Looking good hot stuff." Lorne adjusted his Santa hat and the mistletoe in his lapel; with one last look in the mirror he headed out front. It was the annual Caritas Holiday/Solstice celebration.
He'd laid in copious
amounts of Wassail and mulled wine, (one bowl mixed with blood and one without),
along with the usual eggnog and hard liquor. There was a free buffet with
various goodies: stuffed olives, melon wrapped prosciutto, baby dills, etc., and
those little Vienna franks that the vampire contingent just adored. He was
humming a little Perry Como tune to himself when he got the first inkling not
all was right with his world. He sidled up the bar. Rogezio, his new barman was
setting up glasses and keeping one eye on the dark haired woman sitting alone at
a table near the door.
"How long has she been here?" Lorne asked while stirring the Seabreeze the
bartender handed him. He watched in interest as the woman turned a large glass
snowball with an old-fashioned Victorian house inside, around and around in her
hands.
"Just came in about ten minutes ago." He said, "She sat down, ordered some tea
for her doll, just as polite as can be; didn't want anything herself. She just
keeps playing with that snowball."
"Be a dear and hand me the phone would you?" Lorne smiled at the young man and
dialled. "Angel, sweet cheeks, I'm standing here at the bar and you'll never
guess who's here - that delightfully ethereal daughter of yours." Lorne raised
one eyebrow as Drusilla closed her eyes and turned the snowball upside down;
glittering silver white flakes swirled in a miniature snowstorm almost obscuring
the house inside from view. The Host just caught the words "I
wish…"
"Oh my. Angel, you might want to hurry."
* * * * * * * *
"Look Fangless, I'm not going to say this again, shut up!" snapped Xander. "I
can't believe I got stuck with you again!" Xander huddled deeper into his
sheepskin jacket. He was spending Christmas Eve being taunted by the world's
most annoying vampire, on what had to be
the coldest night of the century and he was miserable.
They were checking out the cemetery for any activity because Giles thought he'd
found a prophecy about some demon cult that was going to try to open the
Hellmouth tonight. So the gang had dutifully split up to search for signs of the
nameless cult. The sad part was that
none of them had to cancel other plans to do it. And the really sad part; it was
still more pleasant then the Christmas's of his childhood.
Spike smirked, "What's the matter whelp, can't stand to hear the truth; you
proposed to Demon girl and she took a runner. She couldn't even face you, had to
do it in a pathetic 'Dear John' letter." Spike laughed cruelly, stopping to
light his cigarette. "Merry Bloody Christmas, eh pet?"
"That's it!" Xander whirled around knocking the vampire's lighter out of his
hand and grabbing him by the coat lapel. "At least my girl didn't cheat on me
with something that drips slime; slime Spike! Your Looney lady preferred
something that oozed to you." Xander pulled the snarling vampire up close, "
Which one of us is more pathetic?"
"Dru loved me!" Spike growled, wincing as he tried to disengage Xander's hand
without setting off his chip.
"Well Anya cared about me too, she just couldn't take the Hellmouth anymore!"
Xander snapped, shoving Spike away.
Spike grumbled as he bent down to look for his lighter. Xander rubbed his hands
briskly, blowing into them, trying to get warm. It felt like the temperature had
dropped ten degrees in the time they'd been arguing. Something white fluttered
past his face, quickly followed by more fluttering, snowflakes?
Spike straightened, having found his lighter and trying to get the bloody thing
to work in the cold. Oh hell! He was just going to have to use his matches; then
he noticed the snow.
"Well this is just peachy! I'm going back to the Watcher's place." Spike
snapped. "I'm not blundering around out here, freezing my arse off, looking for
crazed Christmas demons!"
The snow was coming down rapidly now and a brisk wind had started to blow.
Xander pulled his collar up and raised his voice. "I hate to say it but you're
right. We're not going to be able to see our hands in front of our faces in a
minute." The snow was already starting to mound and drift against the
tombstones. Xander and Spike dropped their heads and started trudging back
towards the entrance to the cemetery.
Xander cursed as he stumbled over a gravestone and bumped into the vampire.
"Damnit, Spike, I can't see a thing. Are we even going in the right direction?"
"How the Hell would I know; vampiric vision doesn't exactly help in a
snowstorm." The vampire groused. He squinted, just making out a hazy light ahead
of them. "This way, whelp, I think I see the street light." Spike reached back
and grabbed hold of Xander's sleeve, tugging him forward toward the halo of
light. Xander let himself be led. The tips of his ears were numb and his cheeks
felt raw with cold. He hoped they made it soon or he was heading for a case of
frostbite.
As they trudged forward, Spike started to feel a little strange, giddy almost,
definitely excited but in a bouncy sort of way, like he was waiting for a
surprise.
Xander felt funny. At first he thought it was the cold wind working its way
inside his coat; it was a kind of shivery feeling, a pleasant feeling of
expectation.
* * * * * * * *
Angel slid into the seat across from his wayward childe. Dru was humming
'Greensleeves' under her breath and watching the swirling snow in the crystal.
She looked up as Angel sat down and smiled at him gently. "Hello my Angel."
"Hello, Dru." Angel said quietly. "What do you have there?" He gestured to the
snowball.
"Isn't it lovely? The pretty lady with the forever eyes gave it to me." Dru
glanced back at the crystal. "She said I could make a wish, but only one and it
had to be for someone else; someone I loved." She looked up at Angel. "I thought
about making a wish for you my Angel but it's Christmas, and Christmas is for
children." Dru stared off across the club, rocking slowly. "All my little ones
whither and die." She focused again on Angel. "All but my Spike. He's been a bad
dog but mommies love their children, even when they're bad. Do daddies love
their children too, even when they're bad?" She asked forlornly.
"Yes Dru, many of them do. I do." Angel said softly, taking her hand. "What kind
of a wish did you make?"
She gave a secretive smile, "Just a little one for my little one, so that he
could be happy and have prezzies and a friend to spend the time with." She
sighed and held out the crystal, "Look and see my Angel."
* * * * * * *
Spike ran into the door with a surprised grunt. He must have bumped into a crypt
by mistake. He fumbled blindly for the latch. The door swung open more easily
then expected and he fell forward in a graceless heap, the boy landing on top of
him. Spike cursed and thrashed trying to turn over but he seemed to be awash in
clothing. He felt Xander roll off his back and
heard muffled grunts coming from the brunette. With a final yank, he freed his
head and sat up, and tried to get his bearings. The sheepskin jacket across from
him convulsed and Spike's eyes widened as a brown haired, mop-headed boy of
about six sat up blinking owlishly.
"Oi, who are you?" Spike asked and then frowned. His voice didn't sound deep
enough and did he just lisp?
"Spike, is that you?" the little boy asked. He reached out a tentative hand and
poked the vampire on the arm. "You're just a baby and you're hair's all curly,"
he giggled.
Spike looked own at his little hands in horror, then he touched his head and did
indeed encounter an abundance of curls. He tugged one down within eyesight; oh
no, his hair was back to its original honey blond color; that meant he looked
like a nonce. Then the rest of Xander's sentence sunk in; "Oi, you, I'm not a
baby!" he snarled, vamping out or trying to,
judging by Xander's reaction, he was less then successful.
Xander giggled louder, "What are you trying to do? You're face is all scrunched
up and it's getting splotchy. You look silly." The little boy finished with the
loftiness of the very young.
Spike brought his hands up to his face, no ridges, nothing. He felt his lower
lip begin to tremble. Xander was laughing at him and he couldn't even shift to
game face. And, he'd heard puppies snarl with more conviction. He sniffed.
Xander stopped laughing and with quick sympathy, scooted close, patting Spike's
hand gently. "I'm sorry. You don't look silly. I was just being mean." Xander
looked him over critically. "Open your mouth."
"Why?" pouted Spike.
"Because I think you've still got fangs. Can you feel anything?" Xander watched
Spike open his mouth wide and run his tongue over his upper teeth. "You do!"
Xander exclaimed, "But only two on the top, just like those old fashioned horror
movies."
"But no 'grrr' face," Spike finished dejectedly.
"Maybe you just need to concentrate more. Go ahead, try again." Xander
encouraged.
Spike took a deep, unneeded breath and scrunched up his face really hard for
about a minute and then relaxed. "Anything?" he asked hopefully.
Privately Xander thought that the only change was that Spike looked a little
more flushed but he smiled and said, "I think your fangs are a little sharper."
Spike sighed but nodded his head.
Xander looked around. They were sitting in the entry hall to a large house. The
chandelier was lit and the whole house felt warm and inviting. He peered down
inside his now oversized jacket trying slip it off. He looked up at the vampire
suspiciously. "Where are we Spike?"
"I don't know, do I." The little vamp answered "I wouldn't even be in this mess
if it weren't for you lot. I'd be at home in my nice warm crypt." He huffed,
arranging his too big t-shirt around himself. Stupid Scoobies, one of the
witches probably did some spell or something and sucked them into an alternate
dimension.
Xander having slipped out of his jacket now shifted his sweater and started
rolling up the sleeves. Stupid baby vampire; he probably led them into some sort
of alternate dimension or something by following that light.
Xander and Spike stood up. Spike's t-shirt was dragging on the floor while
Xander's sweater was around his ankles. Xander was the taller of the two by an
inch. He was also lankier. Spike resembled nothing so much as a cherub with
stubby fangs.
"We should see if there's anyone here and try to find some clothes or something
to wear." Xander said while trying to keep his folded sleeves from falling down
his arms.
"Here now, who says I have to do what you say?" Spike grumped. "I'm older." He
declared. The vampire having to hold his t-shirt hem up to keep from tripping
over it ruined the effect of outrage.
Xander stepped forward, "Because I'm bigger," he said using age-old logic. "Now
c'mon." Xander turned and led the way. Spike grumbled and cursed under his
breath until Xander turned and glared at him. "No cussing!" he snapped. As soon
as he turned his back Spike stuck his tongue out at him, but followed
reluctantly.
They came to a pair of double doors. Spike and Xander both put their ears
against the door. When they didn't hear anything inside they cautiously pushed
the doors open and then stood in the doorway in awe: inside the room was a
Christmas dream come true. There was a merrily blazing fire in a fireplace. The
mantle was decorated with holly, evergreens and pinecones; two stockings stuffed
to overflowing hung at each corner. There was a giant tree ablaze with lights
made to look like miniature candles. Sugar cookies, paper chains, popcorn
strings and ornaments dotted every branch of the tree and on the very top; a
star of exceptional beauty seemed to shine with its own internal light.
Underneath the tree were numerous
gaily-wrapped packages of various sizes and shapes and winding its way among
those packages was train, track and town. And laid out neatly on a chair by the
fire were two sets of children's clothing, just waiting to be worn.
Spike recognized many of the furnishings and decorations from childhood
Christmases of long ago. He went to move into the room but Xander put out his
arm.
"No Spike," he whispered. "What if this is like a Hansel and Gretel situation?
Maybe there's a bad witch somewhere and as soon as we step into the room, she'll
grab us right up."
Spike scented the air and peeked carefully inside the room, "I don't think so
mate. It feels all right to me; don't it feel okay to you too?" Spike looked up
at the bigger boy expectantly. Xander wrinkled his nose in thought.
"Well we do need something to wear. You wait here and I'll run in and grab the
clothes and come right back. If nothing happens to me then we'll go in and poke
around."
"Oi, just because you're bigger doesn't mean you get to make all the decisions.
I'm faster, you're just a human." Spike said haughtily.
Xander narrowed his eyes at the blonde and then smiled smugly. "I'm not just
bigger, I bet I'm older then you now too. You're just a baby, so that means you
have to do what I say."
Spike frowned dangerously then lowered his head and rammed Xander right in the
stomach. Both boys went down in a tangle of limbs. Spike might have been smaller
but he was feisty and it took Xander a good two minutes before he was able to
roll the vampire to his stomach and sit on him. "Say uncle!" yelled Xander. "Say
it or I'm not letting you up and no
biting!"
Spike let loose with a howl and staged a truly impressive tantrum but Xander
kept his balance with grim intensity until the blonde finally exhausted himself.
"I hate you!" wailed the vampire. "Uncle, you bleedin nonce, now let me up!"
Xander scrambled off the younger boy and watched him use his t-shirt as a large
handkerchief. Spike rubbed his nose and stared at the brunette defiantly.
"Did you mean what you said?" asked Xander softly. "Do you hate me?"
"Yes, now go get the clothes and I hope there is a witch in there and she eats
you." Spike said
spitefully.
Xander's soft brown eyes looked wounded and Spike swallowed an unfamiliar
feeling of guilt. Xander turned dejectedly toward the room but as he stepped
through the doorway, Spike was right beside him. Xander glanced at him out of
the corners of his eyes.
"If she eats you I won't get me clothes now will I?" the vampire said.
Xander smiled widely. "Hey Spike!" Xander said suddenly, "Your chip didn't go
off when you threw your tantrum."
"I did not throw a tantrum." Spike lisped. "I'm a Master Vampire, we don't throw
tantrums." Xander looked sceptical.
"But you're right, it didn't, neat!" Spike crowed. "That means I can eat you if
I get hungry."
"Do you want to eat me?" Xander asked a little worriedly.
Spike looked the taller boy up and down. "Nope, not right now. I'll let you
know." Spike gave him a fang gaped smile.
"Thanks," Xander said. They reached the chair and Xander reached out a finger to
touch the clothes before quickly pulling it back. Then Spike reached out hand
and ruffled the clothing. Nothing happened; the boys shared a look, grabbed the
clothes and dashed back out of the room. They peaked around the doorway. The
room remained unchanged and the clothes hadn't tried to eat them. Shrugging
their shoulders they quickly got dressed. The clothes consisted of underwear,
warm pants and shirts, woolly socks and sturdy boots. Everything fit perfectly.
"Want to try again?" asked Xander. Spike nodded. They walked over to the tree
and Spike started examining the stockings while Xander was drawn to the train
set. He'd always wanted one when he was little. It was one of a long list of
Christmas presents he never received from his parents.
He found the switch box for the train set and flicked one on and with a 'toot
toot' the train began to move around the track. Xander's eyes lit up as he
flipped various switches and buttons causing the lights of the town to turn on
and different crossing arms to go up and down. Upon further exploration he found
several types of 'cargo' in the form of marbles, rocks and such to load on the
train. He was busy loading some sand in the back container when he noticed a
little box with his name on it. He carefully picked it up, shook it and then
opened it. Inside was a stripped engineer's cap, just his size. With a joyful
squeak, he set it on his head.
Meanwhile Spike found that the socks were carefully embroidered with his and
Xander's names. He had to stand on an ottoman to do it, but he managed to
manoeuvre his stocking safely to the ground. He dumped it upside down and out
rolled apples and oranges and nuts along with several traditional Christmas
Crackers. He whooped and clapped his hands. He hadn't pulled any of these open
since he was a child and his parents had still been alive. When they had
perished in a coach accident he and his little sister had been sent to live with
two stern, unmarried great aunts. They hadn't held with frivolity as they called
it so there had been no more Happy Christmas celebrations.
Spike took hold of the cracker and pulled. There was a bang and the cracker
broke open and out spilled candy and cookies, a wooden puzzle, a ship, a small
book on pirates and a silver key. Spike picked the key up turning it around in
his hands, wondering what it was for before popping it into his pocket and
reaching for the next cracker.
Xander played with the train and then setting it on automatic crawled forward to
check out the rest of the presents. All the boxes were either addressed to
himself or Spike. He glanced to where the vampire was waging a naval battle with
several sailing ships, one of which was flying the Jolly Rodger.
"Hey Spike, do you want to open more presents?" Xander asked hopefully,
motioning to the boxes.
"Sure mate." Spike said, crawling over to Xander, being careful of the train
set. Xander had never seen the vampire look so relaxed and carefree. There was
no sneer on his face or frustrated look in his eyes. He just looked like any
other kid on Christmas morning, well except for the fangs.
Xander handed the blonde a box and picked himself out one. Spike tore his open
with abandonment and then gave a cry of delight; inside was an entire set of
brightly painted toy soldiers complete with cannon.
Xander opened his box more carefully. His mouth dropped open and then he
grinned. "Score!" he yelped, pulling out a complete junior magician kit. There
was a top hat, cape, wand, scarf, cards, magic handcuffs and a complete
instruction booklet guaranteed to have
him performing magic within the hour. He carefully replaced his engineer's cap
with the top hat and eagerly started flipping through the book.
Spike reverently set aside his soldiers and then found another box. He laughed
as he revealed a little red drum and drumsticks. He started to sing the "Little
Drummer Boy" with percussion accompaniment. Xander looked up and clapped in
time. Spike didn't know anything except the first verse and apparently neither
did Xander but they enjoyed themselves. Spike helped
Xander take down his stocking and explained about Christmas crackers; then they
finished opening the rest of the presents. Every gift was something both boys
had wanted and never received when they'd been little. There were only two gifts
left in the back. One was a long rectangular box and the other a rather large
square box. Both boxes had both boys' names on
them.
They carefully dragged the rectangle out first. Inside was a bright red sled.
The boys shared a look of rapture.
"Wow, she's beautiful!" Xander breathed in awe.
"I bet we can go about a hundred miles an hour on it." Spike added smoothing his
hands over the runners. Spike ran over to the window, standing on tiptoe to peer
outside. The full moon shone so brightly it could almost be daylight. Behind the
house, Spike could see
the perfect sledding hill. "Mate, we've got to try it out." Spike turned to
Xander with a pleading look on his face.
Xander's eye's shone with excitement. "You bet, let's see what's in the last box
then we'll go outside and play."
Spike ran over and reached for the lid to the last present. He sniffed,
hesitated, and then sniffed again. Xander raised his eyebrows in question. Spike
raised the lid and looked inside and gasped. Xander stared over his shoulder.
Inside was a beautiful little border collie. It was curled up and napping but
when they lifted the lid off completely it opened one
eye and yawned looking up at the boys intelligently. It looked to be about six
months old and after waking up, hopped out of the box and shook itself. Xander
reached his hand forward and the dog gave him a lick then stepped over to Spike
and did the same thing. The collie had a collar and Spike reached forward to
read the tag. The name 'May' was engraved in script on the little gold tag.
"Hey, she has one brown eye and one blue," Xander noticed with a giggle. "That
means she definitely must be ours."
Spike gently scratched behind the dog's ears. "I've always wanted a dog."
"Me too. My parents said pets were a pain in the neck." Xander patted the puppy.
"My aunts said they were dirty." Spike said softly. The boys shared a
commiserating look. "C'mon, let's go play!" May jumped up in agreement and the
little group ran to the door. Not surprisingly, there were coats, scarves, hats
and mittens waiting by the door. There was even a half coat for May.
They dragged their sled outside and headed for the hill. The trio stood at the
top of the slope
contemplating the plunge. It looked much steeper then it had appeared from the
house. The boys sat on the sled, adjusting their mittens and scarves in
preparation.
"Ready mate?" asked Spike. He was sitting in front because he'd won the coin
toss. "Ready," Xander answered giving his best push. May barked worriedly and
they were off. They flew down the hill, screaming all the way, hitting a bump
and wiping out
spectacularly. Xander raised his head in a daze. Spike was flattened into the
side of a snow bank.
"You okay Spike?" Xander asked. The vampire raised his snow-covered head and
blinked. "Cor, that was great." The blonde enthused.
"We nearly died." Xander said dryly, brushing himself off.
"Yeah. Want to go again?" Spike grinned.
"You bet!" Xander agreed with a big smile.
They made the trip up and down the hill at least five more times before they
were both too tired and cold to continue. They trudged happily back to the house
where they found hot chocolate with the little marshmallows waiting for them.
They sat in front of the fire, getting warm, sipping cocoa and eating cookies
from the tree.
Spike told Xander about the
Christmases he'd celebrated when his parents had been alive. The plum pudding
they began five Sundays before Christmas and how they would each take a turn
stirring the bowl and making a wish. The Family Stirabout, it was called. Then
on Christmas Day the pudding was boiled, then covered in brandy and lit and
served garnished with a sprig of holly.
"When I was little, Christmas lasted until January 6th, the Feast of Epiphany."
Spike smiled fondly. "When me mum and dad was alive our house was open to
everyone for all twelve days of Christmas. There was a Wassail bowl and
carollers." Spike trailed off sadly.
Xander hugged the younger boy and May put her head on his lap. "My mom and dad
are alive and I never had anything like that. You have some happy memories, at
least." Spike nodded. "Hey," Xander asked brightly, "want to see some magic?"
Spike raised an eyebrow.
"You know what I mean." Xander giggled, jumping up to retrieve his top hat and
cape.
"Okay, now pick a card, any
card." Xander offered the deck with a flourish. Spike laughed and Xander
proceeded to perform several tricks. Spike clapped enthusiastically until they
got
to the magic handcuffs. Xander got them on the vampire fine but then they got
stuck. They might have stayed on permanently if Spike hadn't remembered the
little key in his pocket. Spike had grumbled but was amazingly patient. He
explained that it wasn't the first time he'd been stuck in handcuffs. Xander's
eyes had gotten very big but he'd refused to ask any
further questions.
The fire was starting to burn down and Xander's head was beginning to nod and
Spike was already asleep. May got up and tugged on Xander's sleeve. Xander woke
up enough to help the sleepy vampire stand up then the two little boys followed
the puppy into a bedroom with
a cheery fire burning in the grate. There was a large feather bed that took up
half the room.
Two sets of pyjamas were laid out
on the bed. Xander got undressed and then slipped into his pj's. He then helped
Spike get into his pyjamas as well. The little vampire was only half awake
throughout the entire procedure. They both crawled into bed and May jumped up on
the bed, turning around three times before settling in for the night. As Xander
was on the edge of sleep, he felt a kiss brush across his forehead and heard a
whispered "Sweet Dreams".
* * * * * * * * *
"Did I make a good wish?" Dru
stared at the dark haired vampire anxiously.
Angel gazed into the crystal at the peacefully sleeping boys. He reached across
and placed a kiss on his childe's forehead. "Yes Princess, you made a wonderful
wish." He stood up gracefully as Lorne came over and slipped a glass of mulled
bloodwine in front of the vampiress.
"Have a Happy Christmas Dru."
She gave him an innocent smile. "Happy Christmas my Angel." She said and again
began to hum 'Greensleeves' to herself.
* * * * * *
Xander awoke fully rested for the
first time in months. He opened his eyes slowly and found himself staring into
the sleeping features of a fully-grown Spike. The second thing he noticed was
that he was in his own bed and no longer wearing pyjamas. He stretched and
bumped his feet into a warm mass. He glanced down the bed to see a furry puppy
fast asleep. He grinned; this was starting out to be a great day. He looked back
to find a now fully awake vampire staring at him with deep blue eyes. He noted
with interest that Spike too, was no longer wearing pyjamas.
Spike glanced up at the headboard. Xander followed his gaze and saw a
strategically placed sprig of mistletoe. Spike gave him a cocky grin and waggled
his eyebrows. Xander bent forward and gave the blonde a sweet kiss. "Merry
Christmas Spike."
"Merry Christmas, luv."
The End