Title: Family Part 18

Email: tirel@pcnuthut.com

Author: Velvet Crypt

Disclaimer: Joss is God. I own nothing.

Spoilers: Um…total non canon.

Summary: Coming home.

Two days later, the doctors pronounced Lys well enough to be released. Spike and Xander had taken turns at her side for the past 48 hours, not just so she would always have someone with her, but also because it allowed them to avoid each other. They didn’t spend more than 30 seconds at a time in each other’s company. The pain was blatantly real. Even to those not close to the boys.

Officers Grey and Thompson had taken to lounging at the other end of the waiting room. Their job was to make sure that Nate didn’t run and Ellie was properly cared for while in LA. It was obvious after the first hour that nothing on heaven or earth was going to move Nate from his ‘Uncles’ sides, and Ellie was being spoiled rotten. Her feet hadn’t touched the ground once in the last day and a half.

So, they sat and watched the dynamic of the group in front of them. Their conclusion? Jessica and Tony Harris were full of shit. They hadn’t liked the elder Harris couple. You didn’t spend as many years on the force as Grey and Thompson had without developing a sixth sense for dishonesty. And the Harris’s were about as dishonest as they came. But they had to follow orders, and so they herded two horribly unhappy children into a car and drove hours away to let them visit their sister. A sister who would rather run away with no money and overdose herself on drugs than stay home one more minute.

They were prepared to dislike Alexander Harris and his boyfriend. They were prepared to be disgusted at the sexual antics of two gay men performing in front of three juveniles. They were prepared for nearly anything. Anything but what happened. This Xander Harris wasn’t a pervert. He honestly seemed to love and care for the kids as though they were his own. The officers could see the guilt and fear in his every move, but he tried to paste on a cheery face for the kids. He never lied to them, but he tried to be as positive about the whole situation as possible.

Grey and Thompson appreciated that. Too often the adult treated the kids like they were pets; too stupid to realize something was wrong. Things were sugar coated, bribes were made to stop the crying. But those things never happened. Even the other one, Spike…what the hell kind of name was Spike anyway?…he treated them like little people, not ‘kids.’

He was an enigma, that one. He looked like the last person on earth to be gay, but the love he felt for he Harris boy was not questionable. Every time they looked at each other, sparks flared. They didn’t hang on each other or suck face like the officers had expected. The men barely even touched each other. They had shaken hands in the hallway after Xander came out of Lys’s room. Grey watched their hands tremble as they touched, but they smiled for the rest of the group and then moved apart.

They hadn’t touched since. Grey was pretty sure they wanted to. Not to kiss, or grope…no, they just looked like they needed to glean comfort from each other, like they were from the kids. But neither acted on it. He knew it was because of him and Thompson. He knew that the two men wanted to show them that the kids weren’t in danger from any illicit sex shows, but Grey almost wished they would hold each other. The waves of need emanating from both of them were intense.

Thompson was amazed at the kids’ recuperative powers. He watched a teenaged hooligan on the road to prison do a complete 180-degree turn. They boy was now curled up next to the blonde boyfriend animatedly reading a motorcycle magazine with him. He had smiled more in the last 10 minutes than the entire week he’d been in custody. That Spike guy…Spike?…Had given the boy a right good ass-chewing, too. He lectured him for nearly 15 minutes straight, not allowing the boy to speak, on how stupid the boy’s actions of the last few weeks were. Then he hugged him and they sat down together to talk about the boy’s reasons and how he was planning to put this behind him.

And the little girl. She refused to be touched, by anyone. She wouldn’t speak. She just sat, still and silent, like a vegetable. Now, she was lying on the floor, coloring with a large man in a leather jacket who looked all of 25 yet responded to Grampa. She laughed, she smiled, she talked. She even manipulated Grampa into buying her an ice cream before lunch. Angel had looked guilty, but not apologetic when Xander had walked out to find Ellie with vanilla ice cream smeared on her face.

Xander had sternly lectured Angel about snacks before lunch and how, as an adult, Angel should know better. Xander then turned to Ellie and frowned. The little girl had looked innocently up at him and blinked her big brown eyes. Xander sighed and knelt down to wipe her face off with a napkin. He kissed her sticky nose and stood back up. Glaring at a grinning Angel he pointed a warning finger and went to get a wet cloth.

The girl in the hospital, Lys, had not originally been given a very promising outlook. The police were told to let Nate and Ellie know that their sister was in a really bad way and were told to keep the other kids away from her if she got too tired. Yet, as soon as she saw everyone together, she’d begun improving immediately. Thompson could hear laughter ringing through the closed door at nearly anytime of the day, no matter which family member was in there.

The officers talked it over between each other. How was it that these people were so bad for the kids? How was it that these people were the ‘bad guys’ when they brought back the spark of light that those grandparents had nearly extinguished. Coming to a decision, they placed a call to their captain.

_________________________________________________

Xander had mixed feelings. He was thrilled that Lys was better, that her healing had skyrocketed as soon as the pentacle had been together. But…what now? What happened when she went ‘home’? They’d be back to square one. Granted, Spike had managed to talk some sense into Nate. Xander was pretty sure the boy was going the straight and narrow from now on. Spike was capable of painting very scary pictures when the need arose. Buffy said that even the police turned white at some of the things Spike alluded to.

Ellie and Lys had promised to talk about the visions and to call Willow and Tara whenever it became too much. But the problem still remained…was it enough? Would that be enough contact to keep them sane? To keep them all sane?

Finally, the hour of Lys’s release arrived. Xander wheeled her out of the hospital room and out to the parking lot. Angel carried Ellie and Spike walked with his arm around Nate. The other scoobies trailed along behind, trying not to cry. Just before getting in the squad car, Grey and Thompson pulled Giles aside. They talked for a bit, handed Giles a sheaf of papers and got into the squad car with grins.

Giles hurried back to the group with a slightly bewildered, yet thrilled look on his face. “What is it, Giles?” Buffy asked for them all. Giles waved the papers in the air and then picked up Buffy in a huge bone-crushing hug. Buffy blinked owlishly in astonishment at her normally staid Watcher. As soon as he set Buffy down, he repeated his gesture with Willow. Before he set her down, he planted a smacking kiss on her forehead.

Willow’s expression cause giggles to escape from nearly everyone. Even Spike looked as though he were fighting a grin. “Umm…Giles? Are you feeling okay?” Willow asked, touching her forehead warily, as though whatever it was could be catching.

“You did it, Willow!’ Giles nearly shouted. “You and Spike did it!”

“What? What did we do?”

Giles thrust the papers at her and turned to look at the others. “Willow has been working with Spike everyday compiling a Harris history of abuse and unsafe parenting from the police, the hospital, witnesses, etc. They looked up case after case on the Internet, documenting and cross referencing everything and then turned it all in to CPS and the Sunnydale police.”

Willow began grinning as she continued to read. Buffy growled, causing Spike to give her a grateful look. “And?”

“And, based on the information in that report and the report those two officers,” he pointed behind him to the squad car, “just gave their superiors…CPS has revised their decision to place the children with Xander’s parents.”

The kids looked at each other, practically glowing. Xander and Spike looked as though it all might fall apart in the next moment. “Granted, the charges against Xander still need to be addressed,” Giles continued, “so going home is not an option. Instead, they have appointed a neutral third party, with some knowledge of the children, as a foster guardian until the case is settled.”

“So? Who is the guardian?” Buffy demanded.

Willow threw herself at Giles and wrapped her arms around him. “It’s Giles!” She laughed into his jacket. “They appointed Giles!”

Tara looked confused. “Um, didn’t they say that spending time at the Magick Shop was bad for the kids? How is it that Giles, the owner, can be appointed their guardian?”

Giles peeked out over the top of Willow’s head. “The police pointed out to CPS that my ‘Wicca religion’ was my constitutional right. The Harris’s were forced to withdraw the morality complaint. The only thing left is the…errr…the um, picture…thing.” He faltered to a halt, turning red.

Dawn snorted. “That’s dealt with easily enough. There are plenty of witnesses that can claim they hadn’t screwed before then, and that Nate, Lys and Ellie were out of the house at the time.”

“Dawnie!” Buffy said shocked. Dawn rolled her eyes.

“Whatever.”

_____________________________________________

Three weeks later found Giles and Xander ushering Nate, Ellie and Lys into a Family Court courtroom. The girls came in a few minutes later with a still smoking Spike under an umbrella of the girls’ trench coats. He had actually worn a suit. Buffy took the liberty of closing the blinds in the courtroom. Giles looked thoroughly humiliated when the bailiff stepped up and asked her what she was doing, and she glared at him.

She announced that her friend was very photosensitive and it was possible to get burns from direct sunlight. She demanded to know if this weren’t a public building and shouldn’t they accommodate the public? Tara maneuvered her away from the rapidly disintegrating situation. She apologized for her friend and after 2 minutes of smiling and chatting with Tara, the bailiff shut all of the blinds and went to get Tara a cup of water.

Tara blushed at the smirk Spike gave her as she sat down, but held her head high. She was grateful, however, when officers Grey and Thompson entered the courtroom. Xander stood to shake hands with them and offer his thanks for getting his kids out of the Harris house. Not too long afterwards, Jessica and Tony Harris entered. The chill was obvious. The kids shut down immediately. They stopped laughing and poking each other and hunkered in their seats, purposefully not making eye contact.

Jessica headed straight for Xander, seeming to ignore the fact that there were two policemen in uniform. “You little bastard.” She hissed. “You’d do anything to get your hands on that money, wouldn’t you?”

Xander put his hands in his pockets deliberately, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. “Mom.” He said calmly. “How are you?” Jessica bared her teeth and slapped him. The sound of her hand cracking against his cheek was startlingly loud in the hush of the courtroom. Spike growled and surged to his feet. Xander managed to get a hand out of his pocket before the vampire lunged at the woman and place it on Spike’s chest.

Grey and Thompson each grabbed one of Jessica’s arms and jerked her away from Xander.

“Congratulations, Mrs. Harris.” Grey said with a slight smile. “You’re under arrest for assault.”

Tony Harris charged like a bull. He aimed for his son, but with his head ducked down, he didn’t notice Thompson intervene. He took Thompson in the stomach. He and the officer went down in a heap with Tony screaming threats the whole way. “I’ll kill you! You little faggot! You’ll never get those kids! I’ll make sure you never get them if I have to get rid of them!”

With the help of the bailiff, Thompson managed to throw Harris off and flip him over onto his face. He roughly cuffed him and hauled him to his feet. He then dragged Tony Harris out of the courtroom with a chuckling Grey right behind him. As soon as the door shut behind them, Xander was heading for the kids, Spike right behind him.

They pulled their kids into an embrace and sank to the ground to include Ellie. As they huddled there, a faint green glow rose from their bodies. The bailiff cleared his throat self-consciously and asked for all to rise for the Honorable Maggie Brannik. Xander and Spike forced themselves to let go and helped the kids back to their seats. As Judge Brannik settled herself into her chair, the two men moved back to their chairs.

Xander felt a cool hand brush his cheek, across the handprint that throbbed, and turned his gaze to meet Spike’s. The bright blue eyes radiated concern and love. Xander briefly leaned into the touch and then it was gone, and they faced forward again. Judge Brannik asked where the elder Harris’s were and the bailiff approached her bench to whisper briefly into her ear. She raised her eyebrows and nodded.

“Very well. I think it’s pretty obvious that Jessica and Anthony Harris have forfeited their rights to custody with their rather frightening threats of bodily harm.” She began, looking over her glasses. “Now I suppose the only thing we are here to settle today, is if Mr. Alexander Harris is any better of a choice.”

“I would like to address four issues here today. First, if your home, Mr. Harris, is of adequate stature and the environment is a nurturing one. Second, what kind of daily schedule the children have, including school, your work, and weekends. Third, the relationship you have with Mr.-“ She looked down at the paperwork on her desk. “Harris?” She raised another eyebrow. Xander looked confused, but Spike stood up and straightened his jacket.

“Yes, Your Honor, my name is William Harris.” Judge Brannik held his gaze for a long moment and then nodded. Spike sat back down. Xander shot a look at him, but Spike refused to make eye contact.

“And finally, the children’s’ thoughts on their living arrangements. Are you prepared to address these issues, Mr. Harris? Mr. Alexander Harris, that is?” Xander stood himself and nodded.

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Then let us proceed.”

The next hour was the most nerve-wracking Xander had ever spent. He gave the judge pictures of the house and yard, of each child’s bedroom, and of his and Spike’s bedroom with the two beds. He gave her a detailed list of each child’s daily schedule including times at school, home, in transit. He gave her examples of how the children spent their weekends. He showed her pictures that Ellie and Spike had drawn, transcripts from school—including those with failing grades from the time they had spent at their grandparents’ home.

The scoobies stood up for them stating that no children were in the home the night of the ‘illicit engagement.’ They also swore that to the best of their knowledge that Xander and Spike had not been intimate before that night. Then it was the children’s turn to speak.

“I asked a psychologist to perform an evaluation on the children before court today.” Judge Brannik stated. “I have her findings in front of me now. I would like to ask the children some questions of my own.” Nate, Lys, and Ellie stood and stepped forward to the Judge’s bench. She looked down on them with a smile creasing her face.

“Do you want to have your Uncle Alexander Harris as your guardian?” She asked bluntly. All three heads nodded vigorously. “Why?” Nate cleared his throat.

“We love him. He loves us. We love Uncle Wil, too. And he loves us also. We’re happy with them. They take care of us. They treat us like adults. We feel safe there. We know they’ll take care of us.” Judge Brannik nodded then turned her eyes on Lys.

“And you?”

Lys shook slightly, but raised her chin. “Uncle Xan and Uncle Wil are the only people we’ll be happy living with. They were the only ones to care about us when our parents died. They took us in and showed us someone still loved us. They provide everything we need. They may spoil us on some things, but when it comes to important things like school, or drugs…” her voice trailed off and she lowered her head. “I swear that wouldn’t have happened if we were with them.” She finished in a whisper.

Again, the Judge nodded. “And you, little one?”

Ellie smiled hugely. “Uncle Wil colors with me. Uncle Xan reads me stories and tucks me into bed. They don’t make me cry like gramma and grampa Harris. And I have grampa Angel when I’m home.” She beamed at the Judge, who couldn’t help but smile back at her.

“What do you think about your ‘Uncle Xan’ and ‘Uncle Wil’ being together?”

Nate snorted. “I wish they were. They spend so much time pretending they don’t love each other so they don’t offend us, that it’s ridiculous.”

“Why would they think it would offend you?”

Nate blushed. “When we first came to stay with Uncle Xan, Uncle Wil wasn’t living there yet. He came to help Uncle Xan take us away from our grandparents’ house, though. I…I said some really mean things about them… being gay. I was scared; angry…I wanted to hurt them. I regretted it ever since.”

“Why?”

“I think they were afraid I would think less of them if they were a couple.”

“And do you?”

He snorted again. “Hell, no! Umm…sorry. I mean no, I don’t think any less of them. I’m happy they’re together. They love each other as much as they love us.” He turned to smile affectionately at his uncles.

“Alyssa? What so you think of them together?”

Lys smiled shyly. “I think it’s beautiful. That they are willing to admit they love each other, no matter what society has to say proves how strong they are; how capable of love they are. I’m happy for them. As a matter of fact, Nate and I were the ones responsible for the slumber parties that night. We wanted to give them a chance to be together. We were hoping they’d…well, you know.” She blushed again. The corner of Judge Brannik’s mouth twitched.

“I understand that they are not together anymore though.”

Lys’s expression darkened. “Uncle Wil went away because he thought Uncle Xan would never get us back if they were in a homosexual relationship. He gave up Uncle Xander so we could get away from the Harris’s.”

The judge nodded. “What about Ellie? How do you think this is affecting her?”

Lys and Nate turned to look thoughtfully at their little sister. Ellie smiled again.

“I’m gonna to be the flower girl when they get married. It won’t be l-la…le…for reals, cause Uncle Wil isn’t a lady, but I get to write my name on the cer-cert…paper Auntie Willow makes for them.”

Judge Brannik finally broke into a laugh. “I see. Well, I hope I get an invitation.”

Everyone’s breath caught. Judge Brannik turned her gaze on Xander. “Mr. Harris. I can see no feasible reason why you should not be reinstated as these children’s guardian.” Xander felt a cool hand slip into his and he held on for dear life. “You seem to have created the perfect home life. You have an equal balance of love and authority. You have a strong support group in your friends. You also have a very strong supporter in Mr. William Harris.”

She cocked her head toward him. “It’s very rare for anyone to give up their life to move into a friend’s home and take care of their children, housekeep, and run the household. It’s even more rare when that person isn’t being paid other than in room and board. It’s almost unheard of when that person is willing to give up their own happiness for that of three children on whom he doesn’t even have a claim. I must say, William Harris. I am impressed.”

Spike inclined his head in thanks.

“This court hereby grants custody of Nathan Hunt, Alyssa Hunt, and Eleanor Hunt to Alexander LaVelle Harris. All trust funds shall be signed back over to you, Mr. Harris, and final custody papers will be signed forthwith. As for your…relationship-“ She looked at both of them seriously.

“Legally, I cannot tell you with whom to spend your life, Alexander. I cannot, as a judicial official, call any relationship moral or immoral. Unless a relationship seriously threatens a child’s well being, legally, I must keep my nose out of it. However…” Xander forced himself to meet her eyes.

“As a human being, as a mother, as a wife of a man I love more than anything else on this earth, you would be completely out of your mind, Alexander, if you didn’t make him come home. Court adjourned.” She rapped her gavel sharply and left the room. Xander sat clutching Spike’s hand, staring ahead in shock.

Willow, Buffy, Tara and Dawn were jumping up and down with Nate, Lys and Ellie; hugging, crying whooping. Giles even vocalized a few whoops, dignified whoops, but definitely whoops. Xander finally turned to look at the vampire next to him.

“We got them back.” He whispered.

Spike nodded. “Sure did, luv.”

“No conditions.”

“Nope. Not a one.”

“Spike?”

“Yes, luv?”

“Will you come home with us?”

“Luv, I wouldn’t go anywhere else.”