Hyperion Hotel Lobby

Max Evans just looked at Xander in shock. "Who are you, and why do you have a spaceship like that named after you!?"

Alex came right up to them, "Cool it, Max. It's nothing you have to worry about. He just did what I hope I'd ever have had the guts to do, if I was in his place."

Michael joined in, "Nothing we have to worry about!? Oh man, these ships are to fight the Skins, aren't they? They're coming – that's why you built that first one, isn't it?"

Xander was starting to come out of his shock. "Um, yeah, that's it. We found out about those Skins from Alex a little while ago, so we just tossed a ship together out of some spare parts we found at a NASA garage sale!" he waved off their concerns, getting annoyed. "Besides, the Skins wouldn't stand a chance. We're still under the Treaty..."

"Uh, what treaty?" Isabel asked.

Xander looked up, seeing most eyes on him. The man cursed himself when he realized he'd said too much, "Oh…I, I meant how I just watched the History channel about the Versailles Treaty, that ended World War One. Really riveting stuff. Wasn't it just fascinating, Cordy?"

She saw the pleading in his eyes. "Oh, yeah, sure. I just know how you love all that old black and white war stuff. It was great, we should send away for a tape of it..."

"Uh-huh..." Max groaned. He was about to press the issue, when he saw the stern look on Alex's face. "Yeah, that damn History channel is so addictive, isn't it Michael?"

"Sure. I couldn't count how many times I was late for school because of it," Michael responded, rolling his eyes.

Xander shook his head. He couldn't believe he'd let that slip, but his mind was losing track of who knew what these days. Finally, he grabbed his new briefcase and stood. "Cor, could I see you in the office, alone?" He saw the aliens and their human friends looking at him. "Just boring old family things, ya know – personal stuff..."

"Sure, Xander," Cordy said, as he led her to the office and then closed the door behind them. Moments later, they watched as he closed the blinds to the office window as well.

That was the moment Connor, Kristen, Julie, and Tom came down carrying Erica and Kelsey.

They looked at the upset faces of the group of teenagers around the couches. "What'd we miss?"

***

"Okay, Xander. What the hell was all that about?" Cordelia asked him, as she took a drink from her water bottle.

He tried to ignore the question. "You know Cor, the covered-in-sweat look really makes you glow. It's kind of sexy."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "You're not trying to change the subject – are you now, you pervert?"

Xander covered his heart with his hands. "Me? Never. Sheesh, can't a man compliment his fiancée without getting grilled?" he asked innocently.

Cordelia just kept glaring at him, till he broke. "Oh, all right! You know I hate it when you do that..."

She flashed him a triumphant smile at her victory. "Good. Now talk."

"There's not much I can tell ya. And this is just between us, understand?"

"Of course, honey."

Xander sat on the edge of the desk. "Well, let's just say that if ET ever did want to phone home, then he'd have to look through one hugeass phone book to do it! It's a big galaxy out there, Cor. And it'd be stupid for us to think that we're the only planet that life sprang up on! And that's all I can say without doing massive time in a Federal prison, because if it's all the same to you I would like to be around to see our daughters grow up."

Cordy gave up, when she knew he wouldn't say anymore. "Okay, then why the briefcase? I know you don't have it just for the framed picture!"

"Oh, I almost forgot about that!" he said, quickly opening the case and fishing out a green file folder. "Here," the military officer told her, as he handed it to her.

"What's this?" the young woman asked, as she opened it. Then she looked up as she read the top page, her head shooting up sharply. "My medical records?!"

"Your new ones, anyway," Xander shrugged.

"New? But I haven't gone to a doctor in…" Cordelia stopped, as she looked the pages over. "Xander? There's about eight and a half months of hospital visits here, that I never went to!"

"Yeah. Figured it might be suspicious if you had a record of giving birth, but no doctor visits before that. To everyone else, you were pregnant for 9 months. And we also took a few things out, and kind of covered them up."

"Like what?"

"Well, your doctors thought you were kind of weird, what with a massive seizure in the middle of a street fair your first year out here? Plus, when your brain activity started to go nearly flat-line because of the visions! But don't worry. We still have all your full records at the base, if anything should happen."

Cordy frowned. "Why would you want to cover them up?"

"Cor, you said it yourself. You had divine intervention about getting your part on that show! When you become famous, do you really want Entertainment Tonight doing a cover story on your weird seizure – where a doctor swears she saw a huge flash of light coming from your hospital room?" he asked her.

She moved to her beloved, and gave him a deep kiss. "Guess not. Thank you, baby."

"Well, hey, that's kinda what we future husbands do..." Xander told her, as he looked at his now-wet shirt from her sweat.

Cordy looked at him playfully. "And I thought you liked me all sweaty..."

"I do, Cor, I do! But only when I help you get that way."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, moving in close again. "Well, if you play your cards right mister, tonight you might be able to do just that."

"Damn it, Cordy," the former Zeppo told her between kisses. "I'm starting to think that sooner or later, that I won't be able to keep up with you!"

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Xander? Cordelia? Are you both decent in there?" they heard Kristen ask through the door, with a bit of amusement in her voice.

Xander looked annoyed. "She already knows us too well."

Cordy stole one more quick kiss. "Yeah, and I blame you for that, mister!" she told him before she playfully smacked his arm. "Come on in, Kristen."

Kristen came in by herself. "Ah, there was something I wanted to talk to you two about."

Cordy interrupted her. "Well, talk to him for now. 'Cause I have got to take a shower, stat! As much as the dorkhead here likes me all sweaty, I need to stop smelling like a locker room." And with that, the former seer was out of the room.

Xander watched her go with a smile, before turning back to Kristen. "What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked, as he closed the door.

"Well, Xand, I was thinking…" but she stopped when the man held up his hand.

"Sorry, it's just I don't think I'll get another chance to do this..." he told her, as he went into the briefcase and pulled out a tan folder. Xander then moved to the file cabinets, and opened the C-D drawer.

The young Slayer watched, as he put the large folder back into its obvious place. "What's in there?"

"Oh, nothing. But let's keep it between us for now, okay?"

She nodded.

"Great, so what's on your mind?"

***

Room 236, Hyperion Hotel

Cordelia leaned her head under the showerhead, letting the shampoo rinse slowly out. Her mind was busy concentrating on how to ask Xander if it was okay to accept the offer she, Cerina, and Courtney had gotten a few days ago.

Well, maybe 'ask' was the wrong term, as the young woman was going to do it anyway; but she still wanted Xander's blessing.

Cordy leaned her body into the jet of hot water, as she thought about it. And that was when the vision of another life started...

***

"No way in hell, Xander! You're not going down there!" Cordelia yelled at him from the large couch in their third-storey apartment. "I'm due almost any day now, and you want to go play commando in some demon-infested underground lair?!"

Xander took her hand, as he kneeled down to be at eye level with her. "Cor, I gotta do this. They need me for the spell, I'm the heart guy. Buffy's the body, Giles is the mind, and Willow's the soul. I have to be there. Just like I was Key Guy last year, I guess I'm... Heart Guy this year."

She looked him in the eyes. "Xander Harris, you're an idiot. No, you're a lame idiot! But apart from that, you are the heart guy; you're my heart. And I don't want to see you get killed!"

Cordy then looked up at Tara, who was leaning on the kitchen counter. "Don't tell me you're actually letting Willow do this!?"

The blonde Wicca nodded slowly. "I, I...yes. It's what they do. You know, Scooby stuff."

Realizing she would get no help from her friend, Cordelia turned back to Xander. "For Pete's sake – most of your information about all this comes from Spike…Spike, Xander! He already sold you guys out to that ADAM thing, plus Buffy's GI Joke Guy is now missing in action. How can you possibly…"

"Cordy," the father of her unborn kids said softly. "I don't want to argue with you on this, baby, I swear. But ADAM has gotta be stopped. He's getting ready to make more...things like himself. And we can't let that happen. I won't let it. They would tear through this town, like it was nothing..."

The young man got very serious. "You didn't see what he did to that little boy, Cor – but I did. Just the thought of them coming out of there as an army, and coming after everyone in town…coming after you? I will not let that happen."

Cordelia saw that she wasn't going to be able to talk him out of it, so she slowly lifted her very pregnant body off the couch till she was standing upright. "You better not get hurt down there," the young mother-to-be pulled him close for a kiss. "I want my Zeppo back in one piece, understand?"

Xander hugged her tight. "I'll be okay, Cor, and ya know what? I'll be back before you know it..." He leant down and talked to her huge belly, "Daddy will be back soon, okay, you two in there?" Then he stood up and told her, "I love you, Cor."

Queen C gave him her patented thousand-watt cheerleader smile. "I love you too, dorkhead..." Then with that, Xander was out the door.

And as soon as he left, Cordy moved to the patio outside with Tara in close pursuit. They got to the railing, just in time to see Xander's car leaving the parking lot.

"I…I'm sure they'll be all right, Cordelia," Tara stuttered, as she saw Cordy start to tear up. She faintly heard her mumble something, "What was that?"

The brunette looked to her blonde friend, with tears falling. "He didn't say it! He didn't say it!"

Tara guided her to a plastic deck chair. "Yes he did, Cordy. You…you just told him you loved him back..." she said, a little confused.

"No!! I don't mean that, Tara," Cordy replied, as she sat down slowly.

"Then what did you mean?"

The Wicca was surprised, when Cordy looked at her with almost pure joy. "When we were fighting demons back in high school, he would always run off into the battle, just like now. And he would always tell me the same thing; it was either Buffy or Willow, but he would tell me that he couldn't let them go in there alone. For a long time, I thought he would fight to the death for them. But not for me, never for me. And now, he's saying he's doing this to protect me!"

Tara grinned at her friend's reaction. She watched her for a few minutes, before the young college girl suggested, "How about we go back inside, Cordy? That plastic chair can't be comfortable for you..."

"No," the brunette told her firmly. "I'm not moving from this spot, till I see the big dork's car pull back into the driveway."

Tara then saw where the brunette was looking, and noticed a yellow school bus come to a stop. Out came two very young children; a boy and a girl, brother and sister most likely, and the women watched as they were greeted by their father at the bus stop.

Cordelia watched, as the man picked up the little girl in his arms and took the boy's hand as they walked back to the house. "He's coming back, Tara, he has to..." she whispered.

***

Cordelia Chase snapped out of her trance-like state. She then jumped back, when she realized the hot water had long since turned cold.

The woman opened the shower door, and grabbed the towel. With it wrapped firmly around her body, she walked into the room were her clothes lay on a chair.

But she ignored them and moved to the bed, sitting down trying to make sense of the vision she'd just had. What the hell is going on!? I thought British Accent Supermojo Guy said I wasn't getting them anymore! Are the old Powers trying to mess with me?

As Cordy sat there, she knew only one fact with absolute certainty. What she had seen, and done, and felt in that vision – it was all real.

But I never met Tara in real life! Angel and Wes had, but she'd never gotten the chance to do so...

Glancing at the alarm clock by the bed, Cordelia discovered she was running late for the picnic and would have to hurry or Xander might suspect something. She didn't like keeping secrets like this from him, it went completely against the agreement they had made when they got back together. But something inside her mind told her to keep silent.

***

The roof of the Hyperion Hotel

The Harris/Chase family was taking advantage of the unusually warm weather, for this time of year. With a large blanket and a big umbrella shading them from the sun, the four people were having a picnic.

Erica Harris was lying in the playpen, fast asleep, while her sister Kelsey was being held by her mother. Who in turn was laying her head in Xander's lap. And as Cordy ate another grape that Xander had just fed her, she looked down towards the baby girl in her arms...

"You see this, Kelsey? It's called male management. You've got to train them well, to get them to pamper you! And I have your daddy trained very well, don't I?" She lifted the child up, so she could rub her nose into the baby's tummy. "Yes, I do. Yes, I do!" she said in a baby-talk voice.

"Isn't it a little early for that, Cor? You keep going at this pace, and by the time they hit seven they'll be giving me pouty faces to get whatever they want," Xander shrugged.

Cordy flashed a huge grin up at him. "Well, of course they will, dummy! I'll train them real well. They'll have you totally wrapped around their little fingers, by then."

"Well. Then I guess I'll have to use the last defence a father has, against a daughter's pouting."

"And what is that, pray tell?"

"I'd tell them to go ask their mother. For everything."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Oh please, you will be so whipped as a father."

"Hey!" Xander said hotly. "I am not whipped. Not by you, and I will not be whipped by them either!"

"That's nice, honey. And Xander?"

"Yes?"

"Grape," she said simply.

"Oh, right. Sorry." His hand reached out, grabbing one from the Tupperware bowl and plopping it in to her waiting mouth.

As she chewed, Cordy grinned. "Oh no, Xander. You're not whipped at all."

His face fell, as he looked at the baby in her arms. "Baby, Daddy's a real pushover – isn't he?" The little girl gave him a tiny laugh at that moment.

Cordy laughed too, as she saw Xander sigh and shake his head. She didn't bother to tell him that she was tickling the child's foot at the time, to cause Kelsey to laugh.  "We'll go easy on Daddy, won't we Kelsey?" the young woman said again in baby-talk mode.

Xander got serious for a moment. "Hey, Cor, is everything okay?"

She looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well...you seemed a little out of it when you came up here. Anything going on?"

Cordelia quickly shook her head. "No, nothing major is going on. I…just had a weird dream last night."

Xander slowly moved his hand through her hair. "About what?"

Unfortunately for him, the one-time dreaded prosecutor of the ugly and unfashionable knew exactly what to say to stop his curiosity. "It was about clowns. Lots of them. They kept running around the circus ring…"

"Whoa! Okay! Clowns, evil. Next topic..." He then saw her grin. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," Cordelia answered innocently.

Xander groaned. "You're planning to have clowns at the girls' first birthday party, aren't you?"

"Yep."

Shaking his head, Captain Harris told her, "You're a cruel, cruel woman, you know that?"

"Why, Xander! You know I would never be cruel to you..." Then in a sultry voice she whispered, "That is, unless you want me to be."

The young man quickly covered Kelsey's ears with his hands. "Hey! No mommy and daddy sex talk in front of the girls!" After a moment he added, "But you know, we did have great make-up smoochies after we were cruel to each other..."

She nodded in agreement. Then, "Grape."

He dropped another into her mouth.

"You know, Xander, there is one thing I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?"

"Well, it's something I'm thinking of doing, but I wanted your blessing beforehand," she told him carefully.

His interest piqued, Xander asked, "What is it?"

Cordelia repositioned Kelsey in her arms, before she spoke. "Well…they want us to do some promo work, like interviews and stuff. For the show."

"Why would you need my okay to do some interview?" he asked, confused.

"Well, for the magazines they have pictures along with the interviews."

"So? Oh, what magazine? TV Guide? People?"

"No…"

"Then what?"

"Maxim."

Xander' eyebrows shot up. "As in hold-your-boobs-in-the-picture Maxim?"

Cordelia shook her head, "Nothing that revealing. But they want all three of us from the show, to do a layout for the February issue."

"February? Wait up – they'd have to do the photo shoot fairly soon then, wouldn't they?" He then looked at her closely. "You've already agreed to it, haven't you? You're just asking me to inflate my ego a bit, aren't you?"

"Maybe," the young mother of two said playfully.

Xander couldn't help a grin. "When's the shoot? And do you know what kind of theme they want to do?"

"It's on the 22nd. And they're going for three sexy secret agents in leather, last I heard. But don't worry, I won't be in anything worse than my princess costume. And I plan on wearing the ring in them," Cordy said with a shrug. "Cerina has done shoots twice with these guys, and she says they turn out great."

Xander eyed his betrothed for a second. "Will I at least get an autographed copy, Ms. Chase? As a collector's item, of course."

"My God, you are so transparent Xander Harris!!" she laughed at him. "Don't worry; we're going to be on the cover as well. And Cerina says they let you have a poster-sized copy of it, if you make the cover. And yes, I will autograph it for you!"

Xander smiled. "Good! I can frame it, and put in our new office at home. As…your first magazine cover."

Laughing at him more, Cordy whispered, "Or so when you have people in the office, you can point to it and tell 'em that's your wife."

"I would never do anything like that!" he protested.

"Sure you wouldn't..." the former seer said, before she reached up and pulled his head down for a kiss.

"Well, okay then…" Xander said playfully, giving her his blessing.

"Thanks, honey."

He just laughed a bit, for a while longer.

"Xander?"

"Yeah?"

"Grape!" she commanded in her most imperious voice.