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A New Flower
July 2006
1,153 words

Written for summer_of_giles & slash_100
Prompt: 021 - Birth
Written for miniera who chose the prompt.

***

Xander looked up from his book when he heard the front door's lock rattling. Startled, he put the book down on the coffee table. Giles and Wesley weren't supposed to be back until much later, and Xander had been enjoying his quiet evening. It was the first time he had found himself alone in the house since he'd moved in over two months before. That was one of the drawbacks of living with two other men; there was very little alone time.

"Hello, Xander!" Wesley dropped his suitcase by the door and hung his raincoat on the rack.

"Hey, you're in early."

Wesley chuckled, walking to the couch and kissing Xander quickly. "I'm sorry to interrupt your evening. I know you'd been looking forward to it."

Xander gave him a small smile. "Nah, it's okay. I'm glad you're here. Where've you been?"

"Rupert didn't mention?"

"No, he just said you'd be back later than he would." Come to think of it, even Giles had sounded like he wanted to evade the question, a little like Wesley was doing now. This double occurrence could only mean one of three things: it had something to do with something Xander wouldn't be happy about, they were plotting a surprise of some kind, or it concerned someone who didn't know about Xander's existence yet. The third option seemed more likely here, but Xander wouldn't risk a guess. He'd been wrong before.

"Ah, I see," Wesley said. He walked to the kitchen and Xander could hear him moving around, whistling, and opening and closing cupboards.

"There's pizza in the oven," Xander called.

"Thank you! That will do nicely. Unless you picked anchovies again."

"You're confusing me with Giles." Xander grinned to himself, shaking his head at his lover's short memory. He picked his book up from the table and turned back to the page he was on.

"We leave you alone for an evening, and you use this time to read?" Wesley bent down to read over Xander's shoulder. He had a slice of pizza in his hand, and a paper towel in the other.

Xander held up the book so that Wesley could see the cover, laughing a little at the look on Wesley's face when he deciphered the title.

"Building Traditional Kitchen Cabinets," Wesley read aloud. "How fascinating." He smiled at Xander, gesturing for him to move. He sat at Xander's side on the couch, pulling him closer until Xander was half lying on Wesley's lap. "Is it for a new contract?"

Xander shook his head, settling more comfortably against Wesley's chest. "No. Willow and Tara are thinking about redoing their kitchen, and they've asked me for ideas." He looked up at Wesley and smiled when Wesley took a bite of his pizza. "You've avoiding the question."

"Am I?"

"Yes." Wesley took another bite, and Xander noticed for the first time the faint blush on his cheeks and the way he seemed to be avoiding Xander's gaze. Interesting. Especially coupled with the smile that wouldn't leave his lips. "Come on, whatever it is, it obviously makes you happy. Tell me!"

"You'll laugh."

"I won't!"

"All right-Fred gave birth this morning."

Ah. Okay. One of the friends who didn't even know Xander existed. Xander suddenly didn't want to know any more. It was still a sore subject between them, although they avoided the question as much as they could. "Your friend Fred that I've heard about but never met?" He tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but he knew he wasn't very good at it. He'd met Charles, Fred's husband, very briefly once when he'd been working at the bookshop-Charles had brought some wood over for the shelves-but Wesley, Giles and himself hadn't been involved then, and there hadn't been any reasons for it to be awkward at all.

"That would be her," Wesley replied, tightening his arms around Xander.

"I didn't know she was pregnant."

"I-"

Xander shook his head. "It's okay. I get it really."

"No, love, I should-I should have done things differently."

With a nod, Xander looked up and gave Wesley a reassuring smile. "So she had her baby-" He really didn't want to ruin Wesley's good mood.

"Yes." Wesley smiled again, his eyes gaining this faraway look that Xander had already associated to Wesley being lost in his memories. "Charles has asked me to be the godfather."

"That's awesome!"

"Oh, I'm rather flabbergasted, considering it was right after I told him about you."

Xander sat up then; he really hadn't been expecting this, not after the last talk they'd had on the subject, which had ended with Wesley sulking for days. He had even slept on the couch, something that was, according to Giles, completely unheard of. "You told him?"

Wesley nodded. "Yes. We were in the waiting room while they were getting Fred settled, and it-it just popped out. I told him everything." He took Xander's hand in his own. "Charles said-well, to be honest, he didn't say much of anything."

"Except to ask you to be godfather."

"Yes. Oh, Xander, I held her in my arms. She's such a tiny thing, so very tiny. Holding her, it was-it felt-"

Xander pulled Wesley closer and kissed him soundly. "Why would I laugh about this?"

Wesley shook his head, blushing again. He was so beautiful when he blushed. "I'm afraid I'll be making a real fool of myself over this child."

"I didn't know you liked children." Xander smiled, settling back against Wesley's chest.

"Neither did I, to be honest. I've never had much contact with children at all. But she-I'm looking forward to watching this one grow."

"What's her name?"

"Emily." Wesley's fingers moved across Xander's stomach in a circling motion, not quite tickling. "She's the most gorgeous little thing."

"Heh, I guess Rupert and I will have to meet her now, we do have to keep an eye out for the competition. You look like you just fell in love." Xander chuckled, running his hand up and down Wesley's forearm.

Wesley smiled at him and bent down for a kiss. His tongue traced Xander's lips, not quite seeking entrance. "Will Rupert be home soon?"

Xander turned to look at the clock. "Ten or fifteen minutes, I think. His meeting should be done by now, Mr. Godfather." He sat up, book forgotten and hands already working at Wesley's shirt buttons.

"I'll take you both to meet Emily, Fred and Charles in the morning," Wesley said. He pushed Xander to his feet and unbuckled his belt. "They want to meet you. But in the mean time," he said, standing and kissing Xander's collarbone through his shirt. "Let's go upstairs and surprise Rupert with a nice coming-home present."

"Hear, hear!" Xander agreed, already moving towards the stairs, Wesley on his heels. His evening wouldn't be so bad after all.