Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)
Early the next morning at the Summers house the doorbell rang, and Willow, who was up giving Lily her morning feed, got up to answer it, finding Xander and Anya standing there.
"Hey Will" Xander smiled. "You know I've got to work today, but since Anya's kind of only just been brought back to life I didn't want to leave her alone, so it's okay if she hangs out around here with you guys today right?"
"Sure" Willow grinned, turning to Anya as she gently bounced Lily, still sucking on her bottle. "As long as you don't mind coming to the Zoo with us."
"No" said Anya a little confused. "But why are we going exactly?"
"Illyria wants to visit the place where 'humans capture and display their fellow creatures to observe for their own enjoyment.' Sounds really bad when you put it that way doesn't it? Anyway, Spike and Angel obviously can't take her and Sophie's never been, so we decided we might as well all go."
"Well, have fun then" said Xander, giving Anya a quick kiss before turning to head back to his car. "After my last zoo experience, I'm perfectly happy to give this one a miss."
"Why?" asked Anya. "What happened?"
"Don't you already know?" said Willow, confused. "Like, weren't you watching or something?"
"No" Anya replied, frowning as she entered the house. "We do have lives up there outside of looking down on you guys you know. Except for Tara. Love her to death, really, but boy, we could barely tear her away from you for two minutes without her getting twitchy. According to Mrs. Summers, the longest time she ever stopped watching you was when she went to talk on my behalf at the hearing about whether I should get into heaven or not, and then when she had to come meet me at those pearly gates. There weren't actually any gates though, I was kind of surprised by that, with how much people talk about it."
"Yeah" said Xander. "Well, what happened was that Dawn turned me, Faith, and Tara into animals awhile ago. I was a chimp, but I escaped out the window, got captured by animal control and thrown in the quarantine lock up at the zoo. That was a whole bundle of fun, I can tell you." Xander pulled his wallet out of his pocket and rummaged around in it, before pulling out a few bills and handing them to Anya. "But hey, don't let my bad experience spoil your day! You can use that to pay for lunch and the entry fee, and you should have enough left over for a souvenir, maybe something for Xander Junior."
"I thought I already told you" said Anya, glaring at him, "We are not naming the baby Xander Junior."
"I know, but I thought if I kept saying it it might grow on you" Xander smiled, giving her another kiss. "I really do have to go now. See you tonight." After he had left, Willow turned to Anya.
"Um, if there are no pearly gates at the entrance to heaven, what is there?"
"Well, you do walk into a bright light.." Anya became distracted by the baby in her friend's arms. "Do you think I could have a turn feeding her? I need to get some practice sooner or later."
"Sure" Willow smiled, handing over Lily, then the half-empty bottle. "But you know, this is probably more something that Xander should practise, 'cause if all goes well, you shouldn't have to worry about bottles for awhile. Tara still breastfeeds when it's her turn. She says she'll stop when Lily's teeth start to come in."
--
"Aww, look at the little meerkats!" said Dawn, pointing as the group, which consisted of herself, Connor, Buffy, Faith, Anya, Andrew, Illyria (in her Fred form, of course), Sophie, Willow, and Tara, pushing baby Lily in her pram, approached the enclosure. "They're so cute!"
"These creatures appear much larger on the television" said Illyria, cocking her head at them. "But I agree, they are, as you say 'cute'."
"Uh-huh" said Sophie, leaning just over the safety rail to get a closer look. Another child, a young boy, tried to push in front of the little girl, and almost sent her tumbling over the rail. While it was very unlikely that the meerkats would have hurt her, falling into an animal enclosure at the zoo would have been an unpleasant experience for any child, especially if, like Sophie, they were too small to find a way out by themselves. Thankfully, Illyria managed to throw an arm around the little girl's waist, pulling her back just in time. She glared at the boy and clenched a fist, causing the others to glance at each other worriedly, but did not harm him, and instead turning to Sophie, her hard eyes softening.
"Are you okay child?"
"Yep" said Sophie, hugging the God-King. "Thanks, Illyria."
"There is no need for thanks. You are my friend."
"Hey Tara" said Willow, turning to her wife. "You know all that stuff I said about being worried about Sophie with Illyria?"
"Yeah" Tara replied, smiling.
"Well, now might be a good time to forget it."
--
"That is despicable!" cried Illyria, after Willow had read the plaque outside the Sumatran tiger exhibit stating that there were only 4 or five hundred left in the wild due to poachers hunting them for their parts. "In the time of my rule, such creatures would have been revered for their strength and beauty, yet look what has become of them now, all because of human greed!"
"This would normally be the time that I'd make some comeback to try and defend my species, but this time I'm gonna have to agree with you" said Buffy.
--
A few hours later, the gang left the zoo. Anya was clutching a blue stuffed elephant.
"That's a pretty stereotyped colour you've picked there" said Willow, indicating the toy. "There was heaps of other stuff that wasn't quite so gender specific."
"I know" said Anya, placing a hand on her stomach. "But I think it's a boy. It feels like a boy. Yes, all my motherly instincts are telling me that Xander and I are expecting a tiny human male, whom we will not be naming Xander Junior under any circumstances."