TITLE:
5 men and a baby
AUTHOR: Louise
SUMMARY: While Fred is out with her mother, Wesley gets help taking care
of their baby when Angel, Spike, Lorne and Gunn arrive at their apartment. Another
fluff story set four months after my other story "Desires".
RATING: PG-13
CLASSIFIED: Romance
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters mentioned in this piece of fiction
belong to me. They belong to the cast and crew of Angel, especially Joss Whedon
and David Greenwalt, Mutant Enemy and Fox.
DISTRIBUTION: Permission granted to WNW, Gifted, Fanfiction Net, Blue Moon Rising
and Private Poetry Reading
. If anyone else wants to archive it, please let me know.
FEEDBACK: Very much appreciated. Please e-mail me at
PAIRING: Fred/Wesley
SPOILER: "Smile Time" - everybody remembers Connor, and Fred
is still alive (ohhh and they are back to the Hymperium hotel).
DEDICATION: To Lara for beta reading this fan fiction and helping me
with my English and with her suggestions, and the girls at Wesley/Fred Survivors
and WinifredWesley.
A/N : Song "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley.
"So, that's it," Fred said while she picked up her purse to go out with her mother, who was waiting by the elevator. "Here's everything you will need to take care of him while I'm out." She showed Wesley a note containing what to do if he needed any help.
"Thank you, Fred," he said with a grin, holding a sleeping Simon in his arms.
Fred looked at the baby, very afraid to leave the apartment. It was the first time since their son's birth; she was leaving him for so long, and she wasn't sure if she could.
"Fred, don't worry. I can take care of him," Wesley assured her in an attempt to make her comfortable enough to leave. "And it's only for a few hours. You need to go out for a little while."
"Okay. I will, Wes. But you have to promise me that you'll call me if anything happens or if you need my help."
"Fred, nothing will happen."
"How do you know? We see demons every day. How do you know they don't want our baby like they wanted Connor?"
"Because our baby isn't a son of two vampires." Wesley almost laughed at the silly fear of Fred. "But don't worry. I call you if anything happens."
"Okay," she responded, finally convinced to leave. "Simon, mom is going out with your grandma for a few hours, but I'll back at night, okay? Be nice with Daddy." She placed a kiss on Simon's cheeks and on Wesley's lips.
As soon as she left the apartment, the phone started to ring. Wesley wonderered who it could be because Fred had just left, so he knew it couldn't be her.
"Hello?" Cradling the phone between his neck and ear, Wes took Simon into the nursery and put him in the crib.
"Wes, it's me. Are you busy? We're at Spike's apartment, and we're playing a little poker. Would you like to join us?" Angel asked, glancing around the table where he, Spike, Lorne and Gunn had already been playing for a while.
"Sounds fun, Angel, but I can't. I'm taking care of Simon. Fred went out with her mother for awhile, so I'm staying with him."
"Oh I see. This is the fiirst time she's left the baby, isn't it?"
"Yes. She was very afraid to leave the apartment."
"That's normal. First-time mothers always have that fear... even if they're leaving the baby with the father."
"Really?"
"Yes. Trust me. Do you need any help? We can drop by," Angel suggested.
"I don't know I think I can handle this by myself, but thank you."
"You're welcome." Once Angel had hung up the phone, he looked at the other men sitting around the table. "Chang of plans - we're going to Wes and Fred's."
"Why?" Spike asked suspiciously.
"Wesley is taking care of the baby alone. I think he might like to have a little help."
"All right then," the other vampire answered before getting up and putting his money in his pocket. "This game sucks anyway. It's more fun with kittens."
"That's because you were losing, Blondie Bear," Lorne reminded him.
"Whatever the game's over."
Later at Wesley/Fred's apartmentAngel, Spike, Lorne and Gunn arrived twenty minutes later because of the traffic to find that Wesley was a mess. He held a crying baby in his arms with a milk bottle in his hand and looked very tired. Simon definitely had a bit of both Wesley and Fred in him. He had blue eyes like Wesley, but a face that resembled Fred, mostly when he was smiling, which wasn't the case at that moment.
"Wes!" Angel exclaimed. "You look terrible. Good thing we decided to come!"
"Yes
I didn't expect he would wake up so hungry. But I already fed him and changed
his diapers, and he still won't stop crying!" Wesley explained, the normally
unflappable father a little stressed by this.
"Calm down, Wes. It's not your fault - the little baby misses his mother,"
Lorne pointed out.
"I think the Green Jeans is right, Percy. And hey, I don't blame him. This job isn't for us anyway. Our job is kicking a little demon ass. Fight the evil."
"Besides, I brought something that should help. We stopped at the Hyperion and voila!" Angel showed him a cd. "This has sounds of water that are supposed to remind a baby of the womb and help him sleep. Trust me. He'll be out like a light in a second."
Wesley placed the baby in the crib and put the cd in the stereo. When Simon heard the water sounds, he soon became very sleepy and was slumbering within minutes.
"It's worked!" Wesley almost cried in relief before remembering he might wake the baby again. "Thank you, Angel!" he whispered.
"Not a problem! Super Dad to the rescue!"
Later, while Angel and Lorne were helping Wes in the kitchen and Gunn was watching TV, the baby woke again, so Spike went to take care of him. He found a couple of dolls - a Barbie blonde doll and a Ken doll using a leather jacket - and held them up over the baby, who was lying on his back in the crib.
"So" Spike began, trying to entertainment Simon. "I'll tell you this story about the Slayer. This is Buffy. We used to be enemies mortal enemies. I had already killed two Slayers, but then the stupid government put a chip in my head, and I couldn't hurt humans anymore. So, after a while of helping her fight evil, I fell in love with her. Pretty ironical, isn't it?" He moved the dolls like he was performing a little play. "But circumstances happen, and now she still thinks I'm bloody dead."
"What the hell are you doing, Spike?" Angel asked when he, Wes and Lorne walked in to find him playing with the dolls.
"Bugger!" Spike yelled. "Nothing. I was just telling him a story about well to make him sleep again."
Angel held up the bottle of tea he had brought into the room with him and leaned over the crib railing to give it to Simon.
"That will help him to sleep better," Lorne said with a grin. "Pylean tea always helped Connor when he was fussy."
"Thank you, Lorne," Wesley responded.
"You welcome, cupcake."
By the time evening rolled around, Fred still hadn't come back yet with her mother, but she called a couple of times to let Wesley know she was okay. She was at the mall, buying new clothes. Lorne and Gunn were out buying more diapers and food because Spike and Gunn had already eaten what was in the refrigerator, and Spike was in the kitchen searching through the cupboards for something more to eat. Wesley collapsed on the couch while Angel was with the baby.
"Hey little fella," he said, trying to get the baby's attention. "You know it's been a while since I had a baby in my arms... since Connor was a baby. I miss this."
Simon was staring at him, so Angel picked him up, holding him close in his arms. The baby grinned and waved his hands, trying to grab Angel's hair.
"Hey, do you want to touch my hair?" he asked with a smile. "Well I don't blame you. Is really nice isn't it? The ladies love it."
Angel looked over at the stuffy animals to find one for him to play with.
"Wow you really have a lot of bunnies, don't you? I bet that was because of Fred. You know, your mommy has this strange obsession with bunnies."
The baby giggled like he understood what Angel had said.
"Look at that. You're laughing," he remarked with a silly smile in his face. "Do we wake your daddy so he can see this?" Angel thought for a moment. "Better not. He's a bit worn out at the moment. Better he rest a little more. But hey, I know some things that can work with you like they worked on Connor."
Angel showed his vamp face to the baby, causing him to start laughing again. Oddly enough, he wasn't scared. He liked it.
Spike sauntered in to see what was going on. "What the bloody hell are you doing?"
"I was making the baby laugh!" Angel explained, pleased with himself.
"Really? Can you do it again?"
"I think so." Angel morphed once more, and the baby giggled even louder.
"Ohhhh, the little bit likes. Who knew?" Spike said, looking down at the boy. "Can I try?"
"Sure but I can't promise he'll laugh for you. I have a thing with kids. They loved me."
"Well, they love me too. I used to baby-sit Dawn all the time."
"Buffy really let you take care of Dawn? What was she thinking?" Angel teased him.
"Oh, shut it, you plonker! Now, let me try this thing with the baby"
"Go ahead... Blondie Bear."
"I will."
Spike put on his vamp face and tried to make the baby laugh. He stared at him for a moment as if uncertain about him, but then seconds later, he was laughing.
"It worked!!! The baby is laughing!" Spike celebrated.
"What? Who's laughing?" Wesley asked from the door.
"Ohhh Wesley, look. We're making your son laughing," Angel told him.
"What? Really?" Wesley asked with a silly grin.
"Yes. See!" Angel made another silly expression with his vamp face.
"Who would have thought - he likes your vampire face," Wesley remarked in surprise.
"What's happening here?" Lorne and Gunn finally arrived with bags containing diapers and food.
"Angel and Spike made Simon laugh!" Wesley stated happily.
"Ohhh, that's great!" Gunn replied before heading back out to put the food in the kitchen.
It was almost 10 p.m. when a really tired Fred finally arrived home with some packages. When she opened the door, she couldn't believe what she saw. Simon was on the living room floor, awake and laughing and clapping hands while Wesley, Spike, Angel, Lorne and Gunn were sacked out around him."Simon!" Fred said, shocked to see her son awake at this time of night. "What are doing here in the floor and awake?"
The baby recognized his mother and wiggled, cooing happily.
"Oh, I see. Daddy was too tired, and even with all your uncles here, they couldn't keep up You gave them quite a day, didn't you?" she asked. "Come on. Come to mommy." She picked him up to cuddle him in her arms and gave him a kiss on his forehead. "Are you hungry?"
Wesley suddenly woke up, unlike the others. "Fred?" he asked sleepily.
"Hey, sleepy beauty," she teased. "How are you?"
"Ohhh, fine." He saw Simon in Fred's arms. "You already picked him up. I'm sorry; I think we fell asleep after we brought him out here so Angel and Spike could show Gunn and Lorne how to make him laugh."
"Oh he was laughing?" she asked, surprised. "And I missed it? I wanted to see that."
"Hi, Fred," Angel said with a smile as he opened his eyes upon hearing her pout. "Okay Simon, one more time for mommy, all right?" Angel morphed into his vamp face, and Simon obediently laughed again.
"He doesn't get scared?" she inquired in amazement.
"Apparently not," Wesley replied.
"Connor didn't either. I told you, the kids love me," Angel said with a smirk.
"Yeah, right," Spike said sarcastically as he sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Mister Broody isn't the only one who can make the baby laugh. I can too."
"Really?"
"Yeah Look, pet." With that, Spike showed his own vampire face to make Simon start laughing again, waking up Gunn and Lorne this time.
"Ohhh, this is really great. Thank you, guys!" Fred said with a silly smile. "But if you don't mind, I think it's time for him to go to bed. From what I can see, he's had enough excitement with his uncles for one day."
"No problem, Fredikins," Lorne replied. "We still have to finish that poker game."
"Ohhh, thanks for reminding us, Lorne," Angel said. "Prepare to cry, Spike!"
"I'll win this time," Spike answered with a smirk. "But are you sure you won't play with kittens?"
"Not kittens, Spike," Gunn replied firmly.
Once they finally left the apartment, Fred turned to Wesley. "Sorry to left you alone with the baby for so long!"
"Not a problem. You forget I was the one who make you leave for a while? Really, everything was okay. Angel just decided to drop by with the others, and since Simon was missing you, it was a help to have the others around to distract."
"Really?" Fred asked with a grin.
"Really."
Fred held Simon close as they walked into the nursery. Sitting in the chair behind the crib, she proceeded to breastfeed him. Simon was really hungry by this time and began drinking happily.
"How is your day?" Wesley asked.
"It was great!" she replied. "My mom and I spent all day at the mall and bought me some new clothes. No more maternal outfits! We also bought some new things for Simon."
"That's good," Wesley said happily. "He's outgrowing what he has so fast."
When Simon started to drowse at his mother's breast, she closed her bra and put him in the crib. As soon as Fred covered him with his blanket, he was asleep.
Wes and Fred headed into their room, where they kissed for a moment.
"I missed you, love," he said.
"I missed you too," she replied with a giggle. "But I've already come back."
"And your mother?"
"She's back to the hotel. Tomorrow she and daddy are heading back to Texas. I'm so tired now. The mall was really crowded. What I want to do now is sleep before Simon wakes up hungry again."
After changing into their nightclothes, they lay down in the bed and immediately fell asleep. Like always, Fred rested her head against Wesley's chest. They always slept wrapped in each other's arms.
In the middle of night, Simon woke up - hungry. And after Fred breastfeed him again, Wesley took him back to his room. When he set him in the crib, Simon seemed a little restless, so Wesley decided to tell him a story.
"What story I can tell you? Maybe A Little Princess?" he said with a grin. "Your mommy loves that one." He reached down and pulled the blanket up to cover him. "I know. I'll tell you a new story. It's a story of a beautiful princess who lived in a distant and strange land. She wasn't sure how she got there, but she was lost and didn't know what to do besides run and hide. So, one day a prince appeared in that land with other braves warriors. When the prince saw the princess for the first time, he fell in love with her. She wore a slave outfit, but even so, she was very beautiful. And after the prince and the warriors fought with the evil beasts in that strange world, they brought the princess back to their world again."
Wise
men say only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you
Shall I stay
Would it be a sin
If I can't help falling in love with you
Without Wesley noticing, Fred had crept to the nursery door and was listening to the story from out in the hall. She knew he was talking about them when they had first met in Pylea.
"Back in their homeland, the princess didn't notice the prince was in love with her. And the prince didn't have the courage to declare his love to her. However, even when he was infected with the blood of an evil demon and almost killed the princess, she was so nice to him. He wanted to die at that moment because he couldn't handle the idea that he could hurt her because he loved her so much. He had never felt that for anyone."
Like
a river flows surely to the sea
Darling so it goes
Some things are meant to be
Still listening, Fred was very touched to know what Wesley had felt for her since the beginning. She hadn't realized he had loved her since almost the moment they had met.
"So," Wesley continued, "when the prince was ready to declare his love to the princess, the princess choose another warrior. This broke the prince's heart. It was so hard to watch them together that the prince decided to isolate himself with books about ancient prophecies."
Take
my hand, take my whole life too
For I can't help falling in love with you
Wesley didn't notice, but the baby was already sleeping. He simply continued to tell the story.
"Months later, the prince was back with the group of warriors to help them after circumstances made him leave the group. The princess wasn't with the other warrior anymore. So, the prince decided to take his chance and kiss her. He didn't have anything to lose."
Like
a river flows surely to the sea
Darling so it goes
Some things are meant to be
Fred was still hiding, and by this time, she has tears in her eyes. It was a beautiful story about them, she thought.
"But, again, circumstances conspired to keep them apart, and they had to fight against evil vampires, beasts, apocalypses and others things that kept occurring. And then when they took over an evil law firm to change it, the prince thought he might finally have a chance with her." Wes sighed for a moment and looked down at Simon, who snuffed a bit in his sleep. "And you know what? I wasn't wrong. After waiting a little while, your mommy finally noticed daddy. And after that battle against the evil puppets, we finally got together!"
Take my hand, take my whole life tooFor I can't help falling in love with you
For I can't help falling in love with you
"And it was one of the happiest moments of my life," Fred completed as she finally entered the room.
"Were you listening?" he inquired, a little embarrassed.
"Yes" she responded with a sly grin and with tears still in her eyes. "It was a beautiful story, Wes. I love it."
"And it's true," he told her. "I've loved you since I've known you."
"I should have noticed that. I should have noticed that you are my Prince Charming," Fred stated, feeling a little embarrassed.
"And you are my princess. My beautiful, charming and enchanting princess," he said with a goofy smile.
"Come on. Let's go back to the room. Our little prince needs to sleep."
They walked out of the room, Fred closing the door behind them, and went back to their room, leaving Simon to his dreams.
The End
