Anya could hear them shrieking and giggling as she walked down the corridor. She smiled: demon children learned by imitating the behavior of the grown ups just like human children did, and Cole and Sarsour were always playing 'faction war' or 'kill the witch'. But, she thought, frowning slightly as she approached the doorway, they weren't supposed to play those games indoors: Erzsebet had already told them that, and she wasn't prone to giving the same warning twice.

"You're dead, dead, DEAD!" Cole was yelling as she crossed the doorway.

As she stepped into the room, Anya found herself facing Cole, with Sarsour standing between them and a huge energy ball flying towards her. Both she and Sarsour shrieked in panic: he shimmered out and she teleported to the other side of the room, arriving there just in time to see a heavy ebony chest that had been behind her one second ago burst into flames, leaving nothing but a pile of ashes.

Sarsour shimmered back in one second later, and they both looked from the burn marks on the ground to Cole, who was staring at the marks with his mouth agape.

"How did you do that?" Anya asked, stunned.

"I, I don't know," he stammered. "I just... we were just playing. I never meant to..." -- he gave Sarsour a shocked look -- "I didn't mean to actually throw an energy ball."

"Uh-hu," Sarsour said, shuddering.

"I didn't want to..." Cole said again. "I didn't even know I could."

"I know you didn't, Belthazor," Anya said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible considering she still felt weak in her knees. "We both know."

"We know you didn't," Sarsour said, looking at the marks on the ground again. "Still..."

He finished the sentence with a loud whistle.

"You're getting stronger," he said, looking at Cole with a hint of jealousy. "Your powers are growing."

"Yeah," Cole said, looking at the pile of ashes again, a small grin forming on his lips and widening slowly as comprehension sank in. "I made a real energy ball."

He squared his shoulders and puffed out his chest, looking at the ashes with renewed interest.

"I scared you," he suddenly said, turning to Anya with a glint of excitement in his eyes. "I scared you both to death."

"You sure did," Anya said, smiling. "Scared the hell out of me."

"Told you I was bad..." he said, mischievously.

Before she could reply, he started to jump up and down, thrilled.

"I killed the chest! I'm an evil, scary, powerful demon! I'm the great Belthazor! I'm..."

Just then, Erzsebet shimmered in right by his side, startling him and causing him to lose his balance and fall on his butt with a yelp of surprise.

Without a word, she raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the big bad demon sitting at her feet. Sarsour quickly hid behind Anya: Erzsebet hadn't seen the burnt remains of the chest yet, and right now her eyes showed only curiosity and a hint of amusement. But she would see it soon, and then there'd be hell to pay.

"I'm evil," Cole said, as if that explained everything.

"I'm glad to know that," his mother said, nodding. But her eyes didn't leave his, and the inquisitive expression was still there.

All the excitement left Cole as he cast a shy look toward the ashes. Erzsebet followed his stare; she saw the pile of ashes where the chest had been and drew a sharp intake of breath. When she turned back to him, her face didn't show the slightest trace of humor; she looked at Cole with steely eyes and said, curtly:

"Get back on your feet."

"Mother..." he started, while standing up as quickly as possible.

"Who did that?" she asked sharply.

"I did," he said, and Anya was impressed by the way he looked her in the eyes when he said that, even though he was shaking noticeably.

"Just you?"

"Just me."

Anya glanced at Sarsour: he looked even more frightened than Cole did, if such a thing was possible, but he didn't dare to shimmer out. Both kids knew from painful experience that shimmering out on Erzsebet was a bad idea.

"And what were you and Sarsour doing when you destroyed the finest piece of furniture I own, along with the results of weeks of research on the Chiang coven?"

"We were..." -- Cole gulped -- "We were playing war games."

Erzsebet was silent for a moment. When she finally spoke, she did it in a voice that made Anya herself feel the urge to get out of there as quickly as possible:

"Belthazor, what have I told you about evil and disobedience?"

"Disobeying you isn't evil," Cole said, almost in a whisper, "it's just... deadly stupid."

"That's right," she said, and her voice sounded hard enough to slice a diamond in two. "Too bad for you that you only remembered it now." -- she narrowed her eyes and Cole flinched -- "I'll make sure you don't forget it again."

"I didn't mean it, mother!" he shouted, frantic. "I didn't know I could make an energy ball that big! I didn't mean it, I swear!"

Erzsebet hesitated; the hand she had already raised stopped in the air as the meaning of his words sank in.

"You what?" she asked.

"I didn't mean to destroy..."

"The energy ball, Belthazor!" she said, impatiently. "Did you throw an energy ball?"

"Yes, mother," he said nervously, not so sure if it made his situation better or worse.

Erzsebet looked at the ashes on the ground again. When she slowly turned to Cole again, there was something more than amazement in her eyes, something that Anya couldn't identify right away.

"One energy ball? Big enough to destroy the chest?" she asked.

"It was really big, mother," Cole said, quietly.

Erzsebet gave Anya an inquisitive look, and the vengeance demon nodded.

"It would've turned both Sarsour and me into ashes, if we hadn't gotten out of the way in time."

Erzsebet turned to Cole again, and this time the glint in her eyes was unmistakable, a mix of savage pride and exhilarating joy.

"It has started," she said in a low, husky voice. She looked at Anya, bleak eyes burning with elation. "I told them. I told them all, but they didn't believe me. They'll see now."

Anya didn't have to ask what she was talking about. She had witnessed Erzsebet's struggle during the past five years; she had seen her work herself to the bone in the effort to climb back up in rank. Erzsebet had taken every dirty job, every suicide mission, every task no one else would take in order to prove herself in the eyes of the Source again. And both she and Cole would be dead by now if she hadn't succeeded, because whatever hopes the Source might have once held for the half-breed she had brought to the Underworld with her, those hopes were long dead now. The Source didn't expect anything from Cole, and neither did anyone else in the Underworld. They talked about that behind Erzsebet's back; they shook their heads and sneered in contempt as she passed by with her weak son, who at the age of eight, when any other demon would have already done their first killing, still wasn't a match for the weakest among the lower level demons. Everyone thought he was an aberration, a failed experiment that should be left to die. Everyone but his mother.

"You're gonna be big," Erzsebet said, cupping Cole's chin in her hand. "You're gonna be great. Every magical creature in the world is gonna hear about you; and they're all gonna tremble in fear at the name of the mighty Belthazor."

Cole's eyes, too, had a fiery glint as he looked into his mother's eyes, beaming with pride. The hand that was cupping his chin slid across his cheek and stroked his neck before Erzsebet straightened up, retracting her hand, and said, sternly:

"You're still gonna pay for that chest, though. I'll have to redo the work of three weeks in three days, and you and Sarsour are gonna help me, even if it means that neither of you is gonna sleep or eat for three days."

"Yes, mother," he said, nodding.

"Yes," she said. "But not today. Today we're going to the Congo: I want you to watch how the lions hunt."

"We're going to the surface?" Cole asked, excited.

"Last time I checked, there were no lions in the Underworld," Erzsebet said, raising a mocking eyebrow.

"Now? Can we go now? Right now? Can we, mother, please?"

"Yes, Belthazor," she said, looking with amusement at the boy bouncing up and down before her. "We can go right now."

Then, turning to Anya, she asked:

"Anyanka, you coming?"

"Sure, why not?" Anya said, shrugging. "I have the rest of the day free. Maybe Belthazor can kill a hyena while we're there," she added, winking at Cole.

"I wanna kill a hyena!" Cole squealed.

"We'll see about that," Erzsebet said. Turning to Sarsour, who was still watching her from behind Anya, she asked dryly: "What are you waiting for? A written invitation?"

"I'm not allowed to surface," he said, quietly, shuffling his feet. Sarsour's demon self wasn't separated from his elvish self, and the blue and green skin that he had inherited from his father was a telltale sign of his nonhuman nature.

"Well, I'm sure the lions won't tell," Erzsebet said flatly.

"Come on, Sarsour!" Cole exclaimed. "We're going to kill a hyena!"

"See what you've done?" -- Erzsebet gave Anya a reproachful look, while Sarsour joined them and prepared to follow her shimmer.

"He has to practice with something," Anya reasoned. "And I don't like hyenas."

Erzsebet sighed and shimmered out, followed close by the others.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Did you kill a hyena that day?" Phoebe asked with a smile. She was sitting on Cole's knee, her left arm around his shoulders and her right hand in his.

"Well..." Cole started. He got sight of Anya's mocking smile and sighed, rolling his eyes: "I aimed for one, but missed it by a good ten feet."

Paige giggled and he protested:

"Come on, I was eight!"

"Oh, stop, you two!" Piper said, lightly. "Paige, you had your story. A very good one, by the way," she added, smiling at Anya. "Now let's move on to other subjects."

"Actually..." Xander said. "It was a long drive to San Francisco from Sunnydale. I don't mean to be rude, but..." -- he gave them a sheepish smile.

"You need some rest," Leo said, smiling. "Of course."

"We'll be back tomorrow night," Xander said, standing up. "Thank you for a wonderful dinner."

The others stood up too; when everyone had said their good nights, Cole and Phoebe walked the couple to the door.

"You know, you do look tired," Anya said, cocking her head to the side and watching Xander as Cole was opening the front door. Before Xander could reply, she added: "Does that mean we're not having sex tonight?"

Cole and Phoebe quickly shook hands with Xander and allowed him to make a quick exit, dragging a very puzzled Anya by her hand.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Wednesday went by with no sign of Liusaidh, and at 6 p.m. Piper was in her bedroom, getting ready for dinner. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at her feet from what seemed like miles away. She sighed and wiggled her bare toes.

"Leo?" she called.

"Yes, honey?" -- Leo gave her an interrogative look from across the room. He was standing before the open closet door, buttoning his shirt.

"I can't reach my feet," she whined. "Could you please put my shoes on?"

"Sure," he said, giving her round belly an amused look. Piper was due in another two weeks, and it sure didn't look like she could grow any bigger.

"Hi, feet!" she said in a baby voice, waving at her feet as Leo kneeled on the floor before her. "Miss you guys!"

He chuckled, and she proceeded in her normal voice:

"Overall, I'd say pregnancy suits me well, but those little annoying things can be just..."

Leo raised his head to look at her, arching his eyebrows and giving her a small grin.

"I know, I know," Piper said, smirking. "It's not as hard as what you have been through, but..."

Leo's eyebrows rose higher.

"Fine, not even remotely close to what you've been through!" she said, rolling her eyes.

"Now, that's more like it," he said, smiling as he released her feet, now properly dressed in a pair of comfortable sneakers.

He stood up and held out his hands, and when she held his hands he helped her stand up.

"Has this bed always been so low?" she said, looking back at the bed and glaring at it.

Instead of answering, Leo cupped her face between his hands and leaned down to kiss her. It was a long, loving kiss, and when he finally pulled away Piper's cheeks were slightly flushed.

"What was that for?" she asked, surprised. "Not that I'm complaining," she quickly added with a smile.

"Two more weeks," he said, smiling back at her. "Two more weeks and then our baby will be here for us to hold and cuddle and love."

"I know," she said in a low voice. "I know, honey. Our baby girl."

For a moment, they just stood like this, looking into each other's eyes and smiling softly. Then, Piper said:

"Remember how I once thought that we could never raise a child in this household? Now we're gonna have not one, but two children around and, guess what? I'm not scared; I'm not scared at all, Leo."

"And you don't need to be scared, honey; everything's gonna be just fine," Leo said, smiling and touching her face. "Four witches and one Whitelighter will be more than enough to protect them both."

"Speaking of which, where are Phoebe and Cole?" Piper asked.

"In the new house with Ben. The fish tank was delivered while you were in the shower, and Ben is all excited with 'his' fishes."

"I can't believe Cole actually bought that," Piper said, shaking her head. "What in the world was he thinking?"

"Probably, the main thing that's in his mind when he's around Ben," Leo said with a smile. "If Ben wants it, Ben shall have it. You saw how thrilled Ben was at the mall, when Phoebe took him to see the aquarium."

"That kid sure wraps big bad Belthazor around his little finger," Piper said, and they both giggled.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On the first floor, Paige had just hung up the phone when she heard the commotion outside. Frowning slightly, she walked towards the front windows, intending to take a peek of the street, but before she could get there she heard Anya banging on the front door, yelling at the top of her lungs:

"Cole! Phoebe! PiperPaigeLeoanyone, open the door!"

Paige orbed straight to the foyer and started to open the door: as soon as she unlocked it, though, Anya slammed it open and entered the manor like a bolt, with Xander on her heels. Before Paige could come from behind the door, a young girl with red hair and frightened eyes darted past her, followed short by a skinny teenager with long brown hair and a blonde wearing a black leather jacket.

"What the..." -- Paige shrieked in fear and quickly ducked back behind the door when the biggest German Shepherd she had ever seen came running through the door, baying like there was no tomorrow.

Piper and Leo, who were coming from the second floor, alerted by the noise, stopped in their tracks and Piper raised her hands and froze the entire scene. Much to her surprise, the redhead didn't freeze: she kept running and bumped into Xander hard enough to bounce and stumble backwards. The girl yelped in pain and surprise when the back of her head made hard contact with the teenager's forehead, and then she fell heavily on her butt. Before either Piper or Paige could say anything, she jumped back to her feet, her eyes jumping nervously from her frozen friends to the two sisters.

"Xander? Buffy?" she called, frightened. "What have you done to them? How did you..."

"The question is," Piper said, staring suspiciously at her, "why didn't you..."

"The question is," -- the three girls turned around with a start to see Cole enter the room coming from the kitchen and quickly walk past the bizarre scene in the foyer and towards the front door -- "why are you using magic when the front door is wide open and anyone can see you from the street?"

"Oh, God," Piper said, realizing what she had done. "Paige, the door!"

As Paige reached for the door, they heard voices coming from outside:

"I think he went that way," a female voice said. "That pink house over there."

"Major! Major!" a male voice called. "Here boy, where are you? Major!"

"Quick," Cole said to Piper, "unfreeze just the leash."

When Piper obliged, he tied the leash around the doorknob with a tight knot and said, already walking towards the redhead, grabbing the baffled girl by her elbow and taking her out of the way:

"Now unfreeze them."

When Piper unfroze the group, they immediately resumed their running and shrieking, oblivious to the fact that the dog was frozen. Anya and Xander continued towards the dining room, and the two girls that had entered after the redhead made a sharp turn to the right, heading towards the living room and almost bumping into Phoebe, who was coming with Ben in her arms.

"Phoebe, wait there!" Cole said, and as she promptly backed away and the voices outside became closer, he pulled Paige by her arm and pushed her and the redhead not so gently towards the living room, saying:

"Stay there until I call you."

Then, turning to Piper:

"Okay, unfreeze the dog."

As soon as he was unfrozen, the dog tried to resume his wild chase, but the leash stopped him. His paws slid frantically on the floor and he lost his balance and fell heavily on the floor, letting out a yowl of pain. He quickly got up again, but now that the girls were out of sight he seemed to have lost most of his drive.

"Now, what..." Piper started to say.

She sighed when she realized that her view was blocked by Cole and Leo, who were both standing protectively between her and the dog. Between amused and impatient, she pushed the two men lightly to the side and took a good look at the dog, which now seemed to be more interested in sniffing the scents of the house than in chasing anyone.

"What the hell was that?" Piper said, placing her hands on her hips.

Just then, an old man with gray beard and mustache appeared at the front door.

"Excuse me, I..." -- the dog swirled around towards him, letting out a loud yelp and starting to happily wave his tail -- "Major!"

The dog whined as he heard the reproach in his master's voice. The man started to walk towards him, but stopped short as he saw Piper, Leo and Cole.

"Oh dear," he said. "I'm sorry, I... Has Major caused any damage?"

"Uh, no," Piper said, warily. "But he sure scared us."

"I'm awfully sorry," the man said, contritely.

"Abe?" the female voice they had heard before called from outside.

"I'm here, Belle," the man answered towards the open door. Then, turning to Piper he asked: "Would you mind if I...?" -- he pointed at the leash that was still tied around the doorknob.

"Are you sure you can handle him?" Leo said, putting himself between his wife and the dog again.

"Yes," Abe said, "sure. I don't know what got into Major to go chasing those kids like this; it's not like him." He saw the looks on their faces and insisted: "My grandchildren play with him!"

"Abe?" -- an old woman called tentatively from the door.

"That's okay, Belle," Abe said. "I've found Major."

"Major!" she exclaimed when she saw the dog. She approached him and leaned down to wave her finger at him. "Bad dog! Very, very bad dog!"

The dog whined again, and she proceeded sternly:

"You scared us, and you scared the kids, and you scared those nice people."

"I'm sorry," Abe said again. "I can assure you that he had never done anything like this before."

"What happened?" Leo asked.

"We went out for a walk like we do every evening," Belle told them. "And when we walked around the corner and Major saw the girls and the boy, he just..." -- she twisted her hands, embarrassed -- "He caught us totally off guard: he started to bark at them, pulling on the leash and trying to go after them."

"I wasn't holding the leash tight enough," Abe said, giving them a mortified look. "He had never tried to run away before. I'm..."

"Well, it's over now," Piper said, not wanting the poor man to start apologizing again. "And no harm was caused."

"Are the girls alright?" Belle asked, concerned.

"Yes, they are," Piper said, giving the couple a reassuring smile. She eyed Leo and he promptly untied the leash from the doorknob and handed it to Abe.

"Thank you," Abe said, while Leo gently started to lead him and Belle towards the door.

"He had never done anything like this before," Belle said again.

"I'm sure he hadn't," Leo said, gently. "He seems to be a very good dog."

"Yes, he is," she said with a smile. "He's a good dog."

"It was nice to meet you," Abe said, shaking Leo's hand. "And again, I'm sorry for the trouble."

"Good bye, my dear," Belle said, peering around Leo to wave at Piper. "Have a nice delivery."

Piper smiled and waved back at her, and then Leo finally managed to close the door with a sigh.

"Okay," he said, turning to the others. "What was that?"

"It was Buffy's bad luck," Anya said, coming from the dining room with Xander.

"Buffy?" Piper said, confused. Before Anya could reply, though, she remembered. "Right! Buffy. Where did she go?"

"That way," Cole said, pointing at the living room.

There, they found Phoebe watching with amusement and pride as Ben charmed the pants off the three girls. At first he had stayed in her arms, giggling as the blonde and the brunette surrounded Phoebe, cooing and proclaiming him the cutest thing ever. When he got sight of the redhead, though, Ben had let out a squeal of delight and demanded to be placed in her arms, where he was now, his little hands fumbling with her hair.

"Dis!" he exclaimed, happily, showing a handful of red hair to Phoebe. Another colorful person, yay! Ben just loved colorful people. Like funny Uncle Sarsour, who came to visit sometimes. If he had a say on that, everyone would have beautiful bright colors like that.

"I think he likes me," the redhead cooed, delighted.

"Hi!" Ben said, grinning as he groped her hair.

"Hi, you," she said, smiling brightly at him. "I really think he likes me. Don't you think he likes me?" she asked, turning to Phoebe.

"Definitely," Phoebe said with a smile, refraining herself from saying that Ben liked pretty much everyone in the world.

"Is the dog gone?" the teenager with brown hair said, nervously. She couldn't be more than fifteen, and the blonde stood protectively next to her.

"Yes," Piper said. "And I think now would be a good time for some introductions."

"Right," Xander said. "This is Buffy," he said, pointing at the blonde, "and her sister Dawn," -- he pointed at the teenager -- "and this is our friend Willow."

"The girl who didn't freeze," Paige said, looking at the redhead. "How come you didn't freeze?"

"Well," Willow said, puzzled, "this jacket is very warm."

"That's not what..." Piper started. "No, wait. First things first. I believe Xander and Anya have told you about us: I'm Piper, and this is my husband, Leo," -- she took Leo's hand -- "And those are my sisters, Paige," -- she proceeded, pointing at the others as she named them -- "and Phoebe, and her husband Cole. And I see you all know Ben," she finished with a smile.

"Dis!" Ben exclaimed proudly, raising his arms and waving his hands to show that he could recognize his name.

Looking at Dawn, who was staring at Cole with her mouth agape, Xander leaned towards her with an amused glint in his eyes and whispered:

"Dawnie, you're drooling."

"No, I'm not," she protested, blushing.

"Well, Buffy is drooling," Anya said. A little too loud, maybe, because all eyes turned to Buffy, who was indeed in the edge of drooling at the sight before her eyes, and the Slayer turned as red as humanly possible.

"I think we'll be more comfortable in the solarium," Piper quickly said, to give her time to regain her wits. "Come on, I'll show you the way."

"I'm sorry," Willow whispered to Phoebe as they all followed Piper to the solarium. "You see, Anya kept telling us about this little boy whom she used to babysit..." -- she giggled -- "I guess we all forgot that little boys tend to grow."

She didn't look as embarrassed as her friends were, probably because, unlike them, she hadn't been mesmerized by Cole.

"It's okay to drool a little," Phoebe said with a smile. She made sure Cole could hear her when she added, with a mischievous grin: "I've been married to him for two years now, and I still drool."

Cole was a couple of steps ahead, but he looked back over his shoulder when he heard that and smiled at her.