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Apr. 1st, 2007 11:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sam_gamgeeContinued from Part 1
"Well, from what I've heard," Wesley set the mugs down on his nightstand and carefully laid back down on the bed, curling up next to Lindsey and speaking a little softer, "about two years ago Buffy's group was facing another apocalypse and the only way to defeat it was to activate all the potentials. I talked with Rupert Giles about it the other day and it sounds like they're doing what they can to get help to them, but it's slow going with the number of Slayers and the number of Watchers."
Lindsey slowly began to wake up and slowly stretched.
"I'm sure it would be,” Elisa said. “The Council was put in a bad way when that explosion hit. Not that I can say I felt very badly when I heard the news."
"I'd have to agree there, Mum." Wesley gave Lindsey a quick peck on the lips before reaching behind himself to grab Lindsey's coffee mug and carefully hand it over to him. Lindsey smiled and scooted up into a sitting position before taking it.
"But I'm sure you'll be great as a Watcher. We both know you were put in a bad position with Buffy and Faith and you did the best you could." Quickly switching gears, she asked, "Am I ever going to get another grandchild?"
Wesley laughed. "You might, one of these days. Lindsey and I were just talking about that the other day. And I wanted to ask you about that." Lindsey finished taking a sip of his coffee and set his mug down on his nightstand before snuggling back next to Wesley.
"At your age, if Dr. Gonzales gives you the go-ahead, I see no reason to worry about it. In the instances like yours, there weren't any problems conceiving second, or even third, children if the parent was healthy."
"Thanks, Mum."
"You're welcome, sweetie. And you'll have to tell me more about your Slayer the next time we talk. So, have the sleepy-heads woken up yet?"
"Lindsey's up and," Wesley looked at the clock, "Zane should be up any moment. Would you like to talk to Lindsey?"
"Would you be a dear and put him on? You know I enjoy talking to my son-in-law."
Wesley smiled at the term of endearment as he pointed at the phone and Lindsey nodded. "Okay, Mum, I'm going to hand it over. Love you."
"Love you too, sweetheart."
Wesley handed the phone over to Lindsey and only vaguely listened to their conversation as he gently rubbed a hand over Lindsey's stomach and wondered how he got to be so lucky. As their conversation was winding down, Zane ran into the room and jumped on the bed. He clamored up and gave Wesley a big kiss on the cheek before Wesley started to tickle him. Zane tried to laugh quietly, but to no avail.
"Do you want to say hi to Mum-Mum, Zane?" Lindsey asked.
"Yes!" Zane replied happily. He pulled away from Wesley and practically grabbed the phone. Lindsey held it away from him and gave him a hard look, to which Zane carefully reached for the phone. Bringing it up to his ear and holding it carefully with both hands, he said, "Hi, Mum-Mum!" Lindsey and Wesley looked at each other and laughed quietly as Zane chattered with his grandmother. When he was done, he asked, "When's Mum-Mum coming to visit again?"
"She'll probably be here for Christmas, like she was last year," Lindsey replied. "What do you want for breakfast?"
"Pancakes," Zane beamed.
"Pancakes? You *always* want pancakes," Lindsey replied in mock exasperation as he tickled Zane.
Zane giggled and said breathlessly, "Because yours are the best."
"And how do you know I make the best pancakes?" Lindsey grabbed Zane and pulled him into a hug. "Have you tried all the pancakes out there?"
"No. I just know."
"Oh, well. Then I guess that settles it, doesn't it?"
Zane nodded. "Can we have scrambled eggs too?"
"If we have enough eggs, we can."
"Can Max come over to play?"
"We'll see."
On Monday Wesley took Zane for his check-up. After leaving the doctor's office, they stopped to pick up Max and Wesley took them out for lunch.
Wesley’s cell phone rang that afternoon when they were getting in from a walk and he answered it as he set out a small snack for the boys.
"Hey," Stacey said after he answered. "I've suddenly got a few hours free this afternoon. Anyway you could skip out of work early or something so we could train?"
Wesley smiled. "As tempting as that sounds, not today. I've already taken the day off, but I'm here with Zane and I'm also watching Max for the afternoon. And one of them is enough of a handful, much less the two of them together." An idea suddenly hit. "But come on over anyway, if you'd like. We could start going through various demons and folklore and such, since that's as much a component of being a Slayer as fighting is."
"The whole 'what's the good of trying to kill it if you don't know what it is, and therefore how?'. Gotcha. Okay, I'll be over in a few minutes, then."
"Goodbye, Stacey."
As he settled the two boys at the counter for a snack, Zane asked, "Can Stacey play with us?"
"We'll see," Wesley replied with a smile, once again relieved that Zane had taken to her.
"Stacey's cool – she likes my toys," Zane confided to Max. The young chaos demon simply smiled as he sipped his juice. Chaos demons were mute until they were four and Wesley had been glad that Zane had seemed to understand this when he had had to explain it to him because Zane had gotten frustrated that Max wasn't talking back. Since then, Zane talked enough for both of them.
There was a knock on the door as the boys were finishing up and Zane slid off his seat and ran over to try to answer it. The task was still a bit beyond his ability, but Wesley admired his tenacity as he continued to try as Wesley made his way over there and helped him.
The boys went to Zane's room to play after saying hi to Stacey and Wesley went into his and Lindsey's bedroom to grab a few of his books so he and Stacey could get started. He had been thankful that it had been easy to get Angel and the others to ship his books, or at least a good portion of them, out here.
He smiled wistfully as he scanned the spines. He talked to Gunn, Fred, and Lorne every two or three months, but anymore it was just a cordial "checking in" phone call for both sides. And since Zane's birth, he had only talked with Angel twice – both of which had been him calling Angel. He knew that Lindsey had religiously filled out the baby book that Angel had given them and then sent it back and since then had taken it upon himself to send short missives and a picture or two every few months to keep Angel up-to-date on their son.
He finally chose three books and took them out to the dining room table and, after checking on the boys and offering Stacey something to drink, they sat down and got started. An hour and a half later, both of their eyes were starting to cross as Wesley finished his introductory spiel about the various types of demons. Though, it had taken so long because Stacey had been attentive and had asked a lot of questions.
Leaning back in her chair, Stacey asked, "If you don't mind me asking, what happened to Zane's mom?"
Wesley shrugged half-heartedly as he also leaned back in his chair. "Things just didn't work out between us. As much as I might have wished at the time of Zane's conception for us to stay together, I wouldn't trade a second of it now."
Stacey glanced in the direction of Zane's room. "It's interesting that you’ve got custody of him. Usually it's the other way around."
Wesley snorted in amusement. "I doubt Angel would have been able to handle it. As much as he wanted a son, he isn't exactly father material." Wesley realized what he had said after it had left his mouth.
Stacey's eyes got wide. "Okay, I think we just entered the Twilight Zone. There is a world where what you just said makes sense, right?"
Wesley nodded. "I'm half-Selkie – on my mother's side.” He briefly outlined the traits of his mother’s species and how it related to him before asking, “Following me so far?"
Stacey took a sip of her juice and nodded. "And what about Zane, is he…?"
"Aside from being a quarter-Selkie, he's perfectly normal. At least as far as we know at this point. Angel's a vampire. And while vampires actually procreating like normal humans is something akin to a miracle, he had a son the natural way before Zane who basically had all the vampiric strengths, but none of the weaknesses. So far Zane hasn't shown any inclination towards that, which I'm thankful for."
"And how exactly did you and Lindsey get hooked up?"
"Sheer luck,” Wesley replied with a smile before regaling her with the tale of how he had come to live in Stillwater and hook up with Lindsey. As he finished up and took a sip of soda, he heard Lindsey's key in the lock and said, "And the rest, they say, is history."
Lindsey came in, a huge grin on his face. After shutting the door and depositing his things, he came over to them. Greeting Stacey, he put his hands on Wesley's shoulders and deposited a kiss on the top of Wesley's head.
"Someone's in a good mood," Wesley remarked, looking up at him.
"You have *no* idea," Lindsey replied, his grin getting even wider, if possible. "Give me a second to say hi to Zane and I'll tell you." He disappeared for a moment before reappearing and asking Stacey to keep an ear out for the boys as he practically dragging Wesley out into the hallway and pulling the door most of the way shut behind them. "I had such a good day today."
Wesley leaned against the railing. "So, are you going to tell me, or am I actually going to have to guess?"
"Well, first off we had the all-staff meeting this morning which was as boring as hell –"
"Which they usually are," Wesley interjected.
"And Gary pulled me aside afterwards and said that our work has come to the attention of the higher ups in Oklahoma City and once the conference in November is over, it’s very likely we’re going to be getting a call about instructing everyone else in the firm in our field."
Wesley grinned, knowing that this was finally a bit of validation of what they had been doing all these years. “That's great! And what's the other thing?"
Lindsey gave him a 'you know me *way* too well' look and, coming closer and threading his pointer fingers through the front belt loops of Wesley's jeans, said, "I got a call this afternoon. From a talent agent. It's not a big label, but they're interested."
"That's *amazing*!" Wesley pulled Lindsey to him and kissed him.
"Yeah. Apparently the agent had been in town on Friday on personal business and had heard me. They want me to let them know the next time I'm playing so a few of them can come up and hear me and discuss things some more."
"I’m really happy for you."
"For *us*," Lindsey replied.
"And I have some good news for you. I made an appointment with Dr. Gonzales for Friday when I took Zane in this morning."
"That's great." Lindsey grinned. "And how is our firstborn doing, might I ask?"
"He's a perfectly normal and healthy three and a half year old."
"I had suspected nothing less." Tugging on Wesley's belt loops, he said, "Let's go rustle up some dinner. Are we keeping the other munchkin for dinner?"
"As far as I know, either Dory or Marty should be over any minute to collect him."
"Okay." Lindsey leaned in and stole a quick kiss. "Want to ask the girl if she wants to stay?"
Wesley shrugged. "Sure."
Marty showed up right after they went back inside to collect a very-happy-to-see-him Max. Stacey left at the same time to do some planning for her camps. Once they were gone, Lindsey and Wesley worked together to make a chicken stir-fry as Zane sat at the counter and colored.
Gary pulled Wesley and Lindsey into his office as soon as they got in the next morning. "I trust Lindsey told you the news?" Gary asked Wesley once they were seated.
Wesley nodded. "Yes, he did."
"Good. The ‘Powers That Be’ want a bit more time to follow your case load to see what’s normal and the like. And also to see what might be the best way to implement this new program. Obviously, you’ll both be brought fully on board to help with the planning and follow-through. Any questions?”
They both shook their heads.
"Then go on and get out of here. I'm sure you have something to do."
"Yes, sir," Lindsey said as they stood.
The following night, Wesley met up with Stacey after Zane had gone to bed to go out on her first patrol. "Do you think this is a good decision?" she asked. "Shouldn't I have more training first?"
"I think you'll be fine," Wesley replied. "Besides, sometimes just getting out there's the best way to learn. You remember what I told you about using a stake, right?"
"Yep." She self-consciously touched where it was hidden against the small of her back.
"And don't worry. I've faced worse things than what we're going to see here tonight and I'll have your back."
"You have no idea how good that makes me feel." They entered the first cemetery, having been given the go ahead to dust any new vampires, given their unruliness when they first rise and a recent rise in population. "Tell me about you and Lindsey."
Wesley shrugged. "What's to tell? We met in L.A. a number of years ago through work, didn't really get along, re-met when I showed up here in Stillwater about four years ago, he gave me a hand when I needed it and helped me through my pregnancy –"
"That's still freaky to think about," Stacey interrupted. "Sorry, go on."
Wesley dipped his head in thanks. "And then when Zane was born, he just jumped in with two feet. Though, he technically did that while I was still pregnant."
"Well, what about your first kiss?"
Wesley smiled fondly. "I was five and a half months pregnant, stomach out to about here," he gestured in front of him, "generally feeling like crap, and he had been trying to cheer me up from a confrontation I'd had with Angel and it just kind of came out that we liked each other and we kissed and it was rather romantic. Then I completely broke the moment."
"How'd you do that?"
"I wasn't completely sure at that point how I felt him and I didn't want to lead him on, especially after how good he'd been to Zane and I."
"And yet, it all worked out in the end."
"Yes, it did." There was some rustling in the earth nearby. "A vampire's about to rise. When it first climbs out, it's disoriented, so use that to your advantage, but be careful because it'll recover quickly."
"Okay." Stacey pulled the stake out of her waistband and got into a relaxed fighting stance.
"And it's going to be harder than you think to drive the stake in, so make sure you put a lot of force behind it."
She nodded, eyes fixed on the spot where the demon's hand appeared out of the earth. As soon as it had finished climbing out of the grave, she ran up and plunged the stake into its heart. The vampire looked surprised, blinked, and exploded into dust. "Oh, ewww. That's nasty," Stacey said as she brushed herself off.
"Good job. And congratulations on dusting your first vampire."
Stacey smiled. "Thanks." As they started walking again, she asked, "Is patrol usually quiet like this?"
"Normally, yes. At least back in Sunnydale they were – and it was on top of the Hellmouth." At her questioning look, he added, "It's a place that has a lot of mystical power and therefore usually draws a lot of demons to it. Some nights we didn't see anything."
"Have you heard anything else about the prison gig yet?"
"Not yet, but I do have something else for you to consider. Since things are rather quiet here, I think it might be a good idea for us to go down to Oklahoma City for a weekend, or something similar, so you can get some more experience. Think you might be interested and/or able to skip a couple days of class to go?"
She nodded. "Maybe. I'll have to see what my schedule's like, okay?"
Wesley nodded. "Of course."
On Thursday, Wesley got a call on his cellphone at lunchtime. "Hello?" he asked, answering it.
"Hey, Wes, it's Gunn."
Wesley swallowed the bite of sandwich he had in his mouth. "Hello, Charles. How're you?"
"I'm doing good. Been busy with cases. How're you?"
"I’m doing well, thank you. Is it that time of the year again?"
Wesley heard a sigh that he thought was tinged with a bit of wistfulness and regret. "I guess it is. Or, at least according to Fred it is."
"How's everyone there?"
"They're doing good. Fred's been in heaven lately – she got a new piece of equipment that's supposed to be really high tech and cool. Lorne's having a ball with all of his clients. Harmony's a surprisingly good secretary. We had our doubts there at the beginning. Spike's been…Spike. He's been here for about three years and I'm still not sure what it is that he does here."
"And how's Angel?"
"Angel's been Angel. He's been brooding a lot. Distant too. Seems like the only things that have gotten him going lately are fighting against Wolfram and Hart, the stuff he gets from Lindsey about Zane, and seeing this woman named Nina. I wasn't supposed to tell you that, was I?"
Wesley smiled. "It's okay, Gunn. I'm happy he's found someone."
"You certainly have one cute kid. Angel has a habit of showing the new pictures off when he gets them."
"That's good," Wesley replied, thankful that Angel was at least somewhat interested in Zane.
"He's, what, two now?"
"Three and a half," Wesley corrected. "He'll be four on Christmas Eve."
"Wow."
"You could definitely say that."
"How're things out there?"
"Good. Zane's getting big and he's got enough energy for about four three year olds. Lindsey's doing good. Work’s been going well. And he's gotten a call from someone interested in his music."
"That's good."
"It is. And I also have a Slayer now."
"I'm sure that's interesting."
"It's actually not that bad. Or, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Should be interesting, though, since the demon population here is much different from the one in L.A."
"I'm sure you'll figure something out. You always did." There was a pause and it sounded like Gunn was talking with someone with his hand over the receiver. "Look, man, I'm sorry, but I've got to go. It was good talking with you, though."
"You too. Take care." Wesley hung up the phone, feeling a tad bit remorseful at what he had left behind. But before he could wallow too long, the phone rang again. He answered it with another, "Hello?"
"Hey, it's Jonathan. How've you been, stranger?"
"Busy. How're you?"
"Good. Look, we're having another barbeque this Saturday. Bring Stacey with you guys, okay?"
Wesley smiled, the sound of Jonathan's voice enough to put him in a better mood. "Okay. Want us to bring anything else?"
"I'd say an appetite, but that's standard. I'll let you know, okay? And I'm sure you've got to be getting back to work."
Wesley glanced at his watch. He still had a few minutes to go. "At some point it would be nice, but I'm not in a rush."
"Okay, good." Wesley could hear the smile in the other man's voice. "I heard you and Lindsey got some good news. Congratulations."
"Thanks. It's nice to know that someone is noticing what we’re doing and its positive impact.”
"I’ll bet."
Wesley looked at his watch and saw that it was time to head back in. "Hey, I've got to get back to work. We'll see you Saturday, though."
"Great! Talk to you then."
When Wesley got home from his appointment with Dr. Gonzales on Friday, Lindsey asked, "So, what'd the doctor say?"
"She said that everything looks great and that once we're ready, to let her know so she could take out the Norplant." Wesley didn’t mention that he had voiced some concern to her about how he felt like Lindsey was pushing him to do this. Lindsey had always made it abundantly clear that it would be up to Wesley, but sometimes Wesley wasn’t so sure if it was completely his decision.
"That's great!" Lindsey came out of the kitchen and pulled Wesley into a kiss. "So, now that we've gotten the all clear from both your mom and Dr. Gonzales, what can I do to convince you that we should start right away?"
"Daddy!" Zane practically yelled as he ran out of his room. Wesley scooped him up and gave him a hug. Zane squirmed out of Wesley's arms and grabbed his hand. "Come see what I drew!" He pulled Wesley over to the refrigerator and pointed it out.
Wesley took it off the refrigerator and crouched down while he looked at it. "This is great! Let's see…that's you, me, Daddy, Max, Aunt Dory, Uncle Marty, Uncle Jonathan, and Uncle David, right?"
"Yep!" Zane replied proudly. He pointed to the other figure and said, "And that's Stacey."
Wesley smiled and looked at it for a few more seconds before putting it back on the refrigerator.
"Go get washed up, Zane," Lindsey said, wiping his hands on a towel. "We're going to eat in two minutes."
"Okay." Zane ran off.
Lindsey came over and stood next to Wesley to look at the picture. "He was working on that all afternoon. I had to practically drag him away from David and Jonathan's."
"And they spoil him rotten as it is."
"Not like we wouldn't, if the situation was reversed. Besides, I think it's a god-parental right to spoil the kids rotten if the grandmother lives a few thousand miles away."
Wesley smiled as the timer dinged. "True."
Lindsey moved to get the pork chops out of the oven and carefully set the dish on the pad on the bar. Zane came running out from the bathroom and Wesley helped him up into his booster seat as Lindsey finished putting the rest of the food out.
The following afternoon, after collecting Stacey, they headed over to David and Jonathan's for the barbeque.
“You know, it’s going to be weird seeing David out of context," Stacey said on the ride over.
"How do you mean?" Lindsey asked.
"Don’t get me wrong, it’ll be a good weird, but still weird, since I really only see him either at church or on church-related trips. Not, you know, at home with his partner."
Once there, Zane zipped off, disappearing around the back of the house, as soon as he was on the ground. The other three followed, Lindsey carrying a box from the grocery store with a pie. Out back, Stacey was introduced to the others, and Max was pointed out to her, as he was too busy running around with Zane.
"So Dory's what chaos demons normally look like?" Stacey asked Wesley when the group broke up.
"Yes. And we're not sure which one Max will favor until he gets older, since the antlers don't start growing in and the slime doesn't start getting produced until puberty."
"Could be interesting," Stacey commented. "What if one side of him's dry and the other's all slimy?"
Wesley couldn't help but smile. "I doubt it'd happen like that specifically, but I'm sure they'd figure out a way to deal with it."
"So, Stacey, how do you like this whole slaying business so far?" Jonathan asked while they were eating.
"It's definitely interesting so far," she replied before taking a sip of her soda. "Definitely makes you think twice about some all of the monster stuff you hear while you’re growing up."
"It certainly does," David replied. "I remember the first time I came out here to visit Jonathan and we drove through the demon section of town – it was the first time I had seen a demon period, let alone such a variety of them. And he's so blasé about it and I'm freaking out because he'd gotten so used to it, that it hardly made him blink. Now I'm the same way."
"I’m mostly just worried about the part where I'm actually supposed to fight them and kill them. And even though Wesley and I went out on patrol the other night and I bagged a vampire, I doubt everything's going to be like that. I'm not looking forward to fighting the linebacker types that can shoot fire or whatever."
"You don't have to take the deal with the prison if you don't want to," Marty said. "It was just a suggestion that I thought might be mutually beneficial for both sides."
"Just because I'm worried, doesn't mean I'm not going to try it," she replied with a grin. "I just want to get some more experience under my belt first."
"It's always worse when you're first starting out," Wesley said. "And if it's any consolation, you're already light years ahead of where I was when I started to be a Watcher."
"Well, that's different, you're not the one directly facing the demons."
"A Watcher's supposed to offer back up and assistance, if needed. Not just training and researched information. There are a few times that I'm not proud of where I ran screaming like a little girl." The adults in the group laughed. "You'll be fine."
After dinner, Stacey played a sort of tag with Zane and Max – which mostly resulted in her chasing them around the yard with Zane shrieking in laughter. Wesley watched them and smiled, happy with – and a little amazed at – how good his life was at this very moment.
David sat down next to him. "You look good," he replied.
"Thank you," Wesley replied, though he was a bit perplexed as to what would make David say that.
His confusion must have showed because David continued, "Jonathan told me that when you first came here, you seemed haunted. And when I first met you, I would have agreed, though I didn’t think that you seemed that bad off." He looked away to watch the kids as well. "I can definitely tell the difference now." He glanced at Wesley before looking away again. "It’s interesting how God works, isn’t it? He takes what can appear to be something terrible, such as an unwanted pregnancy, or a bad situation at home, or even both, and use it to bless you beyond measure."
Wesley smiled and let out a small chuckle. "You have no idea. If you had asked me four and a half years ago where I saw myself, it would be a far cry from this. But in the end, I have no regrets about how things have turned out."
"And you have an active Slayer – which, from what I’ve heard, is a bit of a crown jewel for a Watcher." David smiled, then turned serious, "But at the same time, I sense that something’s troubling you." He glanced at Wesley, to see if he had guessed right, but Wesley’s expression gave away nothing. "If you ever care to talk about it, you know that Jonathan and I are here for you."
"I know and thank you. But I need to sort some things out first in my own mind. And I think I need to talk with Lindsey, since these things involve him as well."
David patted Wesley’s knee. "Good for you. You’ve got a better handle on a key part of relationships than some people do after fifty years. If the two of you can communicate, it’ll save you a lot of heartache in the long run."
Wesley smiled. "Speaking from experience, are we?"
David grinned back. "Maybe just a little bit. But those first few months after the accident were a godsend. I honestly think that it saved our relationship, even if there are things Jonathan will never be able to do again. And there’s no denying that I’d rather have him the way he is than not have him at all."
Wesley nodded in agreement. "I can completely understand. If anything ever happened to Lindsey, I don’t know what I’d do. Part of me knows that I’d find a way to go on because I’d have to – for Zane’s sake, but…" He trailed off and shook his head.
"Let’s move on to happier topics, shall we?"
Wesley grinned. "Sounds like a great idea."
Two Saturday afternoons, and after a week of solid weapons training, later, Stacey and Wesley met Marty and a few other members of the demon city council at the Demon Correctional Institute just outside of town along with the warden and a few of the head guards.
"The plan for today," Marty said to Wesley and Stacey, "is mainly for the two of you to get an idea of what we'd like to have happen here, as well as a lay of the land. And, hopefully, for us to all hash out any other details that might come up. Any concerns before we get started?"
Stacey tentatively raised her hand. "Well, I’ll admit that I don’t know if I’m ready to face the demons. Do they know that I’m planning on killing them?"
"That’s something we haven’t decided on as of yet," answered the warden. "Though, they’d probably catch on quick enough."
"And what if I can’t kill them?"
"Then we’ll figure something out."
"What if the demon gets the upper hand?"
"We’ll have guards posted around the perimeter to step in if such an event happens."
"And I’ll be there as well," Wesley replied.
"I’m sorry, sir," the warden said to Wesley, "but what exactly is your status? Mr. Meshenak has explained it to me, but I’ll admit that I don’t quite understand."
"I’m Stacey’s Watcher. I train her in fighting techniques and demon lore and types. I’m also her backup when she’s fighting."
The warden nodded. "Okay. I foolishly assumed that the entire Council was wiped out in the explosion a few years ago. I’ll get you a pass as well."
"Thank you," Wesley replied. "And a large portion of it was, but a few that were in the field or out of the building at the time managed to survive and are in the process of slowly rebuilding, as well as making some much needed changes."
"Now, here’s what we wish to have happen," the warden said to Stacey. "We understand that, while you’ve been training with Mr. Wyndam-Pryce and have reached a high level of proficiency in both weapons and hand-to-hand, you haven’t had much experience with actual fighting."
"That’s right," she replied.
"We would like to propose that, prior to your starting on the death row inmates, we schedule some time for you to spar with some of our minimum security inmates. This would be with the mutual understanding of both sides that ‘to the death’ is not an option and that even serious injury should be avoided at all costs."
Wesley could tell that Stacey liked the idea. "Okay," she answered, "but I’d like at least a little time to think about it."
"Of course." He stood. "If you’d like to follow us, we’ll take you out and show you the yard, so you can get an idea of what sort of space you’ll be working with."
The group stood and followed the guards into the yard. "This side is where you would be doing your sparring," the warden said. "Guards are on the perimeter wall at all times whenever inmates are out here. And over there," he pointed across the yard to a section of it that was fenced off, "is where you’d be fighting the death row inmates."
Wesley surveyed their surroundings. Everything looked like a normal prison, but he detected an undercurrent of magic as well. "Is the perimeter magically enforced as well?" he asked.
"It is," the warden replied. "We also have the fences between the two sections of the yard electrified as well. We take as many precautions as we can to keep our inmates where they belong."
As they made their way back inside, they passed through the minimum security cellblock, which brought a number of catcalls from the inmates.
"Is it supposed to tingle like this?" Stacey whispered to Wesley. "Because since we got near here it was a light tingle and now it’s like a definite hum."
"Yes, it is," Wesley replied. "But you’ll get used to it after a while."
"Good, because it’s kind of weirding me out right now – even more than the catcalls."
"I’m sure that as soon as they realize that you mean business, that’ll stop."
"It better."
As they made their way out, there was one particular catcall that was directed at Wesley. Wesley's expression betrayed no reaction as Stacey leaned in again and commented, "Just the reason why you and Lindsey need to have a commitment ceremony."
"I highly doubt the catcalling in a place like this would stop just because of a ring on my finger," he replied tersely as they exited.
After dropping Stacey off, Wesley wandered down onto campus, having the odd luxury of a few hours to himself. He knew that he needed to sort at least one of his dilemmas out and that it needed to be done with as few distractions as possible.
He let his mind wander for a few minutes as he walked amazed at how quiet it was at that time of day. When he was a child he had hoped that he would get married one day – until he realized his inclinations tended towards men the majority of the time. And now that he had found Lindsey, the idea of committing himself to Lindsey for the rest of their lives before his friends, was starting to become appealing again. Was it an ultimately necessary move? No.
He supposed that the main reason for *not* doing it was that things would change and he had never been a big fan of change. Sure, it would mostly be in subtle ways that in the day-to-day would mean nothing, but it would mean that their relationship was permanent. And while Wesley knew deep down, that their relationship already was permanent, he liked clinging to the illusion that he still had a way out. But the more he examined the idea of marrying Lindsey, the more comfortable he became with it.
But…who would propose to whom? Would they even propose, since they had already discussed it? What if they ended up having to pick a date in which they couldn’t use Dory and Marty’s backyard? Where would they have the ceremony and reception then? Did they even need to have a reception? And how big of a ceremony was Lindsey thinking of having? Personally, Wesley preferred a smaller gathering with just their closest friends but he knew deep down that it wouldn’t fly because even *he* could think of too many people that he would want to include.
That night, after Zane had gone to sleep, Wesley was curled up on the couch reading. Lindsey came over carrying two glasses of wine and, after handing one of the glasses to Wesley, sat down next to him. Lindsey held Wesley’s gaze as he took a sip of his wine, as if he had known all evening that Wesley had wanted to talk to him and was now trying to draw it out by sheer force of will. And Wesley supposed that Lindsey had gotten to know him well enough since they had gotten together that he would know when Wesley wanted to talk about something.
"I’ve decided that I want to go through with the ceremony, if you do," Wesley finally said.
"As far as proposals go, that one rather sucked," Lindsey replied before laughing and putting his hand on Wesley’s knee, "but I’ll take it."
"So you were expecting me to propose?" Wesley asked, not sure if he should be indignant or not.
"Not necessarily, but it would make more sense, since you were the one who had the most reservations about the whole thing."
"And are you planning on accepting or not?"
"Well…" Lindsey drew the word out and pretended to think it over. "I think I’ll accept."
"You *think*?" Wesley gently kicked him in the thigh. "And what would I have to do to convince you?"
"Promise me your second born." He paused to let it sink in. "Just kidding." He sobered and, after studying Wesley's face for a few moments, he said, "This is a *huge* step for us. Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with it? Because I'm planning on taking the whole ‘til death do us part’ thing *very* seriously. Babe, I’m willing to wait until you're completely ready – for this and the baby." He gently squeezed Wesley’s knee. "And if you never are, I'll still be here."
Wesley wasn't completely sure how to respond.
As if sensing his apprehension, Lindsey said, "How about this? We both take this next week to think about it and then we see where we stand this time next week and go from there?"
Wesley nodded. "Okay."
Lindsey smiled and held up his glass. "A toast, then. To whatever we decide, whenever we decide it, however we decide it."
Wesley clinked his glass on Lindsey's and they both drank. "Thank you," he finally said. "You're more than I deserve."
Lindsey grinned. "I think that works both ways, baby." Taking Wesley's glass from him, he set their glasses down on the coffee table and leaned in to kiss him.
That Friday evening was Stacey’s first sparring match and she was, understandably, on edge when they arrived. After going through the security checkpoints, Wesley stopped Stacey before they entered the yard. Turning her to face him, Wesley put his hands on her shoulders and said, "You'll do great. You've come along way since we first started and I'm really proud of you."
Stacey grinned. "With a teacher like you, it'd be hard not to."
Wesley smiled. "But that doesn't mean you can be careless out there. Just as you can feel that they're demons, they can feel that you're a Slayer. While there are certain boundaries on the fight, they won't be pulling any punches, and they might even fight dirty. Trust your instincts even if your head's telling you something different. Nine times out of ten, they're more accurate."
Stacey let out a breath. "Okay."
"Remember what you learned about this guy?"
She nodded. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"
Wesley nodded and adjusted the strap of his weapons bag before they went out into the yard. The yard was full with demons milling about as they waited for things to get started and guards were patrolling on the wall. As the pair went deeper into the yard, a buzz started, and demons started to gather around them. Once they hit the center of the yard, another demon stepped up to face them, having his own group of demons behind him.
"I see we're all here," the head guard said, as he also came up – having been appointed the 'referee' for the fights. "Now, remember, no death and no serious injuries allowed. Only two people allowed per fight – the Slayer and the challenging demon. There will be *no* tag-teaming. Weapons are allowed. The fight ends after a twenty count." To the group, he said, "Now, give them some room."
Wesley handed Stacey the weapons bag and backed up with everyone else. He watched as she set it on the ground, opened it, and rifled through it, even though she had watched him pack it earlier that evening. Once she was satisfied, she straightened and she squared off with the demon. They sized each other up and after a moment, the demon made the first move. Stacey easily blocked and they danced around each other for a while, trading light blows to test each other. When they did finally start fighting in earnest, Wesley watched her with a close eye, critiquing her style and her moves, watching for flaws in her fighting style. She was doing quite well and was able to easily hold her own, though he knew that she was up against an easy opponent and that, from here on, it would get tougher.
She easily bested him and after she was declared the winner, she came back to Wesley amid hoots, cheers, boos, and catcalls with a smile. "How'd I do?" she asked.
"Quite well," he replied. "Though, you tend to leave your left side open more often. Be careful about that or someone's going to catch on and we don't want it to be the wrong person. How do you feel about it?"
"Good, but it felt like it was almost too easy. I think you've been harder on me." They both smiled.
Wesley happened to catch the eyes of the head guard who motioned as if to ask if Stacey wanted to go another round with someone else. "Feel up to another fight with someone else?"
"Sure," she replied. "But maybe a *little* tougher this time?"
Wesley nodded. "Okay, let's see what we can do."
They conferred with the guard, who called another demon out of the crowd. As it was busy posturing, Stacey pulled Wesley aside and said, "Okay, give me a quick rundown."
Wesley sized the demon up. "Moderately strong, tough skin like an alligator's, agile. Its fighting skill isn't much to speak of – goes more on bravado and trying to psych its opponent out so it can run away, but it will fight when cornered."
"Any claws or anything like that I should worry about?"
"No, but it's got a tongue like a frog's and it'll more than likely use that in the fight, since it's not big on handheld weapons."
She nodded as the guard motioned her over. "Any last minute stuff?"
Wesley squeezed her shoulder. "Good luck."
As she fought her second demon, Wesley could see that she was conscious of not keeping her left side open, but did her best to not let it show, knowing it was something he'd have to work on with her. But she did have an innate talent for fighting that he knew would come in handy later. She was also able to think fast on her feet – more than once she used the demon's tongue against it.
After Stacey had bested the second demon, it stood and held out its webbed version of a hand. Stacey glanced at Wesley, who gave a quick nod, and she shook with it. As they left, she asked, "So, do I get a gold star?"
"I think that can be arranged," Wesley replied with a smile. "How do you feel?"
"Good. Tired. But a good tired." Wesley nodded as he turned a corner. "And a little sore."
"That's to be expected," he said. "Kind of comes with the territory."
"So Mr. Heating Blanket and Mr. Advil will become my best friends soon?"
"Along with the wonderful people in the medical profession – in your case probably the attending physician at the prison."
"Oooh, fun. But let's hope not too much. Unless he's cute and 100% human."
Wesley chuckled. "At least you're looking on the bright side of things."
She looked out the window. "I try. It's helping me get through the whole, 'I just fought two demons in a demon prison and won' weirdness since it just eclipsed the whole 'I staked a *real* vampire and it exploded into a cloud of dust' weirdness."
Wesley nodded. "Good idea. And sooner or later, something will come along that'll eclipse all of this in the weirdness scale and make the whole demon/Slayer thing seem normal."
"And I'm going to keep my mouth shut before I jinx myself," she said as they pulled up in front of her dorm. "See you later, Wesley."
"Bye, Stacey."
The next day, after Zane's swimming lesson, Lindsey took Wesley and Zane out for lunch at Eskimo Joe's. As Zane happily colored on the kid's placemat, and after the waitress took their food order, Lindsey took Wesley's hand, which had been resting on the table.
Wesley knew what was coming, and couldn't help the twin waves of excitement and fear, as time seemed to slow down for a handful of seconds. But the feel of Lindsey's hand in his, and his thumb gently stroking the space between Wesley's thumb and pointer finger, kept him grounded and he didn't say anything, just kept hold of Lindsey's gaze. He was vaguely aware of Zane's gaze going back and forth between them for a moment, as if he knew something was up, before going back to his coloring.
Lindsey cleared his throat and said, "Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, would you do me the honor of marrying me?”
Wesley looked at the man Lindsey and then looked at their son and knew that, no matter what insecurities he might have about doing such a thing, there was no way he would ever be able to say no and have a duly sufficient reason. "Yes," he finally whispered.
Lindsey grinned and squeezed Wesley's hand before pulling away so the waitress could set their food down on the table. Once she had gone, he grabbed Wesley's hand again and said, "Thank you." He pulled out a slightly rectangular box, which Wesley had no idea had been smuggled into the restaurant – let alone anywhere else – without his realizing it. He slid it across the table. "I know it's customary to get a ring in this situation, but I kind of figure that that wouldn't exactly be appropriate."
Wesley chuckled. "No, probably not."
"What's that, Daddy?" Zane asked, curious.
"I don't know," Wesley replied. He moved the box so it was between them. "Want to help me open it?"
Zane nodded and they opened it together to reveal a watch. "Wow," Wesley replied. "This is beautiful." He gently took it out of the box to look at it closer and engraved on the back of the face were their initials. He put it on. "I love it."
"And I’m sure you're going to need it with all the planning we're going to have to do."
Wesley laughed. "Very true."
"And I have something for you too," Lindsey said to Zane, handing him a gift-wrapped object. Zane opened it to reveal a copy of Swiss Family Robinson. As he studied the picture on the cover, Lindsey said, "It's for us to read after we finish Treasure Island."
Zane looked up and smiled. "Thank you, Daddy."
"I think it would be safe to toss the 'rule' that an engagement should be at least six months long," Wesley said as he poured some ketchup into Zane's meal basket for him, "since that was to help the bride and groom to make sure they knew what they were getting into."
"Yeah, because if we haven't learned in three and a half years, I doubt we will," Lindsey replied with a laugh.
Wesley smiled. "I completely agree. Not that I think we should rush into this half-cocked, but at least we don't have to bow to tradition on that part."
Lindsey let out a laugh. "I think the book of tradition is still being *written* for people like us."
"What's going on, Daddy?" Zane asked between bites of a chicken nugget.
"We're going to have a party to show people how much we love each other," Wesley replied.
"Oh.” Zane wrinkled his brow. “But you and Daddy already show people how much you love each other. Can we have it now?"
"Not yet," Lindsey replied. "We have to get everything ready and make sure everyone can come. Would you like to help us get the party ready?"
Zane grinned. "Yes. Can we have cake?"
"Definitely," Wesley replied.
"And ice cream? And balloons?"
"We'll see," Lindsey replied. "But let's finish eating first and then we'll decide when we're going to have it, okay?"
"Okay," Zane replied. "But not Saturday, that's Trey's birthday party."
"Don't worry," Wesley replied with an amused smile, "it won't be Saturday."
As soon as they got home, Wesley called Elisa to let her know the good news. After receiving her congratulations and arguing with her over the plane ticket, he handed the phone over to Lindsey.
"Your mom's going to be over here from just before Thanksgiving, to just after New Year's right?" Lindsey asked after he got off the phone.
"Correct," Wesley replied.
"Well…" Wesley could practically see the wheels turning in Lindsey's head. "Do you think we could throw something together between those dates? Or did you want something really big?"
Wesley laughed. "Smaller is definitely better." He thought for a moment or two. "I *suspect* we could. But we'll be dealing with Thanksgiving and Christmas as well."
Lindsey flipped their wall calendar to December. "Well, the second weekend of December is about smack dab in between the two holidays. We could ask around and see what people think."
Wesley nodded. "And while it may be verging on crazy with getting things ready for Christmas, I'm sure that people would enjoy an excuse to relax and party for an afternoon or an evening."
Lindsey nodded. "Since we're just over five months away, we better get moving on this."
“Athough, how are we going to tell Stacey without getting her too excited?”
“Is that even an option?” Lindsey asked with a smirk as he moved closer to Wesley.
“Probably not,” Wesley replied with a smile as he captured Lindsey’s lips.
They broke the news to Stacey when she met up with them before the show that night. She shrieked and threw her arms around first Wesley and then Lindsey. "That's great! I’m so happy for you two."
"Just don't let anyone else know just yet, okay?" Lindsey asked. "We're still trying to figure a few things out before we start announcing it to everyone."
"Having answers to the obvious questions would definitely be a good idea," she agreed. She paused, her eyes widened slightly and she grinned. "I could *so* be your wedding planner if you want. I know a few people who wouldn't mind helping out with different things – like photography or doing the music at the reception. Plus, with Zane and me and everything, I'm sure you two will be busy."
"Probably not any more than normal," Wesley replied.
"Please let me do this? It'll be, like, part of my wedding present to you guys."
"Let us think about it, okay?"
"Okay. Does Zane know?"
"He knows that we're having a party and he's excited about that, but I doubt he'd get the whole concept if we tried to explain it to him."
"True. He's so good and articulate that sometimes I forget he's three and a half. Okay, I'll let you two go, since I know there will be other people wanting to talk to you."
Lindsey smiled as Wesley said, "I'll see you tomorrow, correct?"
"Correct-o-mundo. Three o'clock at the Y."
Wesley nodded. "I'll see you then."
She smiled. "It's a date. Well, not a *date* date, but –"
"You better get going before inquiring minds will want to know," Lindsey teased.
She blushed slightly and as she left to find a table for her and her friends, Wesley said quietly, "It might be a good idea to have her help out. Especially if we do end up having it in December with Thanksgiving, Christmas, Zane's birthday, and my mum coming over."
Lindsey nodded. "What do you think about David doing the ceremony?"
Wesley nodded, thoughtfully. "I definitely like the idea. I think that talking to him will definitely help us pin down a date. And what about a location? I don't think it'd be a wise idea to have it at Dory and Marty's in December – as perfect as their place might be."
"I’m sure we'll be able to find a place to have it."
Just then Lindsey was called up to the stage for his second set. He gave Wesley a quick peck on the lips and headed up.
“Mr. MacDonald!” a man in a business suit called once most of the group had dispersed after the show. "My name's Ed Hollister and this is Jim Jones. We're from Compo! Records."
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you both,” Lindsey replied as they all shook hands, “and this is my partner, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce.”
They settled into a booth as Hollister continued, "We're very impressed with your talent, Mr. McDonald, and we're interested in offering you a contract." He opened the briefcase he had placed on the table, pulled out a few sheets of paper and slid them across the table.
Wesley waited quietly as Lindsey read over the contract, not sure what to say or expect in a situation like this, and watched his facial expressions as he read over the contract. Wesley could see excitement, and a little bit of trepidation, and what could only be described as ‘kid in a candy store’ flit across his face before Lindsey schooled his features again. When he was done, Lindsey neatly set it down on the table and Wesley knew that he was in business mode and was prepared to negotiate. He shifted slightly to settle in and watch his partner work.
Lindsey went through each clause of the contract with the lawyers – such as asking about specifics of what would happen during the demo recordings, copyrights, what sort of say he would have in the instrumentation of the songs.
"The contract looks sound," Lindsey finally replied, "but I do have a few stipulations of my own before I sign it."
"Okay," Hollister replied as Jones poised to take notes on the legal pad he had pulled out while Lindsey was reading over the contract. "We're willing to listen and negotiate."
"Firstly, I'm in a committed relationship with Wesley and neither of us is inclined to hiding that fact if we feel it's necessary to reveal it."
Jones scribbled on his pad while they nodded, expressions schooled. "Duly noted, Mr. McDonald. And secondly?"
"We have a son together and so I would, obviously, like to spend as little time away from them as possible. I’d like to have the option of having them with me at all times – whether I’m recording or on tour.”
There was more scribbling and nodding. "All right." The men looked like they were waiting for Lindsey to continue.
"That's it – for now."
Jones started to put his things away and Hollister picked up the contract. "We'll make the necessary addendums and fax the new copy to you. What's the number?" Lindsey gave the office number to him and once the agents had put their things away, the four men stood and shook hands. "We'll be in touch."
"It seemed like that went well," Wesley said once the agents were out of earshot and as they made their way out.
"I think it did," Lindsey agreed. They climbed into the truck and he turned to look at Wesley. "You're not mad at me, are you?"
Wesley furrowed his brow. "No, why would I be?"
"Well, I took this opportunity without consulting you. We talked over your decision to take on Stacey as your Slayer."
"Lindsey, we both know that you love your music. If you hadn't taken this opportunity, I would have pushed you into it. And the situation with Stacey was different – I was terrified of what might happen if I took her on and things turned out horribly again."
Lindsey grasped Wesley's hand in his. "I don't think you could mess up with her – not like before. Stacey adores you."
Wesley looked out the window. "But there's so many other ways for it to happen."
"I know, but it won't." Lindsey squeezed Wesley's hand. "You were just a pawn in their game and put into a bad situation – you've said so yourself. Be thankful you're getting a second chance. One that looks like it's got bumpers in the gutters."
Wesley gave Lindsey a small smile. "I'm sorry, this shouldn't be about me."
"Don't worry about it. So, you're really okay with me doing this?"
"Yes." Wesley squeezed Lindsey's hand back. "You're getting a chance to do something you love. You're happy, so therefore I'm happy."
Wesley grabbed a tablet of paper and a pen before sitting down for breakfast and said, "Regardless of whether or not we're going to do this thing in December, we need to start planning for it now."
Lindsey nodded as he took a sip of his coffee. "So, how traditional do we want to do this?" he asked with a smirk, while setting down his mug. "I'm assuming that having the ceremony done at the courthouse isn't exactly going to work in this state. Do we want to take the traditional route as much as possible or do we want to decide on things as we go along?"
"Well, I doubt flying by the seat of our pants will help us very much in the long run.” Wesley tapped the butt end of his pen against the paper. “But I do like the idea of having at least *some* of the traditional aspects of the ceremony. Though, I think that dispensing with the flower girl and the whole 'being walked down the aisle by a father or father-like figure ' would be a good idea." Wesley gave a smirk of his own. "That reminds me – which one of us is going to be the bride?"
"That would be one of the things I'd *gladly* throw out."
"Agreed. And we are both agreed in talking to David about officiating, correct?"
"Correct. I wonder if his church would let us have the ceremony there. They're pretty tolerant as far as denominations go. And it'd solve the problem of the location."
Wesley jotted a few things down on the tablet. "Good idea. What about decorations?"
Continue in Part 3
"Well, from what I've heard," Wesley set the mugs down on his nightstand and carefully laid back down on the bed, curling up next to Lindsey and speaking a little softer, "about two years ago Buffy's group was facing another apocalypse and the only way to defeat it was to activate all the potentials. I talked with Rupert Giles about it the other day and it sounds like they're doing what they can to get help to them, but it's slow going with the number of Slayers and the number of Watchers."
Lindsey slowly began to wake up and slowly stretched.
"I'm sure it would be,” Elisa said. “The Council was put in a bad way when that explosion hit. Not that I can say I felt very badly when I heard the news."
"I'd have to agree there, Mum." Wesley gave Lindsey a quick peck on the lips before reaching behind himself to grab Lindsey's coffee mug and carefully hand it over to him. Lindsey smiled and scooted up into a sitting position before taking it.
"But I'm sure you'll be great as a Watcher. We both know you were put in a bad position with Buffy and Faith and you did the best you could." Quickly switching gears, she asked, "Am I ever going to get another grandchild?"
Wesley laughed. "You might, one of these days. Lindsey and I were just talking about that the other day. And I wanted to ask you about that." Lindsey finished taking a sip of his coffee and set his mug down on his nightstand before snuggling back next to Wesley.
"At your age, if Dr. Gonzales gives you the go-ahead, I see no reason to worry about it. In the instances like yours, there weren't any problems conceiving second, or even third, children if the parent was healthy."
"Thanks, Mum."
"You're welcome, sweetie. And you'll have to tell me more about your Slayer the next time we talk. So, have the sleepy-heads woken up yet?"
"Lindsey's up and," Wesley looked at the clock, "Zane should be up any moment. Would you like to talk to Lindsey?"
"Would you be a dear and put him on? You know I enjoy talking to my son-in-law."
Wesley smiled at the term of endearment as he pointed at the phone and Lindsey nodded. "Okay, Mum, I'm going to hand it over. Love you."
"Love you too, sweetheart."
Wesley handed the phone over to Lindsey and only vaguely listened to their conversation as he gently rubbed a hand over Lindsey's stomach and wondered how he got to be so lucky. As their conversation was winding down, Zane ran into the room and jumped on the bed. He clamored up and gave Wesley a big kiss on the cheek before Wesley started to tickle him. Zane tried to laugh quietly, but to no avail.
"Do you want to say hi to Mum-Mum, Zane?" Lindsey asked.
"Yes!" Zane replied happily. He pulled away from Wesley and practically grabbed the phone. Lindsey held it away from him and gave him a hard look, to which Zane carefully reached for the phone. Bringing it up to his ear and holding it carefully with both hands, he said, "Hi, Mum-Mum!" Lindsey and Wesley looked at each other and laughed quietly as Zane chattered with his grandmother. When he was done, he asked, "When's Mum-Mum coming to visit again?"
"She'll probably be here for Christmas, like she was last year," Lindsey replied. "What do you want for breakfast?"
"Pancakes," Zane beamed.
"Pancakes? You *always* want pancakes," Lindsey replied in mock exasperation as he tickled Zane.
Zane giggled and said breathlessly, "Because yours are the best."
"And how do you know I make the best pancakes?" Lindsey grabbed Zane and pulled him into a hug. "Have you tried all the pancakes out there?"
"No. I just know."
"Oh, well. Then I guess that settles it, doesn't it?"
Zane nodded. "Can we have scrambled eggs too?"
"If we have enough eggs, we can."
"Can Max come over to play?"
"We'll see."
On Monday Wesley took Zane for his check-up. After leaving the doctor's office, they stopped to pick up Max and Wesley took them out for lunch.
Wesley’s cell phone rang that afternoon when they were getting in from a walk and he answered it as he set out a small snack for the boys.
"Hey," Stacey said after he answered. "I've suddenly got a few hours free this afternoon. Anyway you could skip out of work early or something so we could train?"
Wesley smiled. "As tempting as that sounds, not today. I've already taken the day off, but I'm here with Zane and I'm also watching Max for the afternoon. And one of them is enough of a handful, much less the two of them together." An idea suddenly hit. "But come on over anyway, if you'd like. We could start going through various demons and folklore and such, since that's as much a component of being a Slayer as fighting is."
"The whole 'what's the good of trying to kill it if you don't know what it is, and therefore how?'. Gotcha. Okay, I'll be over in a few minutes, then."
"Goodbye, Stacey."
As he settled the two boys at the counter for a snack, Zane asked, "Can Stacey play with us?"
"We'll see," Wesley replied with a smile, once again relieved that Zane had taken to her.
"Stacey's cool – she likes my toys," Zane confided to Max. The young chaos demon simply smiled as he sipped his juice. Chaos demons were mute until they were four and Wesley had been glad that Zane had seemed to understand this when he had had to explain it to him because Zane had gotten frustrated that Max wasn't talking back. Since then, Zane talked enough for both of them.
There was a knock on the door as the boys were finishing up and Zane slid off his seat and ran over to try to answer it. The task was still a bit beyond his ability, but Wesley admired his tenacity as he continued to try as Wesley made his way over there and helped him.
The boys went to Zane's room to play after saying hi to Stacey and Wesley went into his and Lindsey's bedroom to grab a few of his books so he and Stacey could get started. He had been thankful that it had been easy to get Angel and the others to ship his books, or at least a good portion of them, out here.
He smiled wistfully as he scanned the spines. He talked to Gunn, Fred, and Lorne every two or three months, but anymore it was just a cordial "checking in" phone call for both sides. And since Zane's birth, he had only talked with Angel twice – both of which had been him calling Angel. He knew that Lindsey had religiously filled out the baby book that Angel had given them and then sent it back and since then had taken it upon himself to send short missives and a picture or two every few months to keep Angel up-to-date on their son.
He finally chose three books and took them out to the dining room table and, after checking on the boys and offering Stacey something to drink, they sat down and got started. An hour and a half later, both of their eyes were starting to cross as Wesley finished his introductory spiel about the various types of demons. Though, it had taken so long because Stacey had been attentive and had asked a lot of questions.
Leaning back in her chair, Stacey asked, "If you don't mind me asking, what happened to Zane's mom?"
Wesley shrugged half-heartedly as he also leaned back in his chair. "Things just didn't work out between us. As much as I might have wished at the time of Zane's conception for us to stay together, I wouldn't trade a second of it now."
Stacey glanced in the direction of Zane's room. "It's interesting that you’ve got custody of him. Usually it's the other way around."
Wesley snorted in amusement. "I doubt Angel would have been able to handle it. As much as he wanted a son, he isn't exactly father material." Wesley realized what he had said after it had left his mouth.
Stacey's eyes got wide. "Okay, I think we just entered the Twilight Zone. There is a world where what you just said makes sense, right?"
Wesley nodded. "I'm half-Selkie – on my mother's side.” He briefly outlined the traits of his mother’s species and how it related to him before asking, “Following me so far?"
Stacey took a sip of her juice and nodded. "And what about Zane, is he…?"
"Aside from being a quarter-Selkie, he's perfectly normal. At least as far as we know at this point. Angel's a vampire. And while vampires actually procreating like normal humans is something akin to a miracle, he had a son the natural way before Zane who basically had all the vampiric strengths, but none of the weaknesses. So far Zane hasn't shown any inclination towards that, which I'm thankful for."
"And how exactly did you and Lindsey get hooked up?"
"Sheer luck,” Wesley replied with a smile before regaling her with the tale of how he had come to live in Stillwater and hook up with Lindsey. As he finished up and took a sip of soda, he heard Lindsey's key in the lock and said, "And the rest, they say, is history."
Lindsey came in, a huge grin on his face. After shutting the door and depositing his things, he came over to them. Greeting Stacey, he put his hands on Wesley's shoulders and deposited a kiss on the top of Wesley's head.
"Someone's in a good mood," Wesley remarked, looking up at him.
"You have *no* idea," Lindsey replied, his grin getting even wider, if possible. "Give me a second to say hi to Zane and I'll tell you." He disappeared for a moment before reappearing and asking Stacey to keep an ear out for the boys as he practically dragging Wesley out into the hallway and pulling the door most of the way shut behind them. "I had such a good day today."
Wesley leaned against the railing. "So, are you going to tell me, or am I actually going to have to guess?"
"Well, first off we had the all-staff meeting this morning which was as boring as hell –"
"Which they usually are," Wesley interjected.
"And Gary pulled me aside afterwards and said that our work has come to the attention of the higher ups in Oklahoma City and once the conference in November is over, it’s very likely we’re going to be getting a call about instructing everyone else in the firm in our field."
Wesley grinned, knowing that this was finally a bit of validation of what they had been doing all these years. “That's great! And what's the other thing?"
Lindsey gave him a 'you know me *way* too well' look and, coming closer and threading his pointer fingers through the front belt loops of Wesley's jeans, said, "I got a call this afternoon. From a talent agent. It's not a big label, but they're interested."
"That's *amazing*!" Wesley pulled Lindsey to him and kissed him.
"Yeah. Apparently the agent had been in town on Friday on personal business and had heard me. They want me to let them know the next time I'm playing so a few of them can come up and hear me and discuss things some more."
"I’m really happy for you."
"For *us*," Lindsey replied.
"And I have some good news for you. I made an appointment with Dr. Gonzales for Friday when I took Zane in this morning."
"That's great." Lindsey grinned. "And how is our firstborn doing, might I ask?"
"He's a perfectly normal and healthy three and a half year old."
"I had suspected nothing less." Tugging on Wesley's belt loops, he said, "Let's go rustle up some dinner. Are we keeping the other munchkin for dinner?"
"As far as I know, either Dory or Marty should be over any minute to collect him."
"Okay." Lindsey leaned in and stole a quick kiss. "Want to ask the girl if she wants to stay?"
Wesley shrugged. "Sure."
Marty showed up right after they went back inside to collect a very-happy-to-see-him Max. Stacey left at the same time to do some planning for her camps. Once they were gone, Lindsey and Wesley worked together to make a chicken stir-fry as Zane sat at the counter and colored.
Gary pulled Wesley and Lindsey into his office as soon as they got in the next morning. "I trust Lindsey told you the news?" Gary asked Wesley once they were seated.
Wesley nodded. "Yes, he did."
"Good. The ‘Powers That Be’ want a bit more time to follow your case load to see what’s normal and the like. And also to see what might be the best way to implement this new program. Obviously, you’ll both be brought fully on board to help with the planning and follow-through. Any questions?”
They both shook their heads.
"Then go on and get out of here. I'm sure you have something to do."
"Yes, sir," Lindsey said as they stood.
The following night, Wesley met up with Stacey after Zane had gone to bed to go out on her first patrol. "Do you think this is a good decision?" she asked. "Shouldn't I have more training first?"
"I think you'll be fine," Wesley replied. "Besides, sometimes just getting out there's the best way to learn. You remember what I told you about using a stake, right?"
"Yep." She self-consciously touched where it was hidden against the small of her back.
"And don't worry. I've faced worse things than what we're going to see here tonight and I'll have your back."
"You have no idea how good that makes me feel." They entered the first cemetery, having been given the go ahead to dust any new vampires, given their unruliness when they first rise and a recent rise in population. "Tell me about you and Lindsey."
Wesley shrugged. "What's to tell? We met in L.A. a number of years ago through work, didn't really get along, re-met when I showed up here in Stillwater about four years ago, he gave me a hand when I needed it and helped me through my pregnancy –"
"That's still freaky to think about," Stacey interrupted. "Sorry, go on."
Wesley dipped his head in thanks. "And then when Zane was born, he just jumped in with two feet. Though, he technically did that while I was still pregnant."
"Well, what about your first kiss?"
Wesley smiled fondly. "I was five and a half months pregnant, stomach out to about here," he gestured in front of him, "generally feeling like crap, and he had been trying to cheer me up from a confrontation I'd had with Angel and it just kind of came out that we liked each other and we kissed and it was rather romantic. Then I completely broke the moment."
"How'd you do that?"
"I wasn't completely sure at that point how I felt him and I didn't want to lead him on, especially after how good he'd been to Zane and I."
"And yet, it all worked out in the end."
"Yes, it did." There was some rustling in the earth nearby. "A vampire's about to rise. When it first climbs out, it's disoriented, so use that to your advantage, but be careful because it'll recover quickly."
"Okay." Stacey pulled the stake out of her waistband and got into a relaxed fighting stance.
"And it's going to be harder than you think to drive the stake in, so make sure you put a lot of force behind it."
She nodded, eyes fixed on the spot where the demon's hand appeared out of the earth. As soon as it had finished climbing out of the grave, she ran up and plunged the stake into its heart. The vampire looked surprised, blinked, and exploded into dust. "Oh, ewww. That's nasty," Stacey said as she brushed herself off.
"Good job. And congratulations on dusting your first vampire."
Stacey smiled. "Thanks." As they started walking again, she asked, "Is patrol usually quiet like this?"
"Normally, yes. At least back in Sunnydale they were – and it was on top of the Hellmouth." At her questioning look, he added, "It's a place that has a lot of mystical power and therefore usually draws a lot of demons to it. Some nights we didn't see anything."
"Have you heard anything else about the prison gig yet?"
"Not yet, but I do have something else for you to consider. Since things are rather quiet here, I think it might be a good idea for us to go down to Oklahoma City for a weekend, or something similar, so you can get some more experience. Think you might be interested and/or able to skip a couple days of class to go?"
She nodded. "Maybe. I'll have to see what my schedule's like, okay?"
Wesley nodded. "Of course."
On Thursday, Wesley got a call on his cellphone at lunchtime. "Hello?" he asked, answering it.
"Hey, Wes, it's Gunn."
Wesley swallowed the bite of sandwich he had in his mouth. "Hello, Charles. How're you?"
"I'm doing good. Been busy with cases. How're you?"
"I’m doing well, thank you. Is it that time of the year again?"
Wesley heard a sigh that he thought was tinged with a bit of wistfulness and regret. "I guess it is. Or, at least according to Fred it is."
"How's everyone there?"
"They're doing good. Fred's been in heaven lately – she got a new piece of equipment that's supposed to be really high tech and cool. Lorne's having a ball with all of his clients. Harmony's a surprisingly good secretary. We had our doubts there at the beginning. Spike's been…Spike. He's been here for about three years and I'm still not sure what it is that he does here."
"And how's Angel?"
"Angel's been Angel. He's been brooding a lot. Distant too. Seems like the only things that have gotten him going lately are fighting against Wolfram and Hart, the stuff he gets from Lindsey about Zane, and seeing this woman named Nina. I wasn't supposed to tell you that, was I?"
Wesley smiled. "It's okay, Gunn. I'm happy he's found someone."
"You certainly have one cute kid. Angel has a habit of showing the new pictures off when he gets them."
"That's good," Wesley replied, thankful that Angel was at least somewhat interested in Zane.
"He's, what, two now?"
"Three and a half," Wesley corrected. "He'll be four on Christmas Eve."
"Wow."
"You could definitely say that."
"How're things out there?"
"Good. Zane's getting big and he's got enough energy for about four three year olds. Lindsey's doing good. Work’s been going well. And he's gotten a call from someone interested in his music."
"That's good."
"It is. And I also have a Slayer now."
"I'm sure that's interesting."
"It's actually not that bad. Or, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Should be interesting, though, since the demon population here is much different from the one in L.A."
"I'm sure you'll figure something out. You always did." There was a pause and it sounded like Gunn was talking with someone with his hand over the receiver. "Look, man, I'm sorry, but I've got to go. It was good talking with you, though."
"You too. Take care." Wesley hung up the phone, feeling a tad bit remorseful at what he had left behind. But before he could wallow too long, the phone rang again. He answered it with another, "Hello?"
"Hey, it's Jonathan. How've you been, stranger?"
"Busy. How're you?"
"Good. Look, we're having another barbeque this Saturday. Bring Stacey with you guys, okay?"
Wesley smiled, the sound of Jonathan's voice enough to put him in a better mood. "Okay. Want us to bring anything else?"
"I'd say an appetite, but that's standard. I'll let you know, okay? And I'm sure you've got to be getting back to work."
Wesley glanced at his watch. He still had a few minutes to go. "At some point it would be nice, but I'm not in a rush."
"Okay, good." Wesley could hear the smile in the other man's voice. "I heard you and Lindsey got some good news. Congratulations."
"Thanks. It's nice to know that someone is noticing what we’re doing and its positive impact.”
"I’ll bet."
Wesley looked at his watch and saw that it was time to head back in. "Hey, I've got to get back to work. We'll see you Saturday, though."
"Great! Talk to you then."
When Wesley got home from his appointment with Dr. Gonzales on Friday, Lindsey asked, "So, what'd the doctor say?"
"She said that everything looks great and that once we're ready, to let her know so she could take out the Norplant." Wesley didn’t mention that he had voiced some concern to her about how he felt like Lindsey was pushing him to do this. Lindsey had always made it abundantly clear that it would be up to Wesley, but sometimes Wesley wasn’t so sure if it was completely his decision.
"That's great!" Lindsey came out of the kitchen and pulled Wesley into a kiss. "So, now that we've gotten the all clear from both your mom and Dr. Gonzales, what can I do to convince you that we should start right away?"
"Daddy!" Zane practically yelled as he ran out of his room. Wesley scooped him up and gave him a hug. Zane squirmed out of Wesley's arms and grabbed his hand. "Come see what I drew!" He pulled Wesley over to the refrigerator and pointed it out.
Wesley took it off the refrigerator and crouched down while he looked at it. "This is great! Let's see…that's you, me, Daddy, Max, Aunt Dory, Uncle Marty, Uncle Jonathan, and Uncle David, right?"
"Yep!" Zane replied proudly. He pointed to the other figure and said, "And that's Stacey."
Wesley smiled and looked at it for a few more seconds before putting it back on the refrigerator.
"Go get washed up, Zane," Lindsey said, wiping his hands on a towel. "We're going to eat in two minutes."
"Okay." Zane ran off.
Lindsey came over and stood next to Wesley to look at the picture. "He was working on that all afternoon. I had to practically drag him away from David and Jonathan's."
"And they spoil him rotten as it is."
"Not like we wouldn't, if the situation was reversed. Besides, I think it's a god-parental right to spoil the kids rotten if the grandmother lives a few thousand miles away."
Wesley smiled as the timer dinged. "True."
Lindsey moved to get the pork chops out of the oven and carefully set the dish on the pad on the bar. Zane came running out from the bathroom and Wesley helped him up into his booster seat as Lindsey finished putting the rest of the food out.
The following afternoon, after collecting Stacey, they headed over to David and Jonathan's for the barbeque.
“You know, it’s going to be weird seeing David out of context," Stacey said on the ride over.
"How do you mean?" Lindsey asked.
"Don’t get me wrong, it’ll be a good weird, but still weird, since I really only see him either at church or on church-related trips. Not, you know, at home with his partner."
Once there, Zane zipped off, disappearing around the back of the house, as soon as he was on the ground. The other three followed, Lindsey carrying a box from the grocery store with a pie. Out back, Stacey was introduced to the others, and Max was pointed out to her, as he was too busy running around with Zane.
"So Dory's what chaos demons normally look like?" Stacey asked Wesley when the group broke up.
"Yes. And we're not sure which one Max will favor until he gets older, since the antlers don't start growing in and the slime doesn't start getting produced until puberty."
"Could be interesting," Stacey commented. "What if one side of him's dry and the other's all slimy?"
Wesley couldn't help but smile. "I doubt it'd happen like that specifically, but I'm sure they'd figure out a way to deal with it."
"So, Stacey, how do you like this whole slaying business so far?" Jonathan asked while they were eating.
"It's definitely interesting so far," she replied before taking a sip of her soda. "Definitely makes you think twice about some all of the monster stuff you hear while you’re growing up."
"It certainly does," David replied. "I remember the first time I came out here to visit Jonathan and we drove through the demon section of town – it was the first time I had seen a demon period, let alone such a variety of them. And he's so blasé about it and I'm freaking out because he'd gotten so used to it, that it hardly made him blink. Now I'm the same way."
"I’m mostly just worried about the part where I'm actually supposed to fight them and kill them. And even though Wesley and I went out on patrol the other night and I bagged a vampire, I doubt everything's going to be like that. I'm not looking forward to fighting the linebacker types that can shoot fire or whatever."
"You don't have to take the deal with the prison if you don't want to," Marty said. "It was just a suggestion that I thought might be mutually beneficial for both sides."
"Just because I'm worried, doesn't mean I'm not going to try it," she replied with a grin. "I just want to get some more experience under my belt first."
"It's always worse when you're first starting out," Wesley said. "And if it's any consolation, you're already light years ahead of where I was when I started to be a Watcher."
"Well, that's different, you're not the one directly facing the demons."
"A Watcher's supposed to offer back up and assistance, if needed. Not just training and researched information. There are a few times that I'm not proud of where I ran screaming like a little girl." The adults in the group laughed. "You'll be fine."
After dinner, Stacey played a sort of tag with Zane and Max – which mostly resulted in her chasing them around the yard with Zane shrieking in laughter. Wesley watched them and smiled, happy with – and a little amazed at – how good his life was at this very moment.
David sat down next to him. "You look good," he replied.
"Thank you," Wesley replied, though he was a bit perplexed as to what would make David say that.
His confusion must have showed because David continued, "Jonathan told me that when you first came here, you seemed haunted. And when I first met you, I would have agreed, though I didn’t think that you seemed that bad off." He looked away to watch the kids as well. "I can definitely tell the difference now." He glanced at Wesley before looking away again. "It’s interesting how God works, isn’t it? He takes what can appear to be something terrible, such as an unwanted pregnancy, or a bad situation at home, or even both, and use it to bless you beyond measure."
Wesley smiled and let out a small chuckle. "You have no idea. If you had asked me four and a half years ago where I saw myself, it would be a far cry from this. But in the end, I have no regrets about how things have turned out."
"And you have an active Slayer – which, from what I’ve heard, is a bit of a crown jewel for a Watcher." David smiled, then turned serious, "But at the same time, I sense that something’s troubling you." He glanced at Wesley, to see if he had guessed right, but Wesley’s expression gave away nothing. "If you ever care to talk about it, you know that Jonathan and I are here for you."
"I know and thank you. But I need to sort some things out first in my own mind. And I think I need to talk with Lindsey, since these things involve him as well."
David patted Wesley’s knee. "Good for you. You’ve got a better handle on a key part of relationships than some people do after fifty years. If the two of you can communicate, it’ll save you a lot of heartache in the long run."
Wesley smiled. "Speaking from experience, are we?"
David grinned back. "Maybe just a little bit. But those first few months after the accident were a godsend. I honestly think that it saved our relationship, even if there are things Jonathan will never be able to do again. And there’s no denying that I’d rather have him the way he is than not have him at all."
Wesley nodded in agreement. "I can completely understand. If anything ever happened to Lindsey, I don’t know what I’d do. Part of me knows that I’d find a way to go on because I’d have to – for Zane’s sake, but…" He trailed off and shook his head.
"Let’s move on to happier topics, shall we?"
Wesley grinned. "Sounds like a great idea."
Two Saturday afternoons, and after a week of solid weapons training, later, Stacey and Wesley met Marty and a few other members of the demon city council at the Demon Correctional Institute just outside of town along with the warden and a few of the head guards.
"The plan for today," Marty said to Wesley and Stacey, "is mainly for the two of you to get an idea of what we'd like to have happen here, as well as a lay of the land. And, hopefully, for us to all hash out any other details that might come up. Any concerns before we get started?"
Stacey tentatively raised her hand. "Well, I’ll admit that I don’t know if I’m ready to face the demons. Do they know that I’m planning on killing them?"
"That’s something we haven’t decided on as of yet," answered the warden. "Though, they’d probably catch on quick enough."
"And what if I can’t kill them?"
"Then we’ll figure something out."
"What if the demon gets the upper hand?"
"We’ll have guards posted around the perimeter to step in if such an event happens."
"And I’ll be there as well," Wesley replied.
"I’m sorry, sir," the warden said to Wesley, "but what exactly is your status? Mr. Meshenak has explained it to me, but I’ll admit that I don’t quite understand."
"I’m Stacey’s Watcher. I train her in fighting techniques and demon lore and types. I’m also her backup when she’s fighting."
The warden nodded. "Okay. I foolishly assumed that the entire Council was wiped out in the explosion a few years ago. I’ll get you a pass as well."
"Thank you," Wesley replied. "And a large portion of it was, but a few that were in the field or out of the building at the time managed to survive and are in the process of slowly rebuilding, as well as making some much needed changes."
"Now, here’s what we wish to have happen," the warden said to Stacey. "We understand that, while you’ve been training with Mr. Wyndam-Pryce and have reached a high level of proficiency in both weapons and hand-to-hand, you haven’t had much experience with actual fighting."
"That’s right," she replied.
"We would like to propose that, prior to your starting on the death row inmates, we schedule some time for you to spar with some of our minimum security inmates. This would be with the mutual understanding of both sides that ‘to the death’ is not an option and that even serious injury should be avoided at all costs."
Wesley could tell that Stacey liked the idea. "Okay," she answered, "but I’d like at least a little time to think about it."
"Of course." He stood. "If you’d like to follow us, we’ll take you out and show you the yard, so you can get an idea of what sort of space you’ll be working with."
The group stood and followed the guards into the yard. "This side is where you would be doing your sparring," the warden said. "Guards are on the perimeter wall at all times whenever inmates are out here. And over there," he pointed across the yard to a section of it that was fenced off, "is where you’d be fighting the death row inmates."
Wesley surveyed their surroundings. Everything looked like a normal prison, but he detected an undercurrent of magic as well. "Is the perimeter magically enforced as well?" he asked.
"It is," the warden replied. "We also have the fences between the two sections of the yard electrified as well. We take as many precautions as we can to keep our inmates where they belong."
As they made their way back inside, they passed through the minimum security cellblock, which brought a number of catcalls from the inmates.
"Is it supposed to tingle like this?" Stacey whispered to Wesley. "Because since we got near here it was a light tingle and now it’s like a definite hum."
"Yes, it is," Wesley replied. "But you’ll get used to it after a while."
"Good, because it’s kind of weirding me out right now – even more than the catcalls."
"I’m sure that as soon as they realize that you mean business, that’ll stop."
"It better."
As they made their way out, there was one particular catcall that was directed at Wesley. Wesley's expression betrayed no reaction as Stacey leaned in again and commented, "Just the reason why you and Lindsey need to have a commitment ceremony."
"I highly doubt the catcalling in a place like this would stop just because of a ring on my finger," he replied tersely as they exited.
After dropping Stacey off, Wesley wandered down onto campus, having the odd luxury of a few hours to himself. He knew that he needed to sort at least one of his dilemmas out and that it needed to be done with as few distractions as possible.
He let his mind wander for a few minutes as he walked amazed at how quiet it was at that time of day. When he was a child he had hoped that he would get married one day – until he realized his inclinations tended towards men the majority of the time. And now that he had found Lindsey, the idea of committing himself to Lindsey for the rest of their lives before his friends, was starting to become appealing again. Was it an ultimately necessary move? No.
He supposed that the main reason for *not* doing it was that things would change and he had never been a big fan of change. Sure, it would mostly be in subtle ways that in the day-to-day would mean nothing, but it would mean that their relationship was permanent. And while Wesley knew deep down, that their relationship already was permanent, he liked clinging to the illusion that he still had a way out. But the more he examined the idea of marrying Lindsey, the more comfortable he became with it.
But…who would propose to whom? Would they even propose, since they had already discussed it? What if they ended up having to pick a date in which they couldn’t use Dory and Marty’s backyard? Where would they have the ceremony and reception then? Did they even need to have a reception? And how big of a ceremony was Lindsey thinking of having? Personally, Wesley preferred a smaller gathering with just their closest friends but he knew deep down that it wouldn’t fly because even *he* could think of too many people that he would want to include.
That night, after Zane had gone to sleep, Wesley was curled up on the couch reading. Lindsey came over carrying two glasses of wine and, after handing one of the glasses to Wesley, sat down next to him. Lindsey held Wesley’s gaze as he took a sip of his wine, as if he had known all evening that Wesley had wanted to talk to him and was now trying to draw it out by sheer force of will. And Wesley supposed that Lindsey had gotten to know him well enough since they had gotten together that he would know when Wesley wanted to talk about something.
"I’ve decided that I want to go through with the ceremony, if you do," Wesley finally said.
"As far as proposals go, that one rather sucked," Lindsey replied before laughing and putting his hand on Wesley’s knee, "but I’ll take it."
"So you were expecting me to propose?" Wesley asked, not sure if he should be indignant or not.
"Not necessarily, but it would make more sense, since you were the one who had the most reservations about the whole thing."
"And are you planning on accepting or not?"
"Well…" Lindsey drew the word out and pretended to think it over. "I think I’ll accept."
"You *think*?" Wesley gently kicked him in the thigh. "And what would I have to do to convince you?"
"Promise me your second born." He paused to let it sink in. "Just kidding." He sobered and, after studying Wesley's face for a few moments, he said, "This is a *huge* step for us. Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with it? Because I'm planning on taking the whole ‘til death do us part’ thing *very* seriously. Babe, I’m willing to wait until you're completely ready – for this and the baby." He gently squeezed Wesley’s knee. "And if you never are, I'll still be here."
Wesley wasn't completely sure how to respond.
As if sensing his apprehension, Lindsey said, "How about this? We both take this next week to think about it and then we see where we stand this time next week and go from there?"
Wesley nodded. "Okay."
Lindsey smiled and held up his glass. "A toast, then. To whatever we decide, whenever we decide it, however we decide it."
Wesley clinked his glass on Lindsey's and they both drank. "Thank you," he finally said. "You're more than I deserve."
Lindsey grinned. "I think that works both ways, baby." Taking Wesley's glass from him, he set their glasses down on the coffee table and leaned in to kiss him.
That Friday evening was Stacey’s first sparring match and she was, understandably, on edge when they arrived. After going through the security checkpoints, Wesley stopped Stacey before they entered the yard. Turning her to face him, Wesley put his hands on her shoulders and said, "You'll do great. You've come along way since we first started and I'm really proud of you."
Stacey grinned. "With a teacher like you, it'd be hard not to."
Wesley smiled. "But that doesn't mean you can be careless out there. Just as you can feel that they're demons, they can feel that you're a Slayer. While there are certain boundaries on the fight, they won't be pulling any punches, and they might even fight dirty. Trust your instincts even if your head's telling you something different. Nine times out of ten, they're more accurate."
Stacey let out a breath. "Okay."
"Remember what you learned about this guy?"
She nodded. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"
Wesley nodded and adjusted the strap of his weapons bag before they went out into the yard. The yard was full with demons milling about as they waited for things to get started and guards were patrolling on the wall. As the pair went deeper into the yard, a buzz started, and demons started to gather around them. Once they hit the center of the yard, another demon stepped up to face them, having his own group of demons behind him.
"I see we're all here," the head guard said, as he also came up – having been appointed the 'referee' for the fights. "Now, remember, no death and no serious injuries allowed. Only two people allowed per fight – the Slayer and the challenging demon. There will be *no* tag-teaming. Weapons are allowed. The fight ends after a twenty count." To the group, he said, "Now, give them some room."
Wesley handed Stacey the weapons bag and backed up with everyone else. He watched as she set it on the ground, opened it, and rifled through it, even though she had watched him pack it earlier that evening. Once she was satisfied, she straightened and she squared off with the demon. They sized each other up and after a moment, the demon made the first move. Stacey easily blocked and they danced around each other for a while, trading light blows to test each other. When they did finally start fighting in earnest, Wesley watched her with a close eye, critiquing her style and her moves, watching for flaws in her fighting style. She was doing quite well and was able to easily hold her own, though he knew that she was up against an easy opponent and that, from here on, it would get tougher.
She easily bested him and after she was declared the winner, she came back to Wesley amid hoots, cheers, boos, and catcalls with a smile. "How'd I do?" she asked.
"Quite well," he replied. "Though, you tend to leave your left side open more often. Be careful about that or someone's going to catch on and we don't want it to be the wrong person. How do you feel about it?"
"Good, but it felt like it was almost too easy. I think you've been harder on me." They both smiled.
Wesley happened to catch the eyes of the head guard who motioned as if to ask if Stacey wanted to go another round with someone else. "Feel up to another fight with someone else?"
"Sure," she replied. "But maybe a *little* tougher this time?"
Wesley nodded. "Okay, let's see what we can do."
They conferred with the guard, who called another demon out of the crowd. As it was busy posturing, Stacey pulled Wesley aside and said, "Okay, give me a quick rundown."
Wesley sized the demon up. "Moderately strong, tough skin like an alligator's, agile. Its fighting skill isn't much to speak of – goes more on bravado and trying to psych its opponent out so it can run away, but it will fight when cornered."
"Any claws or anything like that I should worry about?"
"No, but it's got a tongue like a frog's and it'll more than likely use that in the fight, since it's not big on handheld weapons."
She nodded as the guard motioned her over. "Any last minute stuff?"
Wesley squeezed her shoulder. "Good luck."
As she fought her second demon, Wesley could see that she was conscious of not keeping her left side open, but did her best to not let it show, knowing it was something he'd have to work on with her. But she did have an innate talent for fighting that he knew would come in handy later. She was also able to think fast on her feet – more than once she used the demon's tongue against it.
After Stacey had bested the second demon, it stood and held out its webbed version of a hand. Stacey glanced at Wesley, who gave a quick nod, and she shook with it. As they left, she asked, "So, do I get a gold star?"
"I think that can be arranged," Wesley replied with a smile. "How do you feel?"
"Good. Tired. But a good tired." Wesley nodded as he turned a corner. "And a little sore."
"That's to be expected," he said. "Kind of comes with the territory."
"So Mr. Heating Blanket and Mr. Advil will become my best friends soon?"
"Along with the wonderful people in the medical profession – in your case probably the attending physician at the prison."
"Oooh, fun. But let's hope not too much. Unless he's cute and 100% human."
Wesley chuckled. "At least you're looking on the bright side of things."
She looked out the window. "I try. It's helping me get through the whole, 'I just fought two demons in a demon prison and won' weirdness since it just eclipsed the whole 'I staked a *real* vampire and it exploded into a cloud of dust' weirdness."
Wesley nodded. "Good idea. And sooner or later, something will come along that'll eclipse all of this in the weirdness scale and make the whole demon/Slayer thing seem normal."
"And I'm going to keep my mouth shut before I jinx myself," she said as they pulled up in front of her dorm. "See you later, Wesley."
"Bye, Stacey."
The next day, after Zane's swimming lesson, Lindsey took Wesley and Zane out for lunch at Eskimo Joe's. As Zane happily colored on the kid's placemat, and after the waitress took their food order, Lindsey took Wesley's hand, which had been resting on the table.
Wesley knew what was coming, and couldn't help the twin waves of excitement and fear, as time seemed to slow down for a handful of seconds. But the feel of Lindsey's hand in his, and his thumb gently stroking the space between Wesley's thumb and pointer finger, kept him grounded and he didn't say anything, just kept hold of Lindsey's gaze. He was vaguely aware of Zane's gaze going back and forth between them for a moment, as if he knew something was up, before going back to his coloring.
Lindsey cleared his throat and said, "Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, would you do me the honor of marrying me?”
Wesley looked at the man Lindsey and then looked at their son and knew that, no matter what insecurities he might have about doing such a thing, there was no way he would ever be able to say no and have a duly sufficient reason. "Yes," he finally whispered.
Lindsey grinned and squeezed Wesley's hand before pulling away so the waitress could set their food down on the table. Once she had gone, he grabbed Wesley's hand again and said, "Thank you." He pulled out a slightly rectangular box, which Wesley had no idea had been smuggled into the restaurant – let alone anywhere else – without his realizing it. He slid it across the table. "I know it's customary to get a ring in this situation, but I kind of figure that that wouldn't exactly be appropriate."
Wesley chuckled. "No, probably not."
"What's that, Daddy?" Zane asked, curious.
"I don't know," Wesley replied. He moved the box so it was between them. "Want to help me open it?"
Zane nodded and they opened it together to reveal a watch. "Wow," Wesley replied. "This is beautiful." He gently took it out of the box to look at it closer and engraved on the back of the face were their initials. He put it on. "I love it."
"And I’m sure you're going to need it with all the planning we're going to have to do."
Wesley laughed. "Very true."
"And I have something for you too," Lindsey said to Zane, handing him a gift-wrapped object. Zane opened it to reveal a copy of Swiss Family Robinson. As he studied the picture on the cover, Lindsey said, "It's for us to read after we finish Treasure Island."
Zane looked up and smiled. "Thank you, Daddy."
"I think it would be safe to toss the 'rule' that an engagement should be at least six months long," Wesley said as he poured some ketchup into Zane's meal basket for him, "since that was to help the bride and groom to make sure they knew what they were getting into."
"Yeah, because if we haven't learned in three and a half years, I doubt we will," Lindsey replied with a laugh.
Wesley smiled. "I completely agree. Not that I think we should rush into this half-cocked, but at least we don't have to bow to tradition on that part."
Lindsey let out a laugh. "I think the book of tradition is still being *written* for people like us."
"What's going on, Daddy?" Zane asked between bites of a chicken nugget.
"We're going to have a party to show people how much we love each other," Wesley replied.
"Oh.” Zane wrinkled his brow. “But you and Daddy already show people how much you love each other. Can we have it now?"
"Not yet," Lindsey replied. "We have to get everything ready and make sure everyone can come. Would you like to help us get the party ready?"
Zane grinned. "Yes. Can we have cake?"
"Definitely," Wesley replied.
"And ice cream? And balloons?"
"We'll see," Lindsey replied. "But let's finish eating first and then we'll decide when we're going to have it, okay?"
"Okay," Zane replied. "But not Saturday, that's Trey's birthday party."
"Don't worry," Wesley replied with an amused smile, "it won't be Saturday."
As soon as they got home, Wesley called Elisa to let her know the good news. After receiving her congratulations and arguing with her over the plane ticket, he handed the phone over to Lindsey.
"Your mom's going to be over here from just before Thanksgiving, to just after New Year's right?" Lindsey asked after he got off the phone.
"Correct," Wesley replied.
"Well…" Wesley could practically see the wheels turning in Lindsey's head. "Do you think we could throw something together between those dates? Or did you want something really big?"
Wesley laughed. "Smaller is definitely better." He thought for a moment or two. "I *suspect* we could. But we'll be dealing with Thanksgiving and Christmas as well."
Lindsey flipped their wall calendar to December. "Well, the second weekend of December is about smack dab in between the two holidays. We could ask around and see what people think."
Wesley nodded. "And while it may be verging on crazy with getting things ready for Christmas, I'm sure that people would enjoy an excuse to relax and party for an afternoon or an evening."
Lindsey nodded. "Since we're just over five months away, we better get moving on this."
“Athough, how are we going to tell Stacey without getting her too excited?”
“Is that even an option?” Lindsey asked with a smirk as he moved closer to Wesley.
“Probably not,” Wesley replied with a smile as he captured Lindsey’s lips.
They broke the news to Stacey when she met up with them before the show that night. She shrieked and threw her arms around first Wesley and then Lindsey. "That's great! I’m so happy for you two."
"Just don't let anyone else know just yet, okay?" Lindsey asked. "We're still trying to figure a few things out before we start announcing it to everyone."
"Having answers to the obvious questions would definitely be a good idea," she agreed. She paused, her eyes widened slightly and she grinned. "I could *so* be your wedding planner if you want. I know a few people who wouldn't mind helping out with different things – like photography or doing the music at the reception. Plus, with Zane and me and everything, I'm sure you two will be busy."
"Probably not any more than normal," Wesley replied.
"Please let me do this? It'll be, like, part of my wedding present to you guys."
"Let us think about it, okay?"
"Okay. Does Zane know?"
"He knows that we're having a party and he's excited about that, but I doubt he'd get the whole concept if we tried to explain it to him."
"True. He's so good and articulate that sometimes I forget he's three and a half. Okay, I'll let you two go, since I know there will be other people wanting to talk to you."
Lindsey smiled as Wesley said, "I'll see you tomorrow, correct?"
"Correct-o-mundo. Three o'clock at the Y."
Wesley nodded. "I'll see you then."
She smiled. "It's a date. Well, not a *date* date, but –"
"You better get going before inquiring minds will want to know," Lindsey teased.
She blushed slightly and as she left to find a table for her and her friends, Wesley said quietly, "It might be a good idea to have her help out. Especially if we do end up having it in December with Thanksgiving, Christmas, Zane's birthday, and my mum coming over."
Lindsey nodded. "What do you think about David doing the ceremony?"
Wesley nodded, thoughtfully. "I definitely like the idea. I think that talking to him will definitely help us pin down a date. And what about a location? I don't think it'd be a wise idea to have it at Dory and Marty's in December – as perfect as their place might be."
"I’m sure we'll be able to find a place to have it."
Just then Lindsey was called up to the stage for his second set. He gave Wesley a quick peck on the lips and headed up.
“Mr. MacDonald!” a man in a business suit called once most of the group had dispersed after the show. "My name's Ed Hollister and this is Jim Jones. We're from Compo! Records."
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you both,” Lindsey replied as they all shook hands, “and this is my partner, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce.”
They settled into a booth as Hollister continued, "We're very impressed with your talent, Mr. McDonald, and we're interested in offering you a contract." He opened the briefcase he had placed on the table, pulled out a few sheets of paper and slid them across the table.
Wesley waited quietly as Lindsey read over the contract, not sure what to say or expect in a situation like this, and watched his facial expressions as he read over the contract. Wesley could see excitement, and a little bit of trepidation, and what could only be described as ‘kid in a candy store’ flit across his face before Lindsey schooled his features again. When he was done, Lindsey neatly set it down on the table and Wesley knew that he was in business mode and was prepared to negotiate. He shifted slightly to settle in and watch his partner work.
Lindsey went through each clause of the contract with the lawyers – such as asking about specifics of what would happen during the demo recordings, copyrights, what sort of say he would have in the instrumentation of the songs.
"The contract looks sound," Lindsey finally replied, "but I do have a few stipulations of my own before I sign it."
"Okay," Hollister replied as Jones poised to take notes on the legal pad he had pulled out while Lindsey was reading over the contract. "We're willing to listen and negotiate."
"Firstly, I'm in a committed relationship with Wesley and neither of us is inclined to hiding that fact if we feel it's necessary to reveal it."
Jones scribbled on his pad while they nodded, expressions schooled. "Duly noted, Mr. McDonald. And secondly?"
"We have a son together and so I would, obviously, like to spend as little time away from them as possible. I’d like to have the option of having them with me at all times – whether I’m recording or on tour.”
There was more scribbling and nodding. "All right." The men looked like they were waiting for Lindsey to continue.
"That's it – for now."
Jones started to put his things away and Hollister picked up the contract. "We'll make the necessary addendums and fax the new copy to you. What's the number?" Lindsey gave the office number to him and once the agents had put their things away, the four men stood and shook hands. "We'll be in touch."
"It seemed like that went well," Wesley said once the agents were out of earshot and as they made their way out.
"I think it did," Lindsey agreed. They climbed into the truck and he turned to look at Wesley. "You're not mad at me, are you?"
Wesley furrowed his brow. "No, why would I be?"
"Well, I took this opportunity without consulting you. We talked over your decision to take on Stacey as your Slayer."
"Lindsey, we both know that you love your music. If you hadn't taken this opportunity, I would have pushed you into it. And the situation with Stacey was different – I was terrified of what might happen if I took her on and things turned out horribly again."
Lindsey grasped Wesley's hand in his. "I don't think you could mess up with her – not like before. Stacey adores you."
Wesley looked out the window. "But there's so many other ways for it to happen."
"I know, but it won't." Lindsey squeezed Wesley's hand. "You were just a pawn in their game and put into a bad situation – you've said so yourself. Be thankful you're getting a second chance. One that looks like it's got bumpers in the gutters."
Wesley gave Lindsey a small smile. "I'm sorry, this shouldn't be about me."
"Don't worry about it. So, you're really okay with me doing this?"
"Yes." Wesley squeezed Lindsey's hand back. "You're getting a chance to do something you love. You're happy, so therefore I'm happy."
Wesley grabbed a tablet of paper and a pen before sitting down for breakfast and said, "Regardless of whether or not we're going to do this thing in December, we need to start planning for it now."
Lindsey nodded as he took a sip of his coffee. "So, how traditional do we want to do this?" he asked with a smirk, while setting down his mug. "I'm assuming that having the ceremony done at the courthouse isn't exactly going to work in this state. Do we want to take the traditional route as much as possible or do we want to decide on things as we go along?"
"Well, I doubt flying by the seat of our pants will help us very much in the long run.” Wesley tapped the butt end of his pen against the paper. “But I do like the idea of having at least *some* of the traditional aspects of the ceremony. Though, I think that dispensing with the flower girl and the whole 'being walked down the aisle by a father or father-like figure ' would be a good idea." Wesley gave a smirk of his own. "That reminds me – which one of us is going to be the bride?"
"That would be one of the things I'd *gladly* throw out."
"Agreed. And we are both agreed in talking to David about officiating, correct?"
"Correct. I wonder if his church would let us have the ceremony there. They're pretty tolerant as far as denominations go. And it'd solve the problem of the location."
Wesley jotted a few things down on the tablet. "Good idea. What about decorations?"
Continue in Part 3
