The blonde vampire glanced up at Xander. “Hmm?”

“Are you reading Dr. Spock’s baby book again?”

“Yes,” Wil answered. “Why? Would you like to read it?” He offered the book to Xander.

“Uh, no. I was just wondering. I mean…” He flopped down onto the church pew across from Wil, wincing as he hit the back. “They’re gonna be here soon, aren’t they?”

“The cubs? Probably,” Wil concurred. “They’ll be fine.”

“It’s just that… none of us have much experience with kids!” Xander said worriedly. “Well, we do, but not with this many, or with cubs.”

Wil nodded. It was quite true; Connor had died very young, not giving any of them a chance to learn how to deal with a toddler. And the cub aspect was new for most of them as well. Oz had a lot of information, but it was mostly from his own observations, not from personal experience. “We’ve all studied, and are prepared.”

“Yeah, and it’s great that Cordy trusts us enough to have a home birth and all,” Xander conceded. “I’m just scared.”

“We’re all scared,” Wil told the younger man. “But nothing bad will happen.”

“Oh, so we’re not going to get another two feet of snow this week?” Xander retorted. “Because I recall a certain weather report talking about lake effect snow *again*.”

Wil smiled. “Must you always think the worst?”

“Yes,” Xander shot back. “It’s my nature.”

“So is eating bugs,” Wil muttered. “Trust us? Just a little?”

“But you’re scared too,” Xander reminded him.

“I also can’t wait for them to arrive,” Wil said, smiling softly. “They’ll be so beautiful.”

Xander got up and stomped off, muttering about how men weren’t supposed to go all googly eyed over babies.

•••

Cordelia scowled at the floor. It was too damned far away and she needed to stand up and go to the bathroom. “I hate mornings,” She said as she got her feet on the ground and began to heft herself up. Gunn should’ve been around to help her. Then again, she’d sent him for her morning glass of milk.

The seer was just washing her hands when the first pain hit. “Gods, that hurts,” She groaned, holding her belly. So the babies were coming. Wonderful. She so didn’t want to have them in the bathroom. “Gunn!”

Gunn was just about to carry a nice, cold glass of milk upstairs when Cordelia screamed. “Guess she really wants that milk,” Xander quipped. Gunn just foisted the glass into Xander’s hands.

“That’s not a ‘gimme milk’ yell,” He said as he shot down the hall.

Xander frowned. It wasn’t? If it wasn’t a gimme milk cry, then what… “Oh shit. The cubs. Wil!”

Wil was already in the hall, having heard Cordelia’s yell. “Their coming.”

Soon the dining room was full of people milling around. They weren’t in Cordelia’s bedroom because she’d kicked them out, saying that it would be hours before she needed help, and they were worrying her besides.

“Do I need to boil water?” Xander asked the room in general.

“Yes,” Wesley said firmly. The Raphe happily trotted off to boil water.

“Why did you tell him that?” Fred asked Wesley. “We don’t need any boiled water.”

“I think a cup of tea would be rather calming right now,” Wesley replied. “Don’t you?”

“I hate you, Charles Gunn!”

“I guess it’s getting worse,” Wil commented. “Oz?”

“I’ll go check,” Oz said tiredly. He was the least likely to get chewed on, being the alpha.

Cordelia was trying to reach things to throw at Gunn. “Alpha, that jackass is responsible for this!” She screamed, hefting a lamp.

“Put that down,” Oz ordered. He hoped she listened to him, he really did. “Now.”

Much to his and Gunn’s surprise, she did as she was asked. “Yes, it is Gunn’s fault. It is also your fault, however. So stop acting like an idiot. You’re in labor.”

Cordelia nodded meekly. “Could you ask Wil and Angel to come back in?”

“Sure,” Oz murmured. Gunn followed him out of the room.

“I hope they do it, because I need a break,” Gunn said. “It’s been five hours and…”

“It’ll be a lot more than that,” Oz reminded him. “Get some sleep.”

•••

By the time Wesley and Fred went in to relieve Angel and Wil, the two vampires looked very much worse for wear. They’d lasted more than six hours, though, which was quite impressive. At that point, though, Cordelia was in what she swore was the worst part. Her labor was progressing quickly, but not fast enough to worry Oz.

“It’s snowing,” Xander said as Wil and Angel headed downstairs to their room.

“Wonderful,” Angel muttered. “Wake us up if anything changes.”

“You mean if the screams of a madwoman are supplanted by those of children?” Xander asked.

“Did you just use the word supplant?” Wil inquired.

“Yes,” Xander admitted.

“Now I know I’m dreaming,” Wil murmured as he shut the door in Xander’s face.

Xander returned to his spot in the dining room. No one was there; Gunn was still sleeping in the kids’ room and Oz was with Wesley and Fred at Cordelia’s bedside. He wasn’t missing the company, though. Quiet was good. Very good.

“Xander Harris!”

Particularly when Queen C was holding court.

•••

“If you tell me to push, I’ll strangle you,” Cordelia threatened Oz.

“Never mind,” Oz whispered. “Uh, whenever you want to see the cubs let me know. I’ll say something besides push.”

Now that it was clinch time, everyone was crowded into the bedroom, trying to stay out of the way. Actually, Oz wanted them there to catch babies. Because of that, they were all thoroughly clean and germ-free. And miserable, but excited too.

“Fine, I’ll push, you bastard,” Cordelia snapped. Gunn took her hand as she bore down.

“Wil,” Oz growled as the first cub began to appear. Wil stepped forward quickly, waiting for Oz to ask him for help.

Cordelia screamed as the child was born. Within seconds, her first son joined in the noise. Wil took the tiny infant in his arms, staring down at its downy fuzz of dark hair. He glanced at Gunn and Cordelia, who were also staring. After a moment, he carried the baby over to them. The couple watched the baby as he blinked and squinted.

“So tiny,” Gunn murmured. He tentatively stroked his son’s head.

“Mischa Sebastian,” Cordelia murmured tiredly. Then she grimaced. “Who’s about to get a sibling!”

Wil retreated to the safety of the corner, where the others cooed over the child. Angel watched Wil with the baby, suffering flashbacks to when the blonde had held his own son. Then Oz called for the dark vampire’s assistance.

“What do I do?” Angel asked. His son had been born by staking.

“Hold the blanket and catch,” Oz said dryly. “And don’t shake the baby.”

Angel did exactly as he was told, holding the newly born infant as still as a statue. “You can move now,” Oz told the vampire. “I’m sure Cordelia wants to see him.”

The dark vampire stood and moved slowly over to Cordelia’s side. “Your son,” He murmured. Meanwhile Oz studied Cordelia carefully. As he’d feared, she was going to have another child. At least one more child.

Cordelia grinned at the baby. She was glad to have her children born. Now that the pain was over, she could relax. “And this must be little Julian Connor!”

Angel’s head swung around. “Julian… Connor?” They’d named one of their children after his?

Gunn looked at the vampire with a serious face. “Yeah.” Angel nodded, deeply touched.

Cordelia began to strain under the effort of another contraction. “That better be the placenta, like you warned, Oz,” She grated out. Angel went to join Wil in the corner, weeping over the newborns.

“Xander,” Oz called out. “Hand here.”

“What?” Xander asked frantically. “The twins are here. How can I help?”

“By taking this baby,” Oz ordered, handing Xander a blanket. “Now!”

Xander took the infant girl, who was already squalling. “Er, what do I do now?”

“Bring it here!” Cordelia ordered. “Oz, you said twins!”

“I said multiple birth,” Oz hedged. “But that’s probably the last one.”

“We had girl names picked out too,” Gunn reasoned.

“Siobhan Artemisia,” The seer sighed. “She’s cute. And she has my nose.”

“And your ears,” Xander added. “Look!”

Cordelia laughed. “Yeah, she does. Oz, this better be the end thingy,” She continued as another contraction hit. “And I thought it took *hours* to give birth to twins and triplets!”

“Sometimes yeah, sometimes no,” Oz murmured. “You’re not human. Things work differently.” He watched as yet another dark head appeared. “Er, Fred?”

Fred obediently stepped forward. “Another one?”

“Yeah, here,” Oz replied, handing over a baby.

“You’ve got another daughter,” Fred told Cordelia. “And she’s just as cute as Siobhan.”

Gunn sighed. “That’s Thalia Rhiannon,” He replied. “Our laughing girl.”

Cordelia smiled down at the baby. “She’s perfect. And she’s the last one, right? I mean, four babies is outrageous.”

Oz looked at Cordelia for a couple of minutes. “Maybe one more?” He could hear a second heartbeat inside her body. “Just one, though.”

“Why me? Why five? I thought werewolves had single cubs,” Cordelia moaned.

“It does explain why you’re a bit early,” Wesley murmured. “And some people are prone to multiple births.”

“Wesley, shut up and get over here,” Oz commanded. Wesley jumped to obey.

“We don’t have a name for this one!” Cordelia whined as she bore down. “Gunn!”

Wesley looked at the baby in his hands. He was such a little thing, even smaller than his brothers and sisters. “Cordelia,” He whispered.

“What?” She asked, still hysterical.

“Quietly, you’re disturbing your son,” Wesley chided. He carried the child over to Gunn and Cordelia, who immediately got as wide eyed with him as they had with the others.

“But we don’t have a name,” Cordelia bemoaned. “I’m not naming my kids after my father!”

“Alan Francis Charlemagne,” Gunn announced. “Makes up for being the littlest one.”

This time, when the pain came, Cordelia endured it quietly. Oz quickly cleaned her up, letting Gunn cover her with some blankets. The seer was completely drained and asleep before her lover finished getting her comfortable. “When do we have to wake her up?” Gunn asked Oz.

“Not for a few hours,” Oz replied. “But we’re gonna need a lot more formula; she can’t feed this many.”

“Do we have enough for a few days?” Gunn inquired.

“Yeah,” Oz said. “Short on cribs too.”

“Damn it. It’s snowing,” Gunn commented.

“We’ll go out tomorrow, after they plow,” Wil murmured. “For now we can hold them or use the bassinets and cribs.”

Angel cradled Julian to his chest. “They’re fine for now.”

“Yeah, they are,” Gunn said, reaching for the baby. Angel gave him up reluctantly, knowing that Gunn would want to hold his children. Oz got a chair for the exhausted father, who sat down to rock his second son. Wil moved forward to place Mischa in his arms as well. “That’s as many as I can hold at once, guys,” Gunn said lightly. “We’re gonna have to do rotations.”

A few minutes later the boys went back to Wil and Angel, so that Xander and Fred could present the girls. Gunn clucked and cooed over them as well, telling them just how much they looked like their mother. Very last was his fifth child, the third son. “And Alan,” Gunn whispered. “You know he’s going to be the biggest of them all, right?”

“With a name like that, there is no doubt,” Wesley said dryly. “It should give him courage.”

“Don’t knock the names,” Gunn warned. “Delia and I fought long and hard over them.”

“Their names are perfect,” Angel replied, once again staring down at Julian. “Aren’t they?”

“The kids are generally perfect and beautiful and all wonderful baby-ness,” Xander said brightly. “And they even smile, although that’s just gas.”

Fred rolled her eyes, though she was smiling. “Let’s get these kids cleaned up, hmm?”

“Baby’s first bath. Don’t we need to weigh them?” Xander inquired.

Oz took charge again. “Line up, oldest to youngest. Gunn, get the scales and a tape measure—and the ink pad and some paper.”

“Footprints? Cool!”

“Xander, stay away from the ink,” Angel warned.

Xander pouted. “Siobhan, don’t listen to him. He’s a fuddy duddy.”

“I am not a fuddy duddy,” Angel told Julian. “Ignore the striped demon. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“Mischa, ignore both of them. They do nothing but bicker,” Wil said as he stepped up to Oz and Gunn’s makeshift baby station. “And they’ll cause you no end of trouble if you listen to them.”

“Hey!” Xander exclaimed indignantly.

“If the shoe fits,” Wil murmured.

“Angel,” Oz growled. “And Xander, Wil? Stop with that shit.”

“Yes, sir,” Wil and Xander said together.

Gunn watched as Oz foot printed, measured and weighed each infant. Gunn helped his friends bathe them all, counting fingers and toes. He laughed when Xander found Siobhan’s birthmark, which looked like a cat’s eye. It was on her left shoulder.

“So, bedtime?” Wesley inquired as he slipped a onesie onto Alan.

“For the moment,” Oz replied. “They’ll be back up in an hour for food.”

“So will we,” Wil said slowly. The nights and days of uninterrupted sleep were gone.