Xander glanced up from the marble pestle and mortar that he was using to crush raw wild lemongrass.

Giles was sitting at the far end of the research table going over the translation of the spell, looking for any last minute errors or changes. It filled Xander's heart to know that the man who had been a father-figure to him for so many years was putting such effort into making sure that there wouldn't be any problems with the wording of the spell.

His "husband" sat directly across from him, a truly evil look of unholy glee on his handsome face. The blonde demon had been given the "messy" preparation. The spell called for certain ingredients that no one else *really* wanted to deal with...so it had been given to Spike. At first, he had grumbled about having to do anything, although Xander knew that was just for show. The vampire would joyfully set himself on fire if he thought it would make Xander happy...and everyone knew it. But, Spike had a reputation to maintain, so he pouted about it. Until he found out *what* the witches wanted him to do.

Now, the bleached blonde demon was happily using an old beat-up cheese grater on various dead animal parts. Two sparrow hearts to be exact. He had already finished with some type of lizard tall that had needed to be skinned.

Xander grimaced at the sight. With perfect timing, his "better half" looked up, grinned like a lunatic at him and then winked. As stomach churning as it was to watch Spike mutilate the animal corpses...at least his lover was having fun.

Looking back down at his own pile of stuff to do, Xander continued to grind up the lemongrass. As soon as he was done with that, he had to chop up the dried thyme, heather and sage. Once he had mixed those three together into one bowl, he was done.

The rest of the preparations were being made downstairs in Buffy's Training Room. She had volunteered the space as a way of apologizing for her initial freak-out and also to show her support. Xander appreciated it. Willow had assured him that Buffy *wasn't* angry at him for sleeping with Spike...even though at the time Spike had professed to "love" her. But it had still worried him. Buffy was far too important to him to lose her friendship...for any reason.

Right now, Buffy was in the training room helping Willow and Tara set up for the spell. The girls said that they needed the large floor space to draw the circle itself as well as a bunch of mystic symbols. While the two witches did that, Buffy was rearranging the furniture and training equipment to make room for the circle and the altar which would sit at it's center.

Finishing up with the lemongrass, Xander carefully put the crushed herb into a silver bowl that Willow had provided him. Then, he carried the pestle and mortar out to the small breakroom type area Giles had set up in the Magic Box. Placing it in the sink to be washed later, Xander returned to his seat at the big wooden table and began to chop up the dried herbs into small flakes with the special Wiccan Blessed sickle shaped knife Tara had given him for this purpose.

With a slight smile, Xander fell into the comforting routine of preparing the herbs. He had helped set up spells an uncountable number of times over the years, and even though he didn't *really* understand how magic worked...nor could he actually do a spell himself, he *was* very familiar with how to set one up. It was familiar and comforting and soothing. It was also a nice distraction for him. Chopping the herbs gave him something to focus on besides the fact that he was one sudden loud noise away from screaming like a girl and wetting himself due to his nerves being wound *far* too tightly.

Although, if that *did* happen, he didn't think anyone would hold it against him. It was pretty much a given that he'd be an emotional wreck. After all, the spell that they were going to do was supposed to tell him if his...baby would even be human. And the odds were stacked against that idea to begin with.

So...nervous? Very.

Then without realizing how much time had gone by as he chop-chop-chopped, Xander found that he was done. All of the dried herbs were finely diced and all he had left to do was mix them together into the red cut-crystal bowl in front of him. Trying to still the minor tremors in his hands, Xander dumped the three piles of herbs into the bowl and then used the Wiccan knife to stir them together.

Finally done, Xander glanced up to find that Giles was gone and only Spike remained with him. Spike's pile of gory innards were gone and the blonde vampire was just watching him with a look of helpless adoration and love. Xander couldn't help but smile at him. Even though his head knew that the blonde only loved him because of Anya's curse...it didn't stop his heart from fluttering madly at that expression.

"So...um, where'd everyone go?"

Spike gestured towards the back of the shop and stood up.

"Giles finished his translation and then he took my sparrow hearts and wandered off to check up on the witches. You done here?"

Xander nodded his head and stood up as well. He grabbed the silver bowl of crushed lemongrass in one hand and the crystal bowl of mixed dried herbs in the other.

"Yeah. I'm done. Let's go on back and see what Wills and Tara want me to do with this stuff."

"Okay luv."

But instead of walking towards the door to the back, Spike walked around the table towards Xander. Two strong arms wrapped around his body and he was pulled against a cool muscled chest. Two cool soft lips brushed lightly against his cheek and a low accented voice whispered in his ear.

"No worries pet. No matter what happens next...remember that I love you."

Xander stood on one side of the alter and Willow and Tara stood on the other. Static electricity filled the air and Xander could feel the hair on the back of his neck and the hair on his arms stand on end. The candles flickered wildly in a sudden breeze from nowhere and a high pitched ringing tone echoed throughout the Training Room.

Willow and Tara both chanted in unison, their voices weaving together to create a beautiful harmony...and high level magic. The red haired witch sprinkled the mixed herbs all over Xander as well as certain mystic symbols while the blonde witch carefully dumped Spike's mangled animal parts onto a burning iron brazer. The scent of burnt flesh filled the air.

The girls chanting grew louder and louder as they spoke the words faster and faster. They finally ended it with a loud ringing shout. At that very instant, the candles all flared up brightly, their flames dancing almost five inches into the air and the light breeze picked up into a strong whirling dervish.

Then a hollow echoing voice thundered through the room.

"W'AMPHRII."

The candles all blew out and the wind storm died off at it's source. For a long moment all was silent as everyone looked around at each other, feeling the last of the magic dissipate out of the air, returning the room to a semblance of normal. Then a loud joyous shout shattered the quiet.

"YES!!!! Fucking All Right!"

All eyes tracked to Spike. The blonde vampire had a fierce look of unadulterated pleasure on his face and he was doing a scary impression of Buffy's "happy dance".

"It's W'amphrii! Did you all bloody *hear* that? Yes!"

At that point, the insane vampire dashed across the room, picked Xander up in his arms and spun them both around in a circle twice.

Xander was glad that Spike was so happy about this revelation...but he didn't know why.

"Um...Spike? This is a good thing why? I mean...the baby isn't human."

Spike put Xander back on his feet, but didn't let go. A wide silly grin spilt his face as he gazed adoringly up at Xander.

"Don't you get it? A W'amphrii is rare because it takes such strong mojo to help with the conception...because a w'amphrii is half human and half *vampire* and only super strong mojo can overcome the fact that vampire seed is *dead*. But it *can* be done...and the result is a w'amphrii."

Xander frowned, confusion still swirling in his brain.

"Half vampire?"

Spike nodded his head with enthusiasm and giddiness.

"*Yes* pet, vampire. Don't you see? It's *mine*! Not Anya's brat or, or, or...some random demon she picked from somewhere around the Hellmouth that just happens to be compatible with human physiology. But *mine*."

And suddenly, a fear that Xander hadn't allowed himself to even acknowledge was lifted from his shoulders and he slumped against his husband in acute relief.

"Oh thank god."

Spike pulled him in tight.

"Yeah...thank him for me too pet."

"Oh thank god."

A throaty chuckle rumbled through the cool chest he was leaning against and Xander pulled back enough to gaze into Spike's blue eyes. Love and happiness and devotion stared back at him. A soft smile on his own lips, Xander leaned forward and brushed a gentle kiss on his husband's lips. The kiss didn't stay innocent for long though. Spike's mouth opened up and Xander didn't even try to resist the temptation of that wonderful tongue. Reaching out with his own, their tongues swirled together, tasting each other, giving and receiving pleasure in equal amounts.

Quickly becoming lost in each other, they were yanked apart by Buffy's confused voice as she asked a question that completely captured Xander's full attention.

"Um...Giles? It's...uh, great that the kid is Spike's and all, instead of, you know...some slime demon or something, but...what's a w'amphrii? I mean...we need details. After all...it's not of the good if the baby, ahh...drains Xander from the inside out. You know?"

All eyes tracked to Giles. The older man blinked rapidly before pulling off his glasses and polishing them.

"Yes, well...I can understand your concern...but, I assure you, the...the baby *won't* harm Xander. As Spike has said, w'amphrii *are* rare...but there's never been any documented example of any danger to the...uh, mother in...um, er...delivering the child. Just the...usual human things to worry about. Mostly."

Everyone just offered him up blank stares. He replaced his glasses onto his face and grimaced. With a vague gesture towards the front of the shop, he turned and began to shoo everyone out of the Training Room.

"Come on. We'll...clean this mess up later. Right now, let's head to the research table. I've got some books that mention w'amphrii out front. I'll pull them out and we can go through what information we have on the...subject."

"Let me get this straight. My kid is going to need to eat regular human food as well as the occasional blood bag because he'll have both a soul *and* a demon?"

Giles nodded his head, a serious look on his face.

"Precisely."

"Like Angel?"

The ex-Watcher turned to face the blonde Slayer. Her face had gone pale and sad, like it always did when the other vampire's name was mentioned.

"No. Not like Angel. His soul isn't natural. Instead, it's the result of a...a curse. As such, his inner demon is in constant battle for supremacy with his soul. Which ever is...dominant at the time has control over the body they share. In essence, Angel is a split personality. This is completely different."

"How so?"

Giles turned back to Xander and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. He suddenly looked tired and old. The weight of his years seemed to press heavily on him, but then he sighed, straightened back up and was once again the rock upon which they all leaned.

"The...baby will be *born* with both soul and demon. There will be no...competition between the two because there will only be *one* personality.The soul and the demon will be...merged. One being. Capable of great acts of goodness and compassion as well as unspeakable evil. Because of the soul, the child can be *taught* morals...it's just up to the parents to teach those morals. So, if you teach the child to hate...it will. If you teach the child to love...it will."

Xander nodded slowly as he absorbed this information.

"So...just because the baby's half vampire doesn't necessarily mean it'll grow up to be an unholy terror?"

Giles offered up a small smile.

"Exactly. Then again, just because he'll have a soul doesn't mean he'll be good as well."

Xander could understand that. It made sense to him. Especially in light of what he'd learned about Spike. The blonde vampire was capable of amazing feats of self-sacrificing goodness...but only for those he "loved". He couldn't care less about anyone else. His morals were not based on right and wrong...but on family verses non-family. Without being taught any other morals, the baby would also develop that way. But Xander could...and would teach the baby about right and wrong.

"So...what's the scoop on the physical differences? You said that a w'amphrii was stronger than a human, but not as strong as a vampire...among other things. What's the "other things" that are also different?"

Giles blinked at him a moment and then pulled a different book over towards him. The older man spent a moment or two flipping through pages while muttering to himself. He finally stopped and pointed to a paragraph under a black and white woodcut picture.

"Ahhh, here we are. It says here that a w'amphrii shall grow and age in the manner of the human parent until he or she reaches the human equivalent of puberty. At that point, the child's vampiric nature will begin to come to the fore. That, until that time, the only real sign of it's paternity will be it's permanent fangs, golden eyes and it's need to consume blood. After puberty, it's growth rate will change."

Xander jolted with shock. Holding up one hand palm out, he stopped Giles in his tracks.

"Wait a minute here. Are you saying that my child will have a permanent *gameface*...like a, a, a...*minion*!?"

Giles stuttered a bit, clearly uncomfortable, but it was Spike who soothed him. The blonde vampire wrapped his arms around him and pulled him in close.

"Shhhh, pet. No. W'amphrii don't *have* gameface's...so to speak. No ridges or anything. The fangs don't retract, but they're not as big as a full blooded vampire's are either. And the eyes are gold colored, instead of green or blue or brown. But there *is* white to it...unlike a vamp in gameface."

Xander settled slightly. This information was a bit too much. He'd process it all later...and probably go slightly mad while he did it. But he'd wait till later to freak. There was more to hear now...and he *had* to know.

"Oh...okay. What else?"

"Oh. Um..."

Giles was still a bit flustered, but he cleared his throat and continued.

"Basically, when a w'amphrii reaches puberty, it's aging process slows down greatly. They age one year physically for every three calendar years. They are not immortal like their vampire parent...but they are far longer lived then their human parent."

Everyone just sort of blinked and stared, trying to absorb all of that. It was a lot. A lot of mental and emotional adjusting had to be made before they could even begin to prepare for the child physically.

But Xander himself felt mostly numb. This aloof abstracted sensation of being outside of everything, as if he were merely looking on, but not really a part of everything. A clinical part of his mind dispassionately told him that he was hovering on the edge of another little breakdown, but that didn't seem important to him at the moment. He just allowed his mind to drift aimlessly in the emotional void he had created for himself. He was certain if he stopped to actually consider any of this, he'd have hysterics all over the place.

Then Willow's sweet voice asked a question. Innocence and curiosity practically vibrated from her.

"So...does that mean that instead of the normal *single* decade of teenageryness, Xander's gonna have to deal with a hormonal puberty-ridden demon for *three* decades?"

Xander heard that question and it swirled through his suddenly panicky brain. He had just enough time to see everyone in the room turn to stare at him when blackness swept up to engulf him. The last thought that floated through his mind was that he was glad he had gotten so good at passing out during tense moments. He *really* didn't want to be awake any longer.