AN: You guys are awesome! I’m so glad you guys are enjoying the story so far. Thanks for responding about Angelus: I was really worried that his character didn’t seem believable. I’m trying to get the introduction out of the way so I can move on to the meat of the story, but I don’t want to rush the character development. Anyways. . . on to Chapter Three! Oh, but first...what would you guys prefer, another shortie tonight, or a longer, more detailed chapter tomorrow or the day after? Review and tell me what you think. NOW on to chapter three!

Chapter Three

Some days, you just want to curl up into a ball and die. He stared at the two girls on the platform, his girls. He smiled as they began their descent. He had his family behind him. His face was bruised, and bleeding. His shoulder was out of its socket. It would hurt like a bitch when he put it back into place.

They’d faced the big bad head on. She’d started it, but ultimately, they didn’t finish it.

They ended it. Ended her in the best way, completely. She’d never be back, not even in hell.

For the first time, they’d laid all their cards on the table, and ended up on top.

They’d survived. And for the first time after facing the big bad, he didn’t want to end it.

He wanted to live.

With his girls. Where he belonged.

******

London, 1861

She didn’t feel any different. She still loved her daughter, and was beginning to love the demon lounging on their bed, babe curled protectively on his naked chest.

Oh, how she wished she had his talent with charcoal!

Although, she doubted even he could capture the vibration coming from his chest, as his purr filled the room. Nor the look in his eye as it drifted from their daughter to her.

Somehow, there was love in it. For the both of them. From a demon. Without a soul, or a conscience. Who still preyed on the innocent. But somehow, she knew it was real. It was twisted, but it was real. This love that they shared as mates, as parents, and now their bond as Sire and Childe.

She winced as her newly-sensitized hearing picked up an inhuman shriek from below.

He sighed, and handed the baby to her. He only stopped when her eyes opened, tears beginning to appear as green eyes looked at him accusingly.

It was becoming ritual, this scene between father and daughter. Strengthening the hold the girl had over him.

She groaned as the wail filled the factory again.

No, a demon had not strengthened the feeling she felt for her Sire’s maker. Rather, the beating she was inflicting on her ears was merely lowering her in her esteem.

*******

He sighed as his Sire yelled for him, he swore she did this on purpose.

His mate had just awakened. No longer a human seer; she’d now be better able to cope with her visions. Hopefully, the demon would save her sanity. It knew how to deal with violence and death.

His child, sleeping so peacefully on top of his chest, making him warm wherever her tiny body touched him. He didn’t care or notice when the purring began. He was content. And his Sire knew it.

Reluctantly, he took the one year old off of his chest, beginning to hand her over to her mother beside him.

When it happened. Her eyes opened, and tears formed at the corners. Green eyes stared into his brown ones accusingly.

He was a master vampire, he could not be swayed by an infant! He put a touch of a glare into his gaze, showing her that he wasn’t playing games. He needed to go to his Sire.

He heard another wail from downstairs. He turned his head to the doorway, hoping she wouldn’t decide to come after him.

He missed the look of concentration that appeared on her tiny face. By the time his gaze returned to her, her face had become pink, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. Ready to match the banshee below stairs. She was a year old. She was allowed to wail.

He looked at her, and looked to his giggling mate. with a sigh of frustration, he vamped; a growl coming from throat.

The tears stopped. She stared, fascinated, at his face. The yellow eyes, like the eyes of a cat. The smashed-in nose. The ridges of his brow. The sharp teeth. The teeth of a predator.

She cooed as she lifted a tiny, chubby hand to his face, giggling as he rubbed it with his cheek.

It turned into a bubbly baby laugh as he pretended to bite her hand.

Once again, he started to purr. His daughter wasn’t afraid of him. His demon comforted her. Like she did him.

His Sire went unheard, as he once again settled the baby on his chest.

Only Mother saw the triumphant look on the little face as she once again curled on top of his chest, big hazel eyes closing in preparation for a nap on top of her favorite pillow.

The purr coming from her pillow was louder than before, and a little smile ghosted across her face as her favorite lullaby lulled her to sleep.

Mother sighed, father was completely besotted with daughter. She curled into his side to sleep the sleep of the undead, as Darla raged, forgotten, downstairs.

AN: This one’s pretty short, even for me! Just wanted to show a day in the life of the family, and when Dru was turned. It’s a little interlude, but it still has a purpose. Plus, I wanted to show how Lizzie reacts to Angelus’s demon, it’s going to be important. I’d always wondered how a vampire would react to a child if they had one, and the dynamic between Spike and his child in Ripe Wicked Plum’s Castaway influenced the scene. It’s probably my favorite scene in any of the fictions I’ve read. I will probably have another chap out sometime today to make up for the shortness of this one. Thanks for sticking with me and reviewing!