"Spike, do you think maybe you could stop pacing for five seconds? You're giving me a headache."
Spike turned a glare on Angel but didn't stop moving. "Oh, you have a headache. Poor you. My daughter is suffering. She's…she's been screaming in agony! And you want me to what, sit there and twiddle my thumbs? I don't bloody think so."
"Well you wearing a hole in the floor isn't helping anything!"
A young man with light brown hair spoke up from a chair behind Spike. "Could you two maybe not bicker like two little old ladies for once? And Da, Anne's going to be fine. You can chill a bit."
Spike stopped, turning to face his son. "I'll believe that when I see it, Will. Until then, I'm going to continue to worry. And gripe at Angel, because his being here is annoying me."
"Hey! I have as much right to be here as you do!"
Spike opened his mouth to retort when a nurse stepped out, a bright smile on her face. "It's a girl. And mother and daughter are both doing just fine."
"Can we see them?" Spike asked quickly.
"Yes. But only a couple of you at a time," the nurse said.
"You two go on," Cordelia said to Spike and Angel. "Go see your granddaughter."
Spike and Angel both went into the room, for once not pushing each other on the way. Anne was sitting in the bed, a tiny pink bundle in her arms, with Buffy on one side of her and Connor on the other. "Hey," Anne said, offering a tired smile to her father and father-in-law. "Come here and meet Darla."
The proud grandfathers made their way over to the bed, and Angel placed his hand on his son's shoulder as he leaned over and looked at the face of his granddaughter. He smiled. "Look, she yawned. She's just so…cute."
"Must get that from my side of the family," Spike said, elbowing Angel slightly.
"Please. She looks like my side," Angel replied.
Spike looked at Angel in horror. "Don't say something like that about my granddaughter!"
Anne rolled her eyes. "You're both pathetic, you know that?" She held Darla up towards her father. "Do you want to hold her?"
Spike took the baby, holding her securely in his arms. He smiled as he gazed down at her. "She's so tiny. Hard to believe there's been so many prophecies written about someone so small."
"That she gets from both sides of the family," Buffy said. "The prophecy thing. Not the tiny part. That's because she's a baby." Buffy frowned. "Although if she stays tiny, I'm probably going to have to claim that DNA."
Anne watched as Angel leaned over Spike shoulder, surprisingly content just to watch his granddaughter and not argue for holding rights. Anne reached out and squeezed her husband's hand tightly.
"See, honey? No maggots, no world domination scheme. Just a baby. A beautiful, perfect little baby."
"I know. She's…" Connor looked at his wife, smiling softly at her. "Thank you. For her… For everything…"
"I'd give you everything and more, Connor."
Connor leaned down and kissed the top of Anne's head, closing his eyes for a moment as he breathed her in. Finally, he did have everything. He had a family. He had people who he loved and who loved him in return.
And for the first time in his life, Connor could say there was someplace where he truly belonged.
*** *** ***
END
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