I've had this chapter written for a while, I thought I'd posted it. Thanks Gidge for reminding me! This chapter's a little shorter than the first one, but I hope you still like it. As usual, none of the original characters are mine, but Shani & Scout are, so there! All feedback welcome.

Chapter 2

"Daddy?" Xander grimaced. When his daughter wanted something it was never a good sign. When her Dad ignored her, Shani pouted. "Dad!"

Xander jumped, and answered quickly to avoid another tantrum. "Sweety, what is it?" he put down his tape measure on the shelves he had half built in the middle of the living room.

Shani smiled and looked satisfied. The truth was, Shani was a perfectly pleasant little girl. Providing she got her own way but it she wasn't nearly as bad as Xander made her out to be. She was just hard work, constantly demanding attention. "I'm hungry."

Xander smiled. "Mommy will be back soon. And you know what that means don't you?"

Shani looked at her father with confusion. "No, what?"

Xander rolled his eyes and mock annoyance and Shani smiled. "What day is it dopey?" he asked.

"Doughnut Dinner Day!"

Xander picked up Shani and swung her round, narrowly missing displacing a table lamp. He sighed. 'Not just doughnuts' he thought for the millionth Thursday in a row. But Doughnuts, Bagels… They both had holes in, what was the difference to a six year old?

"Can I help you build daddy?" Shani asked after a few minutes, eyeing up Xander's tool kit mischievously.

"You can help me measure things…" Xander was very aware of what happened last time the little girl wanted to 'build'. But she didn't want to build at all, she wanted him to re-build the coffee table. 'I though it would look good with holes in' she had shrugged off nonchalantly, wielding a hammer.

"I want to build!"

Xander made a mental note to hide the weapons of mass living room destruction next time he wanted to do some DIY.

Fortunately, Anya's key turning in the apartment door was a sufficient distraction and she squirmed out his arms and ran across the room. How come he was the only person who was not able to stop Shani doing things she shouldn't? He could've sworn she just did it to wind him up.

It worked.

"Doughnuts!" Shani squealed before Anya could close the door and deafened the whole floor.

"Hi trouble" Anya greeted, placing the paper bag on the counter and going to the fridge. Shani mumbled a greeting but was far more interested in the food than her mother.

Xander had walked over to join them and Anya sighed. "Hi" she said and kissed him on the lips. Maybe for a bit too long.

Shani didn't say anything, she just sat at the breakfast bar looking distastefully at her parents. When she saw that they were paying no attention to her, she looked around for something to throw to get their attention. Shouting was far too easy. Why keep things tidy, when you could make a mess?

He little hand was inching towards a big shiny apple in the fruit bowl, when Anya quickly turned to her. "Oi, none of that" she said, trying to sound commanding but failing miserably. It was as if she had acquired built in Shani-tantrum-alert radar.

"I wasn't doing anything"

"Mommy…" Scout pushed open the bedroom door to find Phoebe sitting on the bed reading a book. Phoebe took off her glasses and placed her novel on the nightstand and smiled at her daughter. Scout hopped onto the bed and snuggled down under the covers. "Watcha reading?"

Phoebe eyed the rather risqué book next to her. "Erm, nothing. It's a work book."

That seemed to be enough for Scout. She didn't say anything else, just hugged her Mom.

"Are you OK sweety?" Scout usually was able to amuse herself and very rarely disturbed her parents unless it was important. Or her cousin was winding her up.

"Got bored" she said simply. "Aunt Piper's cleaning. And Wyatt won't play."

Phoebe smiled. When Piper was doing any form of house work you knew to keep out of her way. If someone so much as set foot on a newly vacuumed carpet she was scared you'd wear a hole in it. "Well, you can help me up here if you like."

"Doing what?"

"Well" Phoebe said, "It's Daddy's birthday soon. I need someone to help me wrap up presents."

"Ok" she shrugged. "Can I tie bows?"

"Sure."

Scout proceeded to grab a length of ribbon out of the bag Phoebe had pulled from the cupboard. "I can tie shoes" she announced, smiling slightly. That was big deal. Scout wasn't one for letting people know what she was thinking unless it was really important.

"What did you buy daddy anyway?"

You know, until you have to actually buy for one yourself, you have no idea how difficult 1000-year-old demons are to satisfy. Phoebe went with a suit.

"Mom! What did you get!"

"It's a secret."

"No magical stuff?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes. Nothing else seemed that interesting to Scout except magic. She had quite the little witch on her hands. "No!"

"Hey girls!" Cole appeared in the corner of the room. Phoebe and Scout scrambled to hide the wrapping paper and gift tags.

"No shimmering!" they chorused together, Scout sounding like a perfect little replica of her mother.

"Ooops" he said grinning.

"Cole! You're not meant to see!"

Cole rolled his eyes. "Well, now that I have…" he leant down for a kiss but Phoebe pushed him away.

"Nope, sorry mister!" she teased, "you've spoilt the surprise, you have to be punished."

Meanwhile, Scout had dropped the length of ribbon on a pile of wrapping paper and was now eyeing up her father, trying to appear calm and cool but was failing. Cole noticed the glint in her eye and looked at his daughter very suspiciously.

"Scout…" he began, sounding very worried. "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing dad" she said, but anyone could tell she was up to something.