"So, who wants to go first?" Buffy asked with a raised brow.

Spike and Jeff were still eyeing each other wishing that this moment had never happened. Jeff knew that it would change everything between him and Dawn. It scared him to death that she would know that he wasn't really Jeff Gelhausen and that he was really Connor, son of vampires Angelus and Darla.

He looked at Spike helplessly. The vampire returned his gaze with a sympathetic nod.

"Why don't we all go inside and sit down," Spike suggested. "It's going to be another long night."

Dawn reached for Jeff's hand and immediately retracted it when she felt him stiffen at her touch. She knew that tonight she would have to tell him the truth. She wasn't a normal high school senior who was getting ready to go to UCLA with her damn-near perfect boyfriend. She was a mystical key whose memories had been created by a bunch of stupid monks. She could lose him and until that very moment, she hadn't realized how much she didn't want that to happen. She loved him.

Dawn sat on the sofa and snuggled up against her sister. She needed Buffy's strength to get through the night. She needed to be able to see Spike as he sat in the chair across from her and feed off of his reassuring expression. Jeff sat on the end of the couch opposite of her, his face awash with guilt. He was going to break up with her for lying. She just knew it.

"It seems we all have some explaining to do," Spike began.

Buffy had already heard the story. She knew who this boy really was. She tried so hard not to stare, but couldn't tear her eyes away from the miracle that what sitting across from her. He had Angel's eyes, dark chocolate brown with his soul clearly etched in them. And he had Darla's delicate features. He was thin and slightly androgynous looking. His skin was fair and smooth. But no tinglies were going off. And she'd touched him before. She knew he was very much alive. More questions formed in her mind at the Power's decisions. What had they done? And why?

Something about seeing the boy also gave her hope. Two vampires created this living, breathing being. Two vampires who had once been evil and soulless. Darla and Angel were blessed by the Powers with a son. How could Spike think that he and Buffy hadn't earned the same reward?

"I take it you've heard of me," Spike threw at Jeff. "Your Dad filled you in on our past, yeah?"

Jeff nodded slowly. He knew all about Angelus and William the Bloody. Holtz had given him the reader's digest version of the havoc wreaked by the Scourge of Europe and their sires, Darla and Drusilla. The man he was regarding now, though, didn't give off the same vibe as Holtz had described when talking about William the Bloody. There was something different about him.

"Not by Angel... uh, by Holtz. The demon who raised me until I was 16," Jeff corrected.

"Right," Spike nodded. He'd heard the story from Angel and Cordelia. He knew it well. "And what has Angel told you?"

"Um, I , uh... I remember something about you getting a soul," he told him. He looked at Buffy and back to Spike. "For her. You got your soul for her."

"Right, then. People change and all that rot," Spike nodded. "Glad we're on the same page, then. And you knew that this was the Slayer?"

Jeff stared at Buffy for a moment. No, he hadn't known. Not until the moment he locked eyes with Spike. He didn't know if it was a residual of the mindshift or if he'd just been in denial, but he hadn't pieced together Buffy as the Buffy from his father's past. And he hadn't heard very much of the story, either.

"Um, not until I saw you. It didn't register," he told Spike. "There are a lot of things still kind of jumbled in my head. I remembered my Dad right away. I went to see him once since my memories started to return. But Cordelia told me that it would be best if I stayed away. She said it hurt him too much to see me and that he made a great sacrifice so that I could live a normal life... a human life."

Dawn's jaw was dropped and her eyes were wide with shock. She felt Buffy's arms around her, her hand stroking her hair comfortingly. Her boyfriend... her normal boyfriend was the offspring of two vampires? Go figure. Of all the boys in LA, she had to fall in love with the one who was as much of an enigma as she was.

"Dawn, I... I wanted to tell you," he told her, tears welling up in his eyes. "I wanted to tell you so bad... but I was scared. I thought it would push you away. I thought that you wouldn't want me because I was... because of what I am."

She moved out of Buffy's embrace and reached out her hand to Jeff's. He was surprised when she gripped it tightly in hers.

"You're a dope," she told him, her eyes angry that he could ever think that his parentage would make her love him any less. "I love you, Jeff. Connor. Look around," she said, her free hand sweeping the room. "My sister is the Slayer. She's in love with a vampire." Spike cleared his throat and Dawn grinned. "Correction, Daywalker. And me? Maybe I should have come clean witn you from the get go, but I was scared, too. I wanted something normal. I wanted to be a regular girl and have a regular life. But that's not going to ever happen. And I'm fine with that. This is normal for me. I like knowing that my family saved the world. And I like knowing that I have a boyfriend who can understand and accept that. Now," she took in a deep breath. "Now, I need you to accept me."

He was confused. There was nothing strange about Dawn, outside of the fact that her sister was the Slayer and was in love with William the Bloody.

"Of course I accept you, Dawn," he told her truthfully. "I love you, you know that, don't you?"

She smiled up at him. He'd never said the words to her before. Would he still feel the same when she told him she wasn't real?

"Then, I hope you understand why I never told you what I really am," she began. She looked over at Spike who was nodding his encouragement.

"I'm, uh... not so much real."

Jeff looked confused.

"Maybe you should rephrase that, Bit," Spike suggested. "You're very much real." He shifted his gaze to Jeff. "Dawn is a vessel. She's flesh and blood, made from the blood of her sister, the Slayer. But she's so much more than that. She was created by the Dagon monks, they had forged an interdimensional key of pure energy and they chose her to be its vessel."

Jeff was listening. He seemed amazed by what Spike was telling him.

"They made Dawn from me because they knew that I would protect her with my own life," Buffy continued. "And I did. I died for her when Glorificus tried to open the portals to Hell. We defeated Glory. And the Powers allowed us all to retain our false memories of Dawn and allowed us to keep her. I can't remember my life without her. As far as my memories are concerned, she was always there."

Jeff was rapt in Buffy's story.

"And I think maybe you two have a lot more in common than you originally thought," she continued. "Your father was my first love." She looked over to Spike. He didn't seem upset by the mention of her relationship with Angel. He knew she loved him. And that Angel was a part of her past. "We all know about the mindshift. We've experienced it ourselves with Dawn. I think maybe the Powers..." She looked to Spike for help.

"The Powers might have had a hand in bringing you two not-so-normal kids together," Spike finished for her. "They're the meddling sort. But they're big with the all-knowing."

His use of words earned him a grin from Buffy. She was rubbing off on him.

"Jeff.. Connor... I-- what should I even call you?" Buffy asked him.

"Connor's fine," he replied. "It, uh... it feels more natural. It feels real."

"Connor, you and Dawn were brought together because the Powers knew that you would be able to understand each other. They knew that you would be able to love each other despite the fact that neither of you are cut from the traditional sit-com family cloth. Know what I mean?"

Connor smiled appreciatively at Buffy's attempt at an explanation. He knew.

"They knew that you and Dawn could love each other not just despite the fact that neither of you are normal, but because you're not normal," Buffy told him. "Trust me, I've tried normal. Not so interesting. I wouldn't trade my life for anything. And I've had plenty of opportunities. I... I wouldn't want a normal family. I wouldn't want a normal boyfriend. Spike and I... we're the biggest anomaly of all. A Slayer... in love with a vampire? And a vampire who loves her back? It doesn't get more abnormal than that."

"What the Slayer is trying to say, Connor, is that what makes us different makes us love each other even more. And when we look really deep, we find that our differences really aren't too different after all," Spike elaborated for her. "You two kids are very special. You've both been given the chance to live happy, normal lives. Nothing's stopping you from doing that. You're both flesh and blood. Both have beating hearts and shining souls. Your Dad would want you to keep living your life just the way you've been doing since he set you free, Connor. Doesn't matter what name you use, you'll always be his. And he'll always keep you tucked inside his heart... and he does have one. Kind of resembles a dried-up walnut on occasion, but it's there. Buffy can attest to that. She's seen it."

Buffy nodded, appreciative of Spike's understanding that Angel really was in her past. And warmed by the fatherly way he spoke with Dawn and Connor.

"Make him happy, Connor. Don't let the truth change the path you're on. It's a good one. And you have a girl who understands who you are and where you're from. You have me and Buffy and you can ask us anything. I owe Peaches at least that much," he admitted.

Connor smirked, remembering how his father had cringed at times when someone would mention Spike. And, at other times, he'd get a faraway look as if he was remembering something fondly. He let Dawn crawl into his embrace and held her tightly to him.

"I do love you, Dawn," he murmured into her hair.

"I love you, too, Baby," she promised.