DISCLAIMER: I own Laney. Joss owns the canon.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know some of you miss Jenny, but response to Jenny fics was dwindling, and I was in the mood for something new. Maybe I'll resuscitate Jen-Ben one of these days for an Easter or Fourth of July fic, but for now, I'm going to play around with a new character.
CONSTITUTIONAL BRAIDS
"How's that, Laney-girl?" Lindsey asked, fastening a hair tie around the end of his daughter's braid.
Four year old Laney inspected herself in the mirror. "Constitutional," she answered approvingly. When it came to Menley Magdalane McDonald, 'constitutional' was very high praise. "In fact," Laney said, satisfied, "it's orgasmic. Like ice cream."
Lindsey had to glance away to keep the child from seeing him laughing. Ever since she'd started preschool, Laney had become what her preschool teacher liked to refer to as a 'little sponge,' soaking up everything she heard and saw, including her mother's literal and, for Laney at least, age-inappropriate way of speaking.
"Ice cream?" Anya asked, coming into the room.
Laney nodded. "Ice cream comes in many flavors," she said importantly. "Like condoms." Lindsey came dangerously close to choking at his daughter's words, but the little girl continued, completely unperturbed. "Daddy did my braids," she said. In the child's mind, no segue was needed to get from flavored condoms to her constitutional braids.
"Daddy is very good with his hands," Anya replied brightly.
Lindsey frowned at her. Even motherhood hadn't tempered Anya's unique ability to be completely and unaffectedly sexual in a disarmingly literal way. When he saw the earnest look in his wife's eyes, Lindsey's frown melted off his face. Anya, if she was anything, was genuine, and after living in a world of fast paced lies and loop holes for so long, she'd been the one thing that had brought him back down to earth.
And Laney, this little girl with the big vocabulary and even bigger heart, had kept him there, grounded in what really mattered: his family. His girls.
"So what's on the itinerary for today, pig-tailed daughter?" Anya asked Laney, hugging the little girl to her side.
Laney pondered for a moment. "Aunt Fred promised she'd play physics with me," Laney said, "and then maybe Uncle Ensouled Vampire will allow me to play with his hair gel. I think the fifth amendment guarantees me the right." Laney looked up at her father. "Right-o, Daddy?" she asked, smiling sweetly at him.
Lindsey grinned, thinking of the last time Laney had played with Angel's hair gel. Like her father, Laney McDonald had an affinity for torturing a certain resident brooder. Lindsey opened his mouth to tell the child to take it easy on Angel, who still hadn't quite recovered from his last babysitting experience, when Laney's face lit up.
"Aunt Fred!"
"Heya, M-cubed," Fred said, smiling down at the girl. Laney beamed back. That was Aunt Fred's special name for her. Aunt Fred never looked at her like she was a little girl, and together, they always played the very neatest science games.
"Are you ready to play physics?" Laney asked.
Fred grinned at the child. Somehow, being around the earnest little girl made Fred feel more comfortable in her own skin. "Sure, sweet pea," she said. "Let's get physics-y."
Anya and Lindsey shared a look, and as soon as Laney and Fred were out of the room, Lindsey nuzzled Anya's neck. "Let's get physics-y," he said wryly.
Anya laid her head on his chest for a moment, just listening to the sound of his heart beat. "Well, manly spouse," she said finally, "now that you mention it, our young descendent did have a point about the flavored condoms."
Fin
Anyone up for a fic with Laney and Fred? More Laney torturing Angel? A longer Laney fic where you find out the significance of the bracelet she always wears around her wrist? Let me know.
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