Disclaimer: I own Lucy, Jude, and Sadie, but that's it. The rest belong to Joss, and the cool kids.
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Wesley sat in the lounge, sipping a beer every so often. He guessed Lilah had gone to bed, and the kids were still downstairs, or so he thought. Suddenly, Jude came in, and crawled into the leather chair with his father, laying his head on Wesley's chest.
"Daddy."
Wesley laid a hand on Jude's head, and smiled to his son. They seemed to be on talking terms, again.
"Yes, Jude?"
"Sadie left Cassie in the basement, and now, she's too scared to get her."
"Well, will you be a good big brother, and get it for her?"
"It's dark, Daddy."
"Where's Lucy?"
"She went to bed."
Wesley smiled and set his beer down on a coaster, and then, slid out of the chair, sitting Jude on the chair, and patting his head.
"Alright."
Walking over to the basement, Wesley breathed in, and then, descended the stairs.
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Upstairs, Lucy climbed onto the bed, where her mother was sitting, reading over some of the law firm's files.
"Mummy."
"Mummy's a little busy, Lucy."
"I know, but it's Sadie."
Lilah looked up from her files, and looked at Lucy, seriously.
"What about Sadie?"
"She left Cassie in the basement."
"And?"
"It's dark, and I'm too scared to go and get it."
"What about Jude and your father?"
"They're in bed."
"Figures."
Standing, Lilah left the room, and went downstairs to the basement, Lucy followed to make sure she went down, and saw Jude staring from around the corner of the lounge.
Lilah sighed, and then, descended into the darkness below. When she got near the bottom of the steps, she heard something moving in the darkness.
"What the H. . .?"
"Lilah."
"Wesley?"
"Yes."
"What are you doing down here? Lucy said you went to bed."
"I'm looking for Cassie."
"No, I'm looking for Cassie."
Her eyes adjusting to the darkness, Lilah could see Wesley's face, and then, they heard it, the door closing, upstairs, and the click of the lock. Both looked at each other for a moment, and then, high-tailed it back to the stairs, scrambling to the top in no time.
Wesley got there first, and grabbed the doorknob, but it wouldn't move. He could see shadows under the door, though, and he, instantly, knew what was going on.
"Lucy! Jude! Let us out of here, right now!"
"It's stuck!"
"Uh-huh, stuck my ass!"
"Open the door!"
"It's jammed, we can't open it!"
"Listen to me, you either open this door, or when I get out, you'll find out that Mummy's not the only bad cop!"
Wesley tensed as he realized what he had said, and then, turned to Lilah.
"No offense, of course."
"Oh, thank you, asshole!"
Pushing him out of the way, Lilah grabbed the doorknob, and tried to pry the door open.
"You let us out, right now."
Looking down, Wesley realized that the shadows had disappeared under the door, the kids had gone somewhere else.
"Damn it!"
Groping the wall, Lilah found a flashlight, and hurried back downstairs to the corner, lifting a loose stone from the floor to find the key had been taken.
"You're kidding me!"
"What?"
"They've got the spare."
Wesley sighed, and then, laughed. Turning to him, Lilah knew she was either going to kill Wesley before they got out, or kill herself.
"And what the Hell is so funny!"
"They're smart kids, you have to admit that."
"Oh, yeah, they're real smart, that's not going to help them when we get out, though. I think we can both agree that they're little asses are in big trouble."
"Of course, but you know they're not going to let us out until morning, at least."
"And what are you saying?"
"We're stuck here for awhile, whether we like it or not."
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Upstairs, Jude and Lucy were in their pajamas watching the television, Sadie lay in between them, content with her position.
"Do you think they're talking?"
"I don't know, I couldn't hear anything when I went to the door."
"Do you think we're in trouble? I mean, Daddy wouldn't. . .thrash us. . .would he?"
"Don't be stupid, Jude. Daddy doesn't thrash!"
Jude held his worried look, and Lucy knew he was having second thoughts. Turning off the television, she slid off the sofa, and walked to the doorway of the lounge, turning when she got into the hall.
"Are you guys hungry?"
Sadie and Jude nodded, and followed their sister into the kitchen, where she was already pulling peanut-butter and marshmallow cream out of the cupboard. Jude went in after her and carried the bread back to the counter, pushing two chairs, so, he and Sadie could help make their sandwiches.
"This is a great dinner."
"Isn't it?"
Jude grabbed a spoon from one of the chores, and took a bite out of the marshmallow cream, grinning, and getting it on his chin. Lucy and Sadie grinned as well.
Mummy and Daddy never let them eat the marshmallow cream or peanut-butter from the jar.
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Downstairs, Wesley sat against the wall, listening to Lilah trying to push the door upstairs open.
"It's not going to work, those little hellions have the only other key."
"Well, excuse me for trying."
"Really, Lilah, we're trapped, like I said."
"We can't be at the mercy of our children. How did this even happen?"
"Well, you, me, a lot of alcoholic beverages, and as a I recall, a beach, a hotel bed, and the backseat of my Bentley."
Coming downstairs, again, and rolling her eyes at him, Lilah aimed her flashlight in his face.
"Please don't bring up bad memories."
Wesley rolled his eyes, and looked around, spotting something his unadjusted eyes hadn't a moment ago.
"I had forgot this was down here. Give me the flashlight."
"Get your own."
"Lilah, give me the flashlight."
Throwing it at him, Wesley caught it, and glared at her, then aimed it at the old fireplace.
"I forgot we have a fire place down here."
Crawling over, he turned on the gas, and searched the floor for the matchbox he was sure he had left down there. As his hand found it, he picked it up, and opened the fire place, there was still wood inside, so, he turned on the gas, and struck a match, throwing it in, and illuminating the room.
On the other side of the basement, their was a cot with a rose on it.
"Well, they really think of everything, don't they?"
"I almost feel bad that their efforts were in vain."
"Almost."
Turning the flashlight to the opposite wall, furthest away from them, Wesley smiled. He had forgotten all about this, too. They had first put the wine in when they bought the house, thinking it'd be romantic to get drunk as often as they wanted and make love all over the house.
"Care for a drink?"
Smirking, Wesley walked over to the wall. He examined the racks for a moment, and then, checked the dates on a couple of the bottles, choosing one from nineteen-seventy-eight.
Holding up the bottle, so she could see it, he smiled, and pulled out the cork.
"My birth year."
Holding up the bottle as if toasting her, he brought it to his lips, and drank a large amount in one swallow.
"Not bad."
"Oh, so, you're just going to get really drunk while we're down here."
"I don't see why not. The way I look at it, they got themselves into this situation, they can take of themselves, we might as well look at it as a break."
Walking over to the wall, Wesley sat down, and took another swig of the wine. Now, Lilah began laughing.
"I can't believe you."
"You never could."
Walking over to the wine rack, Lilah pulled down a bottle from the year two-thousand-and-three, and pulled out the cork, then, toasting Wesley, she drank a smaller sip than his first.
"You're right."
Wesley smiled, and then, patted the patch of stone floor next to him.
"We always got along better when we were drunk, anyway."
Finishing his first bottle of wine, Wesley stumbled over to the other side of the basement, and began looking in one of the boxes.
"What are you looking for?"
"I think I have a crow bar down here, somewhere. I mean, if I do, we can get out tonight."
"That would be a blessing."
Digging deeper, Wesley found an old wooden box, and felt memories come flooding back. Forgetting the crow bar for a moment, Wesley opened the old box, and inhaled the tobacco scent.
"What'd you find?"
"Cubian cigars. I've had them for years. I must have misplaced them."
"Oh, the ones the company gave you for getting that promotion to CEO of the London branch."
"That would be it."
Smiling to himself, Wesley shook his head, and carried the box back to the fireplace, where the matches were, and sat down, rather clumsily. Taking one out of the box, he held it up for Lilah to see, and then, put it in his mouth, and lit it up, inhaling, and then, blowing a smoke ring, and coughing a moment later.
"Oh, you're so talented."
"These are better than I thought. You know, I never smoked one because of the kids."
Crawling over to him, Lilah took one from the box, and let Wesley light it with a match, inhaling the sweet aroma, as well.
"These are good."
Still puffing his cigar, Wesley laid on his back, and looked at the ceiling. After a moment, he grabbed Lilah's wine bottle, which she was about to take another sip of, and took a large gulp.
"Ah, not the best, but not too bad, aging would have made it superb."
Looking at her, he watched her take another puff.
"I think I'm quite drunk, which is odd because I used to be able to down three bottles of cheap whiskey and not feel a thing."
Sticking the cigar back in his mouth, he watched her take a swig of the wine, and then, she busted into giggles.
"Used to. . .being the key word. We used to be able to do a lot of things."
Standing, she grabbed two more bottles of wine off the racks, and handed one to Wesley, but keeping one for herself.
"Hm, sixty-three, good choice."
"To kids."
Holding out her bottle, Lilah bumped it with Wesley's and then took another swill.
"Mm, kids, the little hellions that make sex almost sickening."
Seeing the look of shock on her face, he smirked.
"I said almost."
Giggling, Lilah leaned close to him.
"To kids, who makes you a servant, chef, chauffer, and. . ."
"And what?"
"Nanny."
"No, not nanny. We're not nannies."
"Face it, Wes, we are so nannies, watching after our children twenty-four-seven."
"Nannies, though? That's harsh, and I am not their servant, either!"
"When's the last time you ran to one of their calls for a drink or snack?"
"This after. . .well. . .oh God, we are nannies and servants!"
"Told ya. It's a sad truth, isn't it?"
"God, when did this happen?"
"I believe, using your words, you, me, a lot of alcoholic beverages, and as a I recall, a beach, a hotel bed, and the backseat of your Bentley."
Wesley smiled, there was the devious temptress he knew.
"We were such cool people once upon a time. Kids zapped that."
"What do you mean, we were such cool people. I am still very cool, thank you very much!"
"Oh, yes, but for how long? Until Lucy hits twelve and discovers boys and then, later, she'll discover the backseat of car. . .oh, dear."
"Nanny."
Wesley smirked to her, and took a large gulp of wine.
"Say that again."
"I will. Nanny!"
Discarding his cigar and hers, too, he grabbed her, kissing her, roughly. When he pulled back, he seemed surprised.
"We are drunk."
"Yes, but we're better when we're drunk. Now, kiss me, again!"
Kissing her, Wesley let his hands stray under her blouse.
"Mm, Wesley, you naughty boy!"
Rolling over, so, she was on top of him, Lilah grabbed the wine bottle and drank some, then, leaned down, kissing him. Tasting the wine on her tongue, Wesley pushed her skirt up, forcefully.
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Upstairs, the children sat on the kitchen floor, bottles of pop, and the almost empty jars of peanut-butter and marshmallow cream laying between them.
"Do you think they're talking, yet?"
Jude said this as he poured some chocolate syrup on his ice cream.
"I dunno, maybe we should just check, you know, but not let them out."
The eldest children looked at each other for a moment, and then, shook their heads.
"Nah."
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Lilah dug her fingernails into Wesley's back as they made love on the cot, and tried to hold back moans of pleasure. Finally releasing, Wesley lay beside her, his arms around her waist, and kissed her cheek.
"Well. . .I can't say that was horrible."
"You'd better not, if you want to keep your. . ."
"My what?"
Smirking to her, Wesley was surprised when Lilah began kissing him, again.
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Laying down on the living room floor in his sleeping bag, Jude looked at his older sister.
"Do you think our plan will work?"
"I don't know."
"But, Mummy and Daddy have to get back together."
"I know, Jude, I know. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Lucy. Goodnight, Sadie."
Looking up at the star on top of the Christmas tree, Jude closed his eyes, and drifted into sleep, his two sisters on either side of him.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Oh, my! Well, well. Anyway, next chapter, some Christmas goodness, and the morning after, minus the sinking feeling.