Willow's POV

After the spaghetti was eaten and all the introductions were made, I started to get even more uncomfortable. I decided to occupy myself, so I slipped my cellphone from my jean pocket and turned to my best friend.

'Watch them like a hawk.' I thought straight into his mind. He jumped a foot into the air from his chair and his gaze flew to mine. I know everyone noticed this, but I continued to look at him meaningfully until he nodded.

Walking into my best friend's bedroom, I hurriedly dialed the number to my newest, yet oldest, 'child' and closed my eyes, trying to order my thoughts.

Ring. Ring. Ring. "Hello?"

I sighed in relief, the tension draining from my body as my heart swelled up just at the sound of his voice. "Daniel." I breathed out.

"Ma?" His voice was only just leveling out. It used to be squeaky as he'd transitioned from boy to man. He was a bit of a late bloomer. Almost seventeen. Now that I think about it...he was probably only months away from Connor.

"It's me." I told him. I'd called him early that morning to let him know why I was suddenly gone, but I still wanted to check in again.

"Well 'ow are you? Ya holdin' up alrigh' o'er there? When are ya comin' 'ome?" he asked, his brogue thick. "Is e'rythin' okay? Ma?"

I smiled at his onslaught of questions. "Everything is fine, Danny. I just wanted to check in on you."

"Everythins' alrigh' o'er 'ere."

"Listen, Danny. I'm gonna have Keiran arrange for us to move. You don't need to do anything, just supervise the movers and all. And make sure you take all of the sentimental stuff. And make sure they're careful."

"We're movin'?" he sounded shocked.

I giggled. "As much as I loved Gran, we're too big of a family for a two bedroom. You'll have your own room in the new house."

I heard a loud sigh. "Tha's good. I'll still miss this place though."

"Me too." I told him, starting back into the livingroom. I didn't want to leave Angel alone with my kids for too long. "So, I'll call Keiran and tell him to get on it. We'll be back in a few hours, okay?"

"Alrigh' Ma. Love ya."

"I love you too, baby." I told him, my voice quiet and sincere. Flipping my phone closed, I looked up at a non-too-subtle throat-clearing.

Spike looked amused. "Was that your new bloke, Red?"

"Shut up, Spike." I had no intentions of telling them more than they needed to know about my life.

"Was it Danny, Ma?"

I nodded at Micah. "Yeah, baby." I answered, already dialing Keiran, my personal assistant's number.

"Um..'Ello?"

"Keiran. It's Willow. I need you to get a moving company to my place as soon as you can. I want everything taken to that ranch I was looking at."

"The McCleary Ranch?" he asked. "Or Holden?"

"The one that was less ranch-y and more like a big house with a big yard." I told him, not knowing the names and not wanting Angel to know anyway.

"Tha's McCleary." he answered. "Also the one wit tha big tree out back wit tha tire swing tha' you liked."

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Listen, Danny's at the house. You two are in charge. Make sure nobody breaks any of my Gran's stuff. I have Micah and Jesse. And Ryan too. But make sure Danny gets a ride over there and that all the water and electric is on."'

"Water...electric...Gotcha, Boss. I'll 'ave it done today."

"And maybe throw a little money at the movers to set up the bigger furniture." I added. "You know, just to have the beds ready."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Oh, and Keiran?" I asked before he could hang up.

"Yes?"

I smiled, letting my voice get exaggeratingly sweet. "Thank you."

He laughed. "No problem, Willow." I closed the phone again.

"You're leaving again?" Xander asked, looking heartbroken.

"And you're moving?" Angel demanded. "Running again?"

I shrugged, looking to Xander and ignoring the vampire completely. "I have to."

"You don't have to." Angel growled, standing from the couch.

I glared his way. "We live in Ireland. You can't force us to stay."

"They're mine too." he grit out.

"No." I said, my voice dark and intense even if it was quiet. "They are NOT."

"YES, they are." he barked.

I shrugged. "Alright. Take me to court then, Angel." He growled again and I smirked. He wasn't even a legal citizen so he was pretty much powerless. "That's what I thought."

He looked destroyed. "I can't believe you'd use that against me."

"Well, believe it buddy. Those are my children. I'm not going to let you force me into something just because you want to control everything. And I'm going to be visiting here now anyway, so..."

"Why don't you move back to Sunnydale?" Xander asked. "I mean...everyone knows now."

I just rose a brow, but my face softened for Xander. "Oh yeah. That'd be great. The Hellmouth is a great place to raise kids." I shrugged. "Plus, Danny doesn't have citizenship here."

"I don't want to see my kids once every year!" Angel snapped, bringing the grimace back to my face.

I took a deep breath to calm down. "What you want," I sneered, "is not my concern. This is how it's going to be, Angel."

"HA!" Spike barked out, unable to keep the laughter in.

"Damn." Gunn and Faith muttered simultaneously.

He growled under his breath. "No. It's not."

"I don't want to talk about it anymore." I stated suddenly, sensing that the conversation was getting out of hand.

"Yeah, well, like you said...what you want isn't my concern."

"Say another word, Angel, and we're gone." I threatened. "I don't want to lord them over you, but I'm not going to argue in front of them."

There was a stunned silence in the room. Angel's eyes flickered gold as he tried to reign himself in, and that didn't escape Jesse's notice. "Oi! Your eyes change like Ma's and ours!"

"What?" The abrupt change in atmosphere had Angel confused.

"Your eyes. They were yella for a minute. Ma's turn black sometimes and white sometimes too. Micah's and mine go yella sometimes."

"Ma's a witch, Jesse. None o' tha ladies in 'er coven 'ave those eyes." Micah stated, rolling her eyes disdainfuly at her twin. I almost snickered. "Angel's a vampire. They all 'ave yella eyes."

"Is that why our eyes change?" Jesse asked me. "'Cause our Da's a vampire?"

"That's the only reason I can think of, sweetie." I told him truthfully.

"Connor's don't." Cordelia stated.

"They don't go completely yellow." I clarified. "Just gold-tinged. And only in really emotional situations. But they're strong and fast."

"Me too." Connor spoke up, nodding.

"Sometimes when we're real real mad, stuff blows up!" Jesse exclaimed in excitement. "One time, the cereal box-"

"Jesse!" Micah hissed. "Danny said not to tell nobody bout that."

Jesse looked utterly confused. "But he's our Da."

"We don't even know 'em." Micah objected. "And Danny said." she pouted, her voice firm.

Jesse glanced to Angel, then me, then Micah, then to Angel again, then landed to stay on me. "Can Da know? Or is Danny still our boss?"

"It's okay if Angel knows about the witch stuff. But Danny is still your boss."

"Well, who is more our boss?" he wanted to know.

"Huh?"

"If Danny says no, and you say yes. We listen to you, cause you're our Ma and you're more our boss than Danny. But what if Danny says no and Da says yes?"

I let out a loud breath. They just had to be difficult.

"Who the hell is this Danny guy?" Angel finally burst out.

"He's my son!" I snapped, not liking the sound of Angel's voice when he spoke the name. "And yes, Danny is more your boss." I directed to Jesse and Micah.

"Excuse me?" Angel sounded like he couldn't believe it. About the 'my son' part or the 'more your boss' part, I wasn't sure.

I turned to him, feeling my power swirl and rise with my anger. Lightening crackled on my finger tips and Drusilla cowered back. Everyone looked apprehensive except Micah and Jesse, who were looking at Angel as if to say 'you did it now'. "You heard me, vampire. Danny is their brother. Maybe not by blood, but he lives in the house with us. He's babysat them for the last two years. They just met you!"

"And who's fault was that?" he shouted. He was on his feet now and I stalked closer to him. Everyone started to move back, giving us a wide berth.

I threw a hand up, effectively putting a muting bubble around us to keep my babies from the foul language I was about to let loose. "It was YOUR fucking fault you fucking idiot!" I screamed. Angel flinched back but I pressed on. "Yeah! I hid them from you! Big FUCKING deal! You wanted nothing to do with me therefore...you had and STILL don't have any fucking right to them!"

His nostrils flared. "Just because I wanted nothing to do with you, does not give you the right to take my own children from me! I fucked you! I used you! Okay, fine. Think what you want. But they are still my children. And you had no right to keep them from me. To not tell me about them."

My jaw clenched and my nostrils flared to keep tears away. I grabbed his coat and we disappeared, reappearing in his old mansion. "Did you care about me at all?" I demanded. "I mean...sure! You loved Buffy, I get that. But I thought that you at least loved me a little. Cared for me as a friend. But no! You used me! Treated me just like Liam treated all those women. And all those times, I tried to cheer you up. All those things I thought and said...they were wrong."

"This has nothing to do with the problem. It doesn't matter that who I loved or if the sex was good or if I treated you gentlemanly afterward. Those are my kids."

"Are you saying this to purposely hurt me?" I asked, shocked at his callous words. Now I wasn't even good enough in bed for him? "Is that what you're doing?"

"I don't care if this hurts you! You're hurting me!" he screamed, his vampire visage sliding down over his face.

My fists clenched and unclenched. "You want me to hurt you?" I screamed back, slamming him with a bolt of power. He flew across the room and hit the wall before sliding to the floor, grunting in pain. I stalked closer. "Fine. I'll show you what hurt is!" I made it to his side and kicked him hard. "I kept them from you for two reasons." I continued talking as I kicked him in the ribs. He grabbed my leg and pulled me down. The breath whooshed from my body as my back impacted and then he was covering my body with his.

"And they are?" he demanded, wrestling to hold my arms down. My skin glowed slightly as it heated until he pulled away with scalded hands and a loud hiss from his mouth. I stood while he cradled his hands and kneed him in the face. He fell back.

"It wasn't because I wanted to hurt you." I told him, kicking him in the temple with all my might. His body flipped over. "It was because I didn't want your pity. You putting up with me just because you wanted to be with them. I didn't want to be around you...the man I LOVED and have to pretend he cared for me too."

He sat up suddenly, catching my foot before it impaced with his ribs. Before he could wipe my feet out from under me, I went down onto my knees, digging my right kneecap into his groin. He groaned loudly and punched me in the mouth, knocking me off of him. We both scrambled to stand. I wiped the blood at the corner of my lip and flexed my aching jaw.

He looked a little regretful. "Stop hitting me." he growled, snapping his teeth. I rolled my eyes and we started to circle one another. "I don't want to fight you, Willow." he almost pleaded.

"And the second reason...was because I was obviously so wrong about what kind of man I thought you were. And I didn't want my kids to have you as a father." He stopped walking suddenly, his eyes holding deep pain. I felt guilty, but I also felt gratified. "Good. Now maybe you feel a tiny bit of the pain I felt when you did a wham-bam-thank you ma'am on me, you fucking dick."

"Willow." he snarled out. I threw myself at him, not wanting to hear his excuses. My fist missed his face when he ducked, but I got a solid knee to his solar plexus. He clutched onto my leg and yanked me down as he stumbled back. I landed on top of him, straddling his hips. He groaned and then glanced up to meet my eyes. Sitting up quickly, his hand gripped the back of my head and pulled me forward for a kiss.

I ripped away immediately, lifting my hand from his shoulder and elbowing him in the jaw in the process. Okay. Now I was pissed. He grabbed me and rolled, putting me under him. My legs were pinned but I gripped his hair and yanked back with all my power-induced might and he yelped, unconsciously moving to stop the pain. I stood and let go when I was free. He stood too.

More punches and kicks were thrown but he dodged most and absorbed the others. "FIGHT BACK, you fuckING COWARD!" I hissed. '

"No."

I started throwing more and more punches, landing more and more as I let the power infuse me and move me faster than even a vampire could handle. He gripped my shoulders suddenly, halting me in mid-movement. I was breathing heavily and he was gazing into my eyes intensely. He smashed his lips to mine again.

After four years, he still got to me and I responded instinctively to the passion and adrenaline rushing through me, pressing against him hard. We were on the ground rolling around within moments and he was pawing at my shirt frantically. A loud, frustrated growl came from him and he grabbed the fabric to rip it.

Flashbacks hit me, unwanted, and I thought of the only other time I'd been intimate with him.

I snapped out of it suddenly, halting his hands and pulling away. He looked up at me desperately, his eyes pleading not to stop. I knew tears were clouding my eyes and I couldn't believe after all this time that he could make me feel so desired and alive after he'd made me feel so cheap and useless and undeserving of his love that night. "I hate you." I bit out in a choked whisper, staring at him in horror. Then my fist was connecting with his face over and over. "I *punch* hate *punch* you *punch* so *punch* fuc*punch*king *punch* much *punch*, Angel." I stood hurriedly from his half-conscious form. "I hate you." I half-sobbed.

But I could NOT cry in front of him. Touching my foot to his chest, I trans-located us into Xander's bedroom. I looked down at his groaning and bleeding form on the ground and shook my head. Hurrying into the livingroom, I was met by stunned silence.

"What the HELL, Red?" Spike exclaimed, taking in my disheveled clothes, my bleeding and bruised mouth and my unkempt hair.

I sniffed. "Not now, Spike."

"Where's Peaches?"

"Willow?" came Angel's groggy voice as he stumbled to the doorway of the bedroom.

There was a chorus of curses and gasps as everyone saw him and then he was crowded with his team, trying to look him over. Spike, Faith, Lorne, Illyria, and Gunn stood back with disbelieved smirks and amused appreciation of my skills. But Fred, Connor, Cordelia, Wes, and Doyle all looked concerned.

"Ryan!" I called, hurrying to my kids. The dog came running and I touched his head. The kids, knowing what was going on, linked hands and I grabbed onto their combined fists. "Love you, Xander." I said to my stunned friend on the couch before we disappeared.

I crumbled to the ground in the livingroom, my body aching from the many floor-impacts I'd just been through. I wasn't used to anyone putting up such a fight.

"Ma?" I heard Danny's voice and then I was enveloped in a strong hug. "What 'appened? Ya alrigh' Ma?"

I pushed myself to my feet and nodded, clearing my throat before I spoke. Movers were hurrying around us and I sighed. "Will you take your brother and sister outside to play for a while?" I asked.

Danny stood up next to me. "Ya. Sure. You go take a nap, Ma. I love you."

I felt the first tear slip and I went up on tiptoe to wrap my arms around his neck for a proper hug. "And I love you guys too." I said forcefully, meeting each of their eyes as I pulled back. I forced a sad smile. "I love all of you so much." I pressed a kiss to Danny's forehead, Jesse's hair, and then Micah's cheek before going to my bedroom.