178

"Rose?" Spike's voice could be heard approaching from a distance. "Rose?" he repeated, much closer and much more urgently.

Giles headed towards the door. "I suppose I ought to..," he began.

"Wait," Rose interrupted. "If I might make a suggestion, it would be that as soon as you open the bolts, step to one side. Very quickly."

Rose's name sounded again, still nearer. "Why should I do that?" Giles asked as he prepared to draw the last bolt.

"Do you want the first thing that Spike sees to be you with my blood on you?" Rose asked. "Or would you rather that he see us first?" Against Giles' admittedly inexpert advice, Rose was curled up on her side, so she could look at and converse with her newborns.

"Point taken," Giles conceded. He pulled the bolt free and followed the path of the door as it swung open.

None too soon, for there was Spike. He just stood there in the doorway for a long minute, stock-still, taking in the scene. Then, he propelled himself to the middle of the room and knelt by the side of the cots. For once, Rose was not the focus of his attention, but rather, the tiny little towel-wrapped bundles between them. There was neither a smart-ass smirk, a happy smile, nor even a sappy grin on his face, but rather a look of awe. He reached out a tentative hand to stroke a down-soft little cheek, the fuzzy wisps of hair on a little head. "Daddy's here now," he murmured. When he did look up at Rose, there were tears in his eyes.

Giles took in the scene for a moment, then slipped out the door to give the new family some time alone together before the inevitable mob scene began.

&&&&&&&&

"Spike is going to be the father of a whole race of vampires with souls?" Cordelia was having difficulties absorbing the whole Spike with a soul thing.

"Hey guys, what's up? Did we win?" Lorne joined them, then saw the addition to the group. "Cordy?" he said in a choked voice.

"Lorne." Cordelia threw her arms around him. Now, that the danger had passed, there just might be time to catch up on things. But the once the greeting was over, the party continued to move, with the Slayers trailing behind, for lack of anything better to do. Happy as they were to have Cordelia back, everyone wanted to see the babies.

&&&&&&&

Spike had been spared the sight, but the first thing the rest of them saw was a less than band-box perfect Giles.

"What happened?" Angel demanded tersely.

Giles looked down at himself and realized what the cause of Angel's consternation was. "Like death, birth involves a certain amount of exposure to bodily fluids," he remarked in his usual dry, Giles voice. Then, he finally allowed himself to be human again, and his voice broke. "Dear God, it was..,"

"What you were meant to see," Cordelia broke in. "It was the whole reason that you weren't allowed to translate the whole prophecy until it was time."

They all turned to look at Cordy expectantly. "Visions," she said with a shrug. "I've been getting them like mad since the fighting stopped." She suddenly looked a little sad. "I'm sorry that it couldn't be longer."

"What couldn't be longer?" Fred asked, but Cordelia pushed on into the safe room.

"Cordelia?" Rose, who had never actually met her, knew her instantly. "But you should have..,"

"I know," Cordelia broke in suddenly. She forced a bright smile. "I just wanted to see the babies first." And as she looked down at the infant members of the new race, she began to glow, then slowly faded away.

Angel was at the forefront of the group jockeying for position in the doorway, and saw the entire thing. "Where did she go?" he asked, as his cell phone began to ring.

Rose's glowing happiness dimmed for a moment. "You'd better answer that, Liam," she advised softly. "It's very important."

Angel looked puzzled, but obeyed. "Hello? But she can't.., When? Did she ever regain consciousness?" He hung up, and turned to the rest of the group, still crowded in the doorway. "That was medical," he said heavily. "Cordelia just died. She never regained consciousness."

&&&&&&&&&&

Soft, light-brown curls tumbled down on the shoulders of the gleaming white gown. She'd been sent here to greet the new arrival. It was always deemed to be less of a shock if the newly arrived was met by a familiar face. She saw the glowing light signaling the entrance, and moved towards the approaching figure, arms outstretched.

"Welcome, Cordelia," she said.

"Hello, Joyce." Cordelia flung herself into Joyce's arms.

&&&&&&&&&

Rose never did go to the hospital, but instead was transferred to the medical facility at the law firm. Angel even persuaded her o.b. to make a house call, as it were, and he came, checked out everything the Wolfram and Hart medical staff had, and pronounced her fit and well.

The room was seldom without a visitor or two. If it wasn't one of Rose and Spike's friends, it was Giles, or a curious Slayer or two. Giles had stayed on for a few days, intent on mending a few fences with his old acquaintances, and while not entirely successful, had laid the foundations for a better relationship between them than had been the case since Angel et. al. had taken over Wolfram and Hart.

Rose was pained to notice that the one person she had counted on to be a frequent visitor, was in fact not a visitor at all. He called her every day, but put off a face to face conversation pleading that he was busy. She was unable to do anything about it for the first few days, since the medical staff and Spike between them watched her like a hawk. Then, one night, all was silent. Rose had persuaded Spike to go to the apartment and sleep in bed, rather than in a chair in her room, and amidst a great deal of grumbling he had finally conceded, due, in all probability to the fact that the next night, Rose herself would be back.

She got out of bed and tiptoed to the door. So far, so good. The coast seemed to be clear. She went to the double bassinet that held the twins, a necessity, they howled if they were separated, and carefully scooped them up into her arms. It was a bit awkward, but manageable.

She was out of breath and panting heavily by the time she reached her destination. Laying in bed in medical, she really hadn't realized just how much giving birth had taken out of her. But now, she found herself faced with a dilemma. How could she knock on the door when both of her hands were fully occupied? She solved the problem by kicking the door, and wincing because she had nothing on her feet but the paper-thin hospital slippers.

It hadn't really made that much noise, but he heard it anyway. He was tired and feeling wrung out, and really not up to company. He opened the door and saw Rose standing there with the children. Before he could gather his thoughts enough to say something, Rose broke the silence.

"Liam, I'm more sorry than I can possibly say," she whispered. "And it's all fading so fast that I couldn't explain all the ins and outs of why it was necessary. But it was time for her to rest, Liam, and know that she is with friends." She looked down for a moment and there was a muffled sniffle. "I was just hoping that you wouldn't associate losing her again with my babies." Another sniffle, not muffled at all. Then, her voice broke completely. "I'm so sorry," she repeated.

Angel gathered the threesome into his arms, and kissed the top of Rose's head. He'd had a moment with Cordelia that would never have been without some serious intervention, and instead of being grateful for what he had, he'd been, he had to admit, brooding over his loss. And taking it out on the innocents. "I'm the one who should be sorry, Rose," he mumbled. "I didn't mean to hurt you." It suddenly occurred to him how fatigued she looked. He held out his arms. "May I?"

&&&&&&&

They had sat up talking most of the night, while the twins, contrary to most expectations, slept. It was nearly dawn when Angel decided that he'd better see about getting Rose back to her room before she was missed. In fact, the medical staff had been remiss in not noticing her absence already. He knew they hadn't noticed because the first course of action would have involved calling him and informing him.

They walked back slowly, Angel shortening his long-legged stride to match hers, carrying a baby apiece. The children were awake now, and looking up at them solemnly. "Who's the prettiest little girl in the world?" he murmured to the infant in his arms. Ariel looked at him as though she understood, and produced a smile. Angel smiled back. "Uncle Angel's little sweetheart."

"Why do I have the feeling that these children are going to be spoiled beyond measure?" Rose asked rhetorically. She looked down at her son. "Mummy's little man," she cooed.

"We should have come back sooner," Angel remarked. "Even if the medical staff hasn't gotten off their.., backsides and noticed that you and the kids aren't there, pretty soon..," They turned the corner nearest her room. "Then certainly Spike will be there, and if he can't find you, he's going to have a cow."

"Already had one." The voice came from Rose's room. "You big, dumb, poncey git." Spike came into view. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't bounce you off the wall." The words were typical Spike, but lacked their usual venom.

"You mean like my new girlfriend here?" Angel replied with a smile. He bent his head to kiss her cheek, and a little hand reached up and touched his.

"You're too old for her." Spike took his daughter from Angel. "He's not good enough for you, sweetie." He kissed the little button nose.

"How fickle men are," Rose sighed. "A pretty new face comes along and they forget all about you."

Spike wrapped his free arm around her and kissed her. "Couldn't forget the best thing that ever happened to me," he remarked. "Even if she does have a tendency to hang out with big poncey gits."

&&&&&&&&

Later in the day, Spike and Rose were getting the twins settled into their own room. "Ariel is wet," Rose remarked, reaching for a diaper.

"Best hand me one of those, babe," Spike replied. "Because Alaric is too." After they got the babies changed, he glanced around, something seemed different in the room. "That wasn't here before, was it?" He pointed to an object on one of the dressers.

"No, it wasn't," Rose murmured, curious. She went over to investigate. It was a music box that played a selection of lullabies. There was a small card attached. "Please find it in your heart to forgive someone who didn't know better but should have," she read. "There's no name on it, though."

"Let me see." Spike took the card. "Don't need a name, I recognize the handwriting. It's Giles'." Any further commentary on the Watcher or his gift went by the wayside when the twins began demanding to be fed.

Rose left Spike with the children while she went to fix two bottles. She wondered how she was going to handle feeding time when he went back to work. He'd been granted a week off, but after that, he was going to have to be hard at it again, earning the wherewithal for diapers, and formula and all the other baby necessities.

When Rose got back to the nursery with the bottles, Spike commented, "I'm surprised that you didn't want to feed them yourself, luv."

"I couldn't," Rose said, handing him one of the bottles. "My milk never came in. I think it was planned that way, since I wouldn't be able to give them everything they needed."

Spike looked at the dark pink liquid in the bottle. "How much of it is blood?" he asked, then popped the bottle into his son's hungry little mouth.

"About half," Rose answered. "While I was in medical, they experimented around a little, and that seemed to be what worked best."

"You're not drinking the stuff anymore, are you?" Spike inquired.

"No, once they were born, I had no desire for it anymore," Rose murmured, snuggling her daughter against her as Ariel greedily gulped down the bottle's contents. "It was all for them, I guess."

&&&&&&&&&

The twins were finally down for the night, but not before they'd put them both in the same crib. "Tomorrow, we'll try pushing the cribs together," Spike decided. "They can get used to being in their own beds but still be close to each other."

"We can try," Rose said a little dubiously. She laid down on their bed, but didn't pull the covers over herself, but rather seemed to be staring intently at something at the end of the bed.

"Whatcha looking at, sweetheart?" Spike queried, sliding in beside her.

"My toes," Rose said solemnly. "I guess I always took them for granted before. I didn't realize that toes could be so cute."

"Missed them?" Spike teased.

"I haven't seen them for a while," she said with a sheepish grin. She looked down again. "Maybe they aren't that cute after all."

"You wait till the doctor gives you the green light, luv," Spike said. "And I'll spend a whole night showing you just how beautiful I think every bit of you is. Even your toes." He pulled her into his arms. "Right now, I'm just happy to have you here beside me. Couldn't hardly sleep without you here."

&&&&&&&&

"Can you tell me why we're spending the first night that you're back in action in Angel's apartment?" Spike grumbled.

"It was easier than bringing the babies and everything they'd need here," Rose replied.

"I'm still not sure that I'm one hundred percent with the big nit watching my kids," Spike remarked.

"Lorne is there too," Rose said, going up to him and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Besides, Angel has had some practice with an infant." She pulled his head down for a kiss. "Are you going to spend the night fussing about nothing, or were you planning on taking advantage of the privacy?"

"Well, he has had some experience with a baby," Spike conceded. He wasn't fooling anybody, even himself. He swept Rose up into his arms. "I've missed making love to you, babe."

&&&&&&&&&&&

"Tell you what big guy," Lorne suggested. "You can tell the bedtime stories, and leave singing lullabies to me."

"I don't see any problem with that," Angel agreed. "I'm just glad we were first on the rotation."

Lorne picked up Ariel. "The absolute image of Rosebud," he remarked. "You just wait a few years, princess. The boys will be standing in line for you."

Angel picked up Alaric. "Hey there, little fella," he said. And in his head, he heard, just as plainly as speech, one word, and even though it was telepathy, there was a baby-lisping quality to it. "Spike," he said in exasperation.

"What gives, big guy?" Lorne hadn't heard a thing.

"He just called me a ponce," Angel explained.