Prologue
One Month Ago
Sunnydale High School

Dawn hurriedly shoved the last of her books into her locker. The warning bell had already rung and if she got another tardy she knew Buffy was going to kill her. Tossing her backpack over one shoulder, she locked her locker before hurrying to her Algebra class.

She made it through the door just as the bell rang.

“Cutting it pretty close, Miss. Summers,” Mr. Furnish called from his desk.

Dawn blushed as all eyes turned to her. “Sorry,” she mumbled, before quickly taking her seat.

As the class settled down, Janice, her best friend, started their tradition of passing notes as the teacher rambled on about x, y, and probably half of the other letters in the alphabet, stuff that Dawn didn't understand why she had to learn in the first place. I mean, how was ‘finding x’ supposed to help slay demons or save the world? And to think, Janice was the only one who shared her opinion. Well, not the only one. Most kids didn't like Algebra, but that was normal. No, Janice thought it was a waste of time for the same reason she did.

Unbeknownst to Buffy, Dawn had told Janice about Sunnydale's nightlife, or un-life in this case. She didn't see what the big deal was. If anything, it had only made Janice more careful about where she went and when. The most Dawn was afraid of was that she would find Buffy more interesting than her. After all, Dawn was just the key, her sister was the one with all the cool powers.

Only, Janice didn't think Buffy was better than her. She saw things how Dawn saw them. She listen to her rants of how Buffy and her friends thought that they were so cool just because they'd saved the world a few times, and she understood her need to be included, while her own family thought she'd be better off left in the dark.

Of course, it wasn't easy to get Janice to believe her when she had told her about the things that went bump in the night. When she had tried to tell her, Janice had thought it was a joke, no matter how much Dawn had tried to persuade her that it wasn't, and that went on for about a month before Janice had finally gotten tired of hearing about vampires and demons that she didn't think existed. So, long story short, they had taken a break from their friendship. But in the end, it was an encounter with a vampire that finally made her believe she was telling the truth.

They were at the Bronze on a Saturday night about three months ago, and even though it wasn't a school night, mom and Buffy had said that she couldn't go, but she wasn't about to miss the opportunity to make things right with her best friend. Of course, at that time, she didn't know that she was the key and what would happen if Glory got her hands on her. But, being the teenager that she is, she had snuck out of the house through her open window with a stake in her back pocket and a few dollars in her front. You could never be too careful in Sunnydale.

When she'd arrived at the Bronze, Janice was already there and making it a point to ignore her. Dawn had rolled her eyes and made her way through the crowd towards her friends. Janice had immediately left the table when she saw where Dawn was heading and made her way to the dance floor. Obviously being ignored, Dawn changed direction and headed towards the bar for a non-alcoholic drink if the glow-in-the-dark stamp on her hand was any indication.

As she'd waited on her coke, Dawn turned back around to face the crowd. Standing on here tip-toes she'd searched the swarm of people for her friend, but what she'd seen made her freeze. Janice wasn't on the dance floor any longer. She was headed toward the exit with a guy. A guy with pale skin, and if she looked close enough she could see his eyes flash yellow.

Ignoring the angry bartender asking for his money, Dawn had pushed and shoved her way through the crowd and towards the door that Janice had already disappeared through. When she had finally made it through the back door and into the side alley, Janice was already shoved up against a wall, screaming, whilst the vampire made his way to her neck. Acting fast, Dawn had shoved the stake she had been carrying with her all night through the vamps heart before he even realized she was there.

After that night, nothing had been the same again, but in a good way. She and Janice had rebuilt their friendship and it was now stronger than ever. Not to mention that even the hottest guy in school, Blake Hunter, had asked her out, and as it turned out, Janice, the little sneak that she was, had given him her number. Not that she minded, but she had to make sure that Blake had asked her out because he'd wanted to, not because of Janice. So, just last week, when she'd questioned Blake about it after one of his football matches that she'd practically had to beg her mom to let her go to, he'd confirmed that Janice had only given him Dawn's phone number and that was it. Then they got back to their heated make-out session behind the bleachers.

Just thinking about that night made her blush.

Janice clearing her throat to get her attention was a welcome distraction. Now was not the time nor place to be thinking naughty thoughts of Blake. So she quickly grabbed the small note that Janice held in her hand, not giving Mr. Furnish any time to catch her in the act.

As she read the question on the small note in her hand, Dawn smirked.

'Well, did you sleep with Blake or not?'

Spike's Crypt
Buffy finished buttoning up her shirt, trying to avoid making eye contact with the naked vampire sprawled on the crypt floor. She knew it wouldn't take much for him to get her to stay a few more hours, and she had to get home before anyone noticed she was gone. She'd already been there too long as it was.

“Where you off to, pet?” Spike asked from his position on the floor.

“I have to get home before Dawn gets in, Spike. You know that.”

Spike watched as she gathered up what little belongings she'd had with her on patrol. As thrilling as the whole sneaking around thing was, he was beginning to get tired of it. Sure, she said she'd tell her friends when the time was right, but when was the time ever going to be right. He didn't want to push her, to make her upset, but he wanted to be with her whenever he could, to show her off as his girl, not just whenever her friends weren't around.

Buffy turned from grabbing her stake of the floor from where it had landed last night to catch Spike staring at her with that look on his face. She knew what he was thinking and it hurt to know that he doubted her, but she had been promising to tell her friends for the last month now, and she had come close to it, but every time something seemed to get in the way.

Hoping to cheer him up, she climbed on top of him and pulled him close for a heated kiss, which ended much sooner than either of them wanted. Buffy took a breath, as rested her forehead against his.

“After Christmas, I promise.”

Christmas. He'd almost forgotten about the holiday before Buffy had mentioned it a few nights before, saying that it would be the perfect time to tell her friends about them at the party her and the Scoobies were having, a party that he apparently wasn't invited to.

Not that he cared or anything. Oh bugger, who am I'm trying to fool. I'm going soft.

As Buffy made her way off him and up the ladder towards the upper half of his crypt, he pulled his jeans on and followed her. Before heading out the door, Buffy left him with a chaste kiss.

Chapter One: Arrivals
Present Time
The Summers Residence

“Welcome, Rupert,” Joyce greeted him coldly. There had been a tension between them since the fight they’d had the week before, and they were both sick of the distance it had put between them, but Joyce was still holding out for an apology while Giles was still clinging to the belief that he had done nothing wrong and that is was simply a misunderstanding. Pfft, he had practically called her fat; there was no way he was getting away with that one without some groveling.

Joyce took the bag full of presents that he’d been carrying with him and moved into the living room to put them under the tree, leaving Giles at the front door.

“Jeez Giles, I know it’s California but that’s still no reason to leave the door open,” Dawn complained while rushing into the living room after catching sight of the new bag of presents sitting by the tree. Ever since she was a little girl she loved to shake the boxes to see if she could tell what was inside, another fake memory given to her by the monks, but it was Christmas, her favorite holiday, not just because of the presents she received but because of the time she got to spend with her family, and no matter what they were her family. So she wasn’t going to dwell on the less than spectacular things in life, she was just gonna be happy.

One Hour Later
The next members of the Scooby Gang to arrive were Willow and Tara, who were more cheerful than usual. Buffy assumed it was the holiday cheer, even though Willow was Jewish, she still got caught up in it. After directing the two wiccans to living room – away from the kitchen where her mother and Giles were glaring at each other, effectively vaporizing any holiday cheer to come their way – she put in one of her favorite Christmas movies.

Normally she would have waited for Xander and Anya, but last year her Christmas movie watching tradition was delayed nearly four hours because Anya wanted to have as much sex as possible before locking themselves in the Summer’s household for three days, not that that stopped them from having sex all hours of the night anyway. She was hoping that her mother and Giles being in the house would stop them this year. Last year they had stayed at Giles while he was out of town and headed to her mom’s house for the exchanging of presents. So Buffy was confident that there would be no hanky-panky of any kind, after all, it wasn’t fair that they could have wild monkey sex while she was forced to remain celibate for the time being, through no one’s fault but her own.

If she’d could have just gotten up the nerve to tell her friends about her and Spike last week than she could be sitting on his lap with a cup of hot chocolate watching ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. But everything would be fixed after Christmas when she’d tell her friends about the two of them and they would be able to do coupley things, like holding hands instead of playing footsie under the table, but due to the fact that that almost always ended with her up against the alley wall outside the shop, maybe they could continue to do that. Again she metaphorically kicked herself for being a scardy-cat and chickening out of telling her friends the truth about her dating life.

Two Hours Later
“Knock, knock,” Xander announced his presence without actually knocking when he stepped through the front door with Anya following after him. “I come baring gifts!”

Dawn squealed and immediately ran to greet the newcomers in the foyer. Buffy nearly laughed at the expression on Xander’s face when Dawn sidestepped his hug and went straight for the bag of presents Anya was practically dragging.

“I don’t understand this whole gifting-giving thing,” Anya complained. “Why must we spend all our hard earned cash to buy things for other people? Have you seen the economy? I predict we’ll all be living on the streets this time next year. Didn’t we just celebrate birthdays, now people want presents for Christmas too?”

Buffy rolled her eyes as Anya continued explaining why this was a waste of money and the real reason Christmas was celebrated which eventually led to her asking why Willow’s presence was required. Thankfully, before anyone came to blows, her mother invited Anya into the kitchen for some hot chocolate with Giles trailing after her. If she didn’t know better, she’d think something was going on with them, but Buffy remembered after the Band Candy incident when Giles had sworn on all of his books that it would never happen again. Surely Giles wouldn’t go against his word, and it wasn’t that she didn’t want her mother to be happy; it just couldn’t be with Giles. Once things ended – and they would end; that’s what relationships did after all – Giles would surely leave town which meant leaving her. Yeah, it was selfish, but Giles was like a father figure to her and she didn’t know what she would do if she lost him too.

Buffy shook herself from her thoughts when Xander pulled her aside from the others.

“So, Buff,” he started. “I hope you don’t mind, but Anya and I invited a friend. His family was out of town so…”

“Oh, sure,” Buffy smiled. “A friend of yours is a friend of mine. The more the merrier.”

“Um, actually,” Xander laid a hand on her arm, stopping her from leaving. “See, we invited him on the pretense of… maybe more than a friend status.”

“Xander, are you trying say you invited a guy here as a blind date, on Christmas?”

“Um, well,” he stuttered.

“I assume this was an act of kindness? That’ll help with the not throttling.”

As Xander made his excuse and left the room, Buffy glared after him. Even if she didn’t have this thing with Spike going on, there’s no way she would ever go on a blind date, especially on the day before Christmas Eve. What was he thinking? At least Spike wouldn’t be here, she really didn’t have time for jealous vampire crap. He’d never know, because there was nothing to be known.
__________
(_/)
(-_-)

(“).|.(“)
__________
An hour later Buffy found herself in the bathroom, doing nothing but pacing and plotting ways to hide from Richard. Sure, he was nice, and maybe she would have gone for him once upon a time, but he kept following her around like a lost puppy when she was clearly not interested. God, he was than Spike.

“Buffy!”

“Just a second Anya,” Buffy yelled once again through the bathroom door. Jeez, couldn’t Anya tell she was busy. Buffy immediately felt bad for keeping the ex-demon out of the bathroom, after all Anya probably had to actually use the bathroom.

“Buffy,” Anya screamed while readjusting her purse on her shoulder. “I know you’re not using the bathroom. I can see your shadow moving at the bottom of the door.”

Buffy rolled her eyes but opened the door nonetheless. She glared at the ex-demon who ignored her and shoved her way and into the bathroom with ‘thanks’ that Buffy doubted she meant. Before the slayer could leave the hallway in case Richard spotted her, Anya poked her head outside the door.

“Oh, and Richard’s looking for you,” she said before slamming the door closed again.

“Of course he is,” Buffy grumbled.

Three Hours Later
After busting out a few board games – which Anya managed to win continually, especially ‘Life’, which didn’t surprise Buffy at all – everyone gathered in living room to watch another Christmas movie. Xander and Anya sat in the recliner covered by and a blanket. Buffy was sure she had heard a strangled moan from their direction at least once and was now avoiding looking in their direction. Giles and Joyce were drinking some scotch which Buffy wanted desperately to get a hold of, especially when Willow and Tara decided to sit on the floor and leave her on couch with Richard and Dawn. She loved her sister, but her snoring could wake the dead, and sitting next to Richard wouldn’t have been too bad if he’d quit talking for five seconds, and the fake stretching that somehow ended with his arm resting behind her on the back of the couch. Please! She’d nearly strangled Willow when the red-head had flashed a big grin and thumbs up her way.

The doorbell ringing came as a welcome distraction and she immediately jumped at the opportunity to leave the room. Though who was on the other side of the door may have been worse than the predicament she’d been in in the living room.

“Spike, what are you doing here?”

“Your mum invited me, luv.”

And with a quick peck on the lips, the vampire made his way into the house. Buffy sighed, this was gonna be a long holiday.

Chapter Two: Sleeping Over
Night Time
Summers’ Residence

Buffy shut the door and turned to see her mother taking the bottle of wine Spike had brought with him on behalf of Joyce. It was only a matter of time before Spike realized Richard was here and why. She only hoped he would see it her way and realize there was no way she could have gotten out of it.

“Spike,” Giles greeted stiffly. “Joyce told me you may be stopping by.”

“Disappointed, Rupes?”

Giles was about to answer truthfully, but caught the look Joyce was sending him. If he wanted to be forgiven anytime soon than he better start now.

“Of course not,” Giles replied at the grin Joyce gave him. “It’s a… pleasure to have you here, Spike.”

Buffy rolled her eyes at the display and began to head back into the living room when she caught Richard coming their way. Before she could pull Spike into the kitchen, he had reached them.

“Hey, who’s this?”

“Funny, I was just gonna ask the same thing,” Spike said.

The both turned to look at Buffy who was at a loss for words. How could she explain this so no one got hurt? She liked this thing she had going with Spike and okay, so she didn’t like Richard all that much, but it was still not reason enough to hurt the guy’s feelings. Really this whole thing was Xander’s fault, but that wasn’t really true was it? If she had told everyone about her relationship with Spike than there would have been no blind date, so really this was all her fault. Then again, who sets up a blind date the day before Christmas Eve? Urgh, stupid Xander, this mess was all his fault.

“Um, Richard,” Buffy started. “This is Spike, a friend of mine and Spike this is Richard, a friend of Xander’s.”

There, take that! Buffy mentally smiled to herself.

“I’m her date,” Richard interrupted.

Great! Just freaking great!

“Date,” Spike paused and chanced a glance at Buffy. Seeing her barely contained anger at the git, he realized that it obviously wasn’t her idea, though this could be the exact thing he’d been hoping for to get Buffy to reveal her feelings for him.

Feigning hurt, Spike continued, “Well I guess that explains it then.” Spike headed through the kitchen and out the back door.

“Spike,” Buffy called after him. She turned to her mother, Giles, and Richard, “Um, I’m gonna go check on him. You know, make sure he’s alright.”

Richard looked uncertain while Joyce nodded her agreement that someone should check on the poor boy. Giles, however, didn’t see things that way, but before he could interrupt Joyce grabbed hold of his arm and made sure to dig her nails in extra hard. Buffy smiled in thanks to her mom at hearing Giles’ yelp of pain. Joyce nodded back. She knew of Spike’s feelings for her daughter and would never have invited him if she’d known Richard was gonna be here. He didn’t deserve to see the woman he loved moving on with her life with another guy.

Back Porch
“Spike,” Buffy called as she stepped outside onto the back porch. She quickly found him, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and sitting on the porch steps. Moving to sit beside him, she took the cigarette from his mouth and threw it on the ground, putting it out with her boot.

“Hey,” Spike complained. “That was my last bloody fag.”

“I don’t care. You know I don’t like the smell of them.” Spike glared at her, but didn’t say a word. There was a moment of silence before Buffy continued. “Xander brought him as a blind date. I didn’t even know he was coming till an hour before he got here.”

Spike stood up abruptly, “You know what; I think I need a drink.”

“Spike,” Buffy called after him, but he’d already gone back inside. Buffy rested her head in her hands. Did he have to be such a baby all the time?

A Few Hours Later
“Well, I should be going,” Richard announced, getting up from the couch as the credits rolled across the TV screen and stretched.

“Hey, its late man, you might as well stay,” Xander abandoned the chair he’d been sitting in for the lasts couple of hours and joined his friend. Catching the look Buffy was sending his way, Xander add hastily, “If that’s alright with Buffy, of course."

“Um,” Buffy stuttered as everyone turned to look at her as if hanging off her every word. “Well, you’d have to ask my mom. It’s her house.” Yeah, surely her own mother wouldn’t let her down. Right?

“My family gets in at noon, so I’d have to leave pretty early,” Richard added.

“Then it’s settled,” Xander clapped his hands together. “We just gotta ask the parentals.”

“Xander,” Buffy interrupted.

“Oh, it’s okay Buff. I’ll do it. I know it’s awkward to ask your mom if your… boyfriend can stay over,” Xander added with a wink.

“Xander.”

Spike stifled a laugh from his place in the dining room. Rupert and Joyce were sitting next to him deep in conversation, but were unable to hear the conversation between Buffy and the Whelp due to the fact that they didn’t have vampire hearing. Plus they were plastered. Spike, however, was enjoying the conversation he could hear through the house, but as Buffy rounded the corner he put on what he hoped was a serious expression, as though he was still angry at her.

Buffy rolled her eyes when she spotted her mother and Giles laughing drunkenly across the table and Spike who was obviously still angry with her. She so didn’t need this. Buffy turned headed towards the upstairs bathroom, hoping to hide away for a while. She made it to the door before she felt him behind her.

“Something you wanna say, pet.”

Buffy sighed, “Spike, It’s not my fault. I tried, I’m sorry but he’s just gonna have to stay the night.”

“As your boyfriend,” he added.

“A person can’t have two boyfriends, Spike,” Buffy huffed as she entered the bathroom. Unfortunately, Spike followed her.

“Wait, so does that mean I’m your boyfriend, or do you have another guy hiding about somewhere,” Spike grinned.

“Well I wouldn’t exactly call you a boyfriend.”

“C’mon pet,” Spike took a step towards her and she in turn took a step back until her back was against the wall and Spike was pressed up against her, his unneeded breath against her neck. “Don’t be that way.”

“Were you even mad at all,” Buffy asked with moan as Spike trailed kisses down her neck and back up to nibble on her ear.

“Not exactly,” Spike grinned. “Knew you wouldn’t cheat on me.”

“We’re just having sex, Spike,” Buffy replied coyly. “There is nothing to cheat on, relationship wise.”

Spike bit down a little harder over the vampire scars on her neck making Buffy moan again, this time louder.

“But you can’t make that excuse anymore. Slayer. I’m your boyfriend,” he teased.

Buffy smiled, “Shut up, Spike.”

Their lips met as Spike trailed his hands down her body to grabbed hold of her ass while Buffy jumped up to wrap her legs around his waist. Spike’s hands immediately went to the hem of her shirt but Buffy’s hands stopped his progress.

Buffy broke the kiss to breath, “Spike, stop.”

“C’mon love,” Spike pleaded as he kept trailing kisses down her neck. “We had a fight. Now let’s make up.”

“Hey, Buff!”

Buffy unhooked her legs from around Spike’s waist and started straightening her clothes.

“Yeah,” Buffy called through the door.

“Your mom said it was fine, so now we just gotta figure out sleeping arrangements.”

“Okay, I’ll be out in a minute,” Buffy called as she swatted Spike’s hands away. “No.”

Before Bed
“Hey sweetie,” Willow greeted as she came up behind Tara in the master bathroom.

Joyce had unselfishly lent them the bigger bedroom while she herself slept in Dawn's room with Buffy. Giles had the couch with Xander and Anya had an inflatable mattress that Joyce had found in the basement along with a sleeping bag for Richard. The three were now camped out in the living room probably driving Giles up the wall.

“Hey, I thought you were in bed?”

“I was,” Willow pouted. “You were taking too long.”

Tara smiled, “Can’t have that, can we?”

Willow mumbled against her neck in agreement and they began to walk backwards out of the bathroom, giggling as they went until Willow’s feet hit the trash bin and knocked it over.

“Opps,” Willow apologized. “Here, let me-“

“No,” Tara interrupted. “I’ll get it.”

“You sure?”

“Go wait in the bedroom,” Tara smiled. “I’ll only be a minute.”

“Alright, don’t be too long.”

“I won’t,” Tara gave Willow a quick kiss before she started to clean up the mess.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom Willow divested herself of her clothes and slid a nightgown over her head. Before she could slip under the covers to get comfortable she heard Tara call out her name. She was standing in the doorway looking at something in her hand.

“What’s that?”

“It’s, um,” Tara stuttered. “It’s a p-pregnancy test. It must have been in the t-trash bin.”

“Who’s is it?” Willow asked, confused.

“I don’t know, but Will, it’s positive.”

Chapter Three: The Test
Morning
Summers’ Residence


“You sure you have to leave so soon?” Xander asked as he showed his friend out.
“Yeah, man. If I made my grandma wait at the airport she'd never forgive me.”

Xander laughed, “Not a fan?”

“Nah. Says she hates the things.”

Xander nodded understandingly. If he was in his eighty's he probably wouldn't like sitting around in a noisy airport either, though he was sad to see his friend leave. The scoobies really needed to get some more guy friends. Giles was great and everything, but he wasn't interested in the same stuff he was. The only other guy around was Spike and he didn't know the vamp that well, nor did he want to get to know him any time soon.

“And um Buffy,” Richard continued. “Maybe I'll see you around sometime?”

“Ah, yeah,” Buffy replied uneasily as she showed him out the door. “Maybe.”

Xander smiled seeing his set-up was going well. Hopefully the two would hit it off and he would get another guy to hang out with. Not that he didn't love his friends, but a guy needs to spend time with other guys. It was a very important part of human nature. Men have probably been chugging bears together since cavemen days.

“Um, Xander?” Willow interrupted. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Sure Will's.” Xander stepped away from the others sensing that this was a conversation that Willow wanted have in private. “What's up?”

“Um,” Willow paused to take a cautious look around to see if anybody was around to hear them talk before pulling the pregnancy test out of her back pocket. The coast was clear so she continued in a near whisper. “Tara found this in the trash last night.”

took one look at the object in the his friends hands and immediately took a step back. “Ew. I'm not touching that.”

“Xander stop being a baby,” Willow scolded. “Look. It's positive.”

“Does that mean...”

“Someone's pregnant,” Willow finished.

“Well how come you came to me...” Xander paused, catching the look his friend was sending his way. “Wait, you don't think...?”

“Well,” Willow started defensively. “Whose else could it belong to?”

“Richard!” Willow gave him her resolve face. “Maybe it's his girlfriends.”

“You set Buffy up with someone who has a girlfriend,” Willow questioned him with a glare.

“What... no.” Xander paused trying to find a way out of his current predicament. There was no way Anya was pregnant. He wasn't ready for that. “Um, maybe its Dawns,” he offered. “You know, teenage pregnancies.”

“What?!”

The both turned to the foyer at the sound of a new voice. Xander grimaced when he saw Joyce standing not ten feet away, hands on her hips, and eyes demanding answers.

Dining Room
“Dawn, can I have a word with you?” Joyce asked.

Dawn looked up from her spot at the dining room table where she was busy stuffing her face with pancakes. “Sure. Whats up?”

“Um, I was actually wondering the same thing.” Joyce started. “We don't talk as much as I'd like we did and I was wondering what was going on in your life. Hows school? Any boys you like?”

“Mom...” Dawn whined. Seeing the determined look on her mothers face she was forced to continue. “Fine,” she hesitated before continuing. “Yes, there's a boy.”

“Are you a still a virgin,” Joyce rushed out worriedly.

“Mom!”

“Answer the question, Dawn.”

Again Dawn hesitated, wishing the floor would open and swallow her up. Where was an apocalypse when you needed one?

“Yes,” Dawn finally answered.

“Oh, thank god,” Joyce heaved a sigh of relief.

“So why are we having this extremely embarrassing conversation,” Dawn asked.

Joyce paused before answering, “Willow and Tara found a pregnancy test in the bathroom. It's positive.”

“And you thought it was mine,” Dawn finished.

“Yes, but now we know that it isn't. Which means it must be Anya's.”

“Wow,” Dawn said in wonder. “Anya's pregnant.”

“Well, no ones supposed to know so lets try and keep what we know discreet, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Living Room
“Hey, Anya,” Dawn said cheerfully as she joined the ex-demon on the couch.

“Hello, Dawn,” Anya greeted, not turning her attention away from the television where she was flipping channels.

“Whatcha doin'?”

Anya gave Dawn a look, “What's wrong.”

“Why would you think somethings wrong?” Dawn bluffed.

“Well, you asked me what I was doing when you could clearly see that what I was doing, which leads me to believe that's somethings wrong,” she explained.

“Fine,” Dawn dropped the act deciding to come clean. “Are you pregnant?”

“Why would you think that?” Anya stated calmly.

“Because, Willow and Tara found a positive pregnancy test in the bathroom.”

“Oh,” Anya said while still calmly flipping though channels. “Well, it's not mine. Is it yours?”

“Why do people keep thinking that?” Dawn asked incredulously. “And why would I ask you if it was yours if it was mine?”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“So, it's not yours?”

“Nope,” Anya smiled. “Maybe its Buffy's? Or Joyce's?”

“No,” Dawn disagreed. “Buffy doesn't have a boyfriend and neither does mom. Plus, they both live here. Surely I would know,” Dawn said, more to herself then to Anya.

“Yes, she does.”

“Excuse me?” Dawn asked confused.

“I thought you knew,” Anya too was now confused.

“Knew what?”

“About Joyce and Giles,” she clarified.

“Mom and Giles are dating?” Dawn asked again.

“I don't know about dating but their definitely having sex.”

“What!” Dawn exclaimed. “Ew! And how would you know anyway?”

“It's just the way they act and the way they look at each other.”

“Oh,” Dawn replied uneasily, wanting desperately to change the subject. “So, have you seen Buffy looking at anybody.”

“No, but I'm not really around her that much. I try to keep away from anything slayer related now that I'm human and vulnerable,” she explained. “The only reason I know about Joyce and Giles is because I caught them in the kitchen last night giving each 'the look',” she air quoted.

“Oh,” Dawn sighed, knowing she wasn't getting anywhere. “Okay then. Thanks anyway.”

“You're welcome,” Anya called from the couch as Dawn wondered off knowing she'd failed to find out who the pregnancy test belonged to.

A Christmas to Remember

Chapter Four:

Afternoon
Summers' Residence

Xander had done a lot of thinking the last four hours. This pregnancy thing wasn't Anya's fault in the slightest. After all, it took two to tango. So, he'd come to a decision. This was Anya's chance to have a real family, hopefully with him unless she decided to ditch him down the road. God, he hoped not. He loved her and he was gonna prove it. Prove that they could be a family. And they would be. Soon.

"Anya," Xander called to his girlfriend who was reading a magazine on the couch. "Can we talk?"

"Of course, Xander," Anya smiled at him and patted the couch next to her, inviting him to sit. "What's up?"

"Do you love me?"

"Of course I do," Anya said, now a little worried. Didn't he know she loved her? She said it a million times. Maybe she should say it more often.

"Good," Xander sighed. "Because I love you too. A lot. I never thought that I would ever feel this way about someone. But then you came along," Xander paused to notice Anya's smile. He was really lucky to have someone as great as her. And soon, he'd be even luckier. "Ever since the day I met you I knew you were something else. It took me awhile to realize that I wanted that. That I wanted you. But ever since then, my life has been so much better. I love you, Anya, and I want this future with you. My parents haven't had the best of relationships, and I don't want us to be like them. So I want you to know that I'm not asking you because of this... predicament that we find ourselves in," Xander clarified.

"What..?"

"Anya," Xander interrupted her, though he could practically see the burning need she had to ask questions. He took a second before continuing. "I love you, and I want to marry you."

Anya's eyes widened in astonishment.

"Yes," she squealed. "Oh, yes! Xander, of course I'll marry you!"

Xander continued, "And I want you know that we'll get through this. Well raise this baby right."

Anya paused, a slight from overcoming her features. "What baby?"

Xander poked at her tummy, a little confused, "The one in your stomach."

"Oh, Xander. Silly. I'm not pregnant," she declared before going of to find the rest of the inhabitants of the house to tell them the big news.

Xander, meanwhile, was frozen in a look of horror.

"What..." he gasped out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Few Hours Later
Living Room
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Where's Buffy?" Giles asked.

"Upstairs," Willow answered. "She said that she was getting changed into something more comfortable."

"Shouldn't we wait for her, since she is the reason we're having this meeting?"

"Um," Willow started nervously. "Actually, we were kinda hoping to leave her out of this."

Giles removed his glasses and began to clean them. Joyce watched his forehead wrinkle in confusion with a slight smile on her face.

"What exactly is this about Willow?" Giles questioned.

"Buffy's pregnant," she blurted.

Giles stood up from his seat quickly, "What!"

Apparently he was the only one who saw this as a shock. Willow and Tara were both blushing and trying to avoid eye contact with anyone. Dawn was sitting on the recliner, not really knowing how to react to the situation. Xander, however, was too busy casting nervous looks at his fiance, to which Giles rolled his eyes, to pay any attention to the conversation they were having. That boy could be the most stupidest whelp on the planet.

"Tara and I found a pregnancy test the other day," Willow explained. "And it's positive. We've already worked out that it's not Dawn's or Anya's. The only other person it could belong to is Buffy."

"Unless..." Giles blushed.

"Rupert," Joyce nearly growled.

"Wait a second... You two..." Dawn gestured. "Ew!"

"Dawn," Giles scolded. "Can we please be a little more mature about this situation?"

Just then, Buffy came trotting down the stairs. She paused when she felt everyone's eyes on her.

"What's going on?" she questioned nervously.

Everyone looked away nervously, not wanting to lie and not wanting to tell Buffy they knew her secret. The all silently agreed that this was something Buffy should tell them herself. Buffy was starting to think something was up when Dawn decided to blurt out something that would distract her.

"Giles and mom are having sex!"

"Again?" Buffy complained. "Ew!"

While Giles rolled his eyes at the maturity the Summer's sister obviously lacked, Buffy scanned the room and noticed someone was missing.

"Anyone seen Spike?" she asked.

"I think he went outside for a smoke," Willow told her. "Why?"

Buffy ignored her and made her way to the back the back door to see her vampire. And maybe get in some smoochies before the night was over.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dining Room
~~~~~~~~~~

"Is it yours?"

Joyce entered the kitchen to escape Giles' question, but unfortunately he had followed her.

"Rupert..."

"Is it yours?" Giles interrupted.

"No," Joyce answered. "It's not mine."

"Oh, thank god," Giles sighed in relief as he relaxed against the counter. "Not that I wouldn't want it if it was, but I already have to deal with Xander," he explained after seeing the glare Joyce had thrown at him.

"Xander is a grown man, Rupert."

"Really? Then why doesn't someone bloody well tell him to act like it?" Joyce rolled her eyes as he continued. "For gods sake, he just proposed to his girlfriend because he thought she was pregnant."

"You may have a point there," she relented. "Do you think Anya will let him out of it?"

"Not a chance."

Joyce sighed in pity, "That poor boy."

"He bloody well got what he asked for if you ask me."

"Rupert," Joyce scolded, although if she were honest with herself she would agree.

"Well it was much too rash a decision. Doesn't he know he has to think about these things?"

Joyce sighed. Men would never learn no matter how hard or frequently you smacked them upside the head.