn giggled a little, "Ask Willow in the morning okay?"





Buffy blew a strand of blonde hair out of her face before climbing into bed next to Angel.

"What's wrong honey? Everything okay in there?" He asked placing his hand on her stomach, as if he could feel what was going on.

"Yeah, they're fine, I'm just fat."

"You aren't fat."

"Are so."

"You're beautiful."

"I'm fat."

"You're beautiful and pregnant, NOT fat."

Buffy looked like she was going to cry, "You don't love me anymore."

"No babe, that's not true. Come here." He pulled her in close to his warm body and kissed her on the head. "You're beautiful and I love you and those babies more than anything in the world." He rubbed his hand lovingly on her belly.

"You mean it?"

"I really do." He kissed her again, this time a lingering one on the lips.

She looked up at him, wiping a tear from under her eye. "I know, I'm sorry, it's just the hormones."

Angel smiled, "I know, it's okay."

Buffy pushed her body back into Angel a little and snuggled down comfortably, obviously over her upset.

"Just think, we're going to have two little girls in four months."

"I know, I can't wait. but I can wait, because while they're in here." She rubbed her stomach lovingly, "I can keep them safe, but, once they're out here, there's only so much I can do."

Angel smiled a little and slipped out from under Buffy, kissing her rounded belly, "It'll be fine, we'll all be fine."







**Okay, I'm sorry this took so long and I'm sorry for the lack of Angel/Buffyness, I just had to introduce that little Ella. So what do you guys think? Is the little one a keeper? She won't dominate the other stories so much!"