You know I said I had finished...

Well...you see...there was this little idea floating round the back of my mind. And the idea got louder, and louder and it wouldn't shut up until I wrote this. I know it doesn't go with the plot of the fic. I know it's not within the three days that Spike is a kid. I know it's not Christmas. But I do know that I needed to do this.

A sea of green, red and gold washed against the steps of the Wolfram and Hart lobby. Everything was twinkling and sparkling in the lights and there was the sound of carols and bells and laughter. A huge tree was standing proudly in the corner of the room with glittery box shaped gifts hidden beneath the lower branches. Normal plain brown boxes were spread around the room at intervals and there was not a lawyer in sight.

Everyone had been given the day off, even Harmony. The only people in the whole building were Gunn, Wesley, Illyria, Lorne, Angel and the small child running round like a lunatic. Unless you counted the kitten that was following him as a person.

The plain boxes had been left out for the rest of the decoration. They were filled with brightly coloured tinsel, bells, cut-out snowflakes, Santa figures, snowmen, little decorations and everything else that you might need at Christmas. It was a wonderland.

Illyria sat with the rest of the AI team and watched the little boy weave in and out between the boxes shrieking in a high-pitched voice. He wasn't even making words anymore. Just yelling random sounds of joy and a few "yay"s and "Chri'mas"es. Although it sounded as if the young boy was being tortured, Illyria had been reassured that he was merely very happy.

Angel grinned as Spike grabbed a length of tinsel and dragged it along the floor for Peaches to chase. They hadn't even begun their part in the decorating yet. The huge tree was still bare and it needed to be filled with lights and sparkly things like he'd seen before. Spike was clearly going to enjoy today.

Gunn laughed as Spike tripped and skidded slightly across the floor. Wesley who was closest quickly picked him up and brought him over to where the rest of them were sitting. Unlike when he usually fell over, Spike wasn't crying, he was beaming and still dragging the tinsel so Peaches could carry on his game over Wesley's shoulder.

Spike stood on the counter they were by and ran up to Angel. He wrapped his small arms round the vampire's neck and bounced up and down on his heels, clearly ecstatic about his surprise. "It's Chri'mas Siwe Angel Daddy! It's Chri'mas!" Angel nodded and picked a stray bit of glitter from Spike's hair.

"I know. But we can't have Christmas without decorations can we? So let's get started." He lifted Spike into his arms and went over to where the decorations filled boxes were. He had been about to lift out a wreath from one, when Peaches suddenly jumped in and began attacking all of the brightly coloured objects. Spike laughed and crawled out of Angel's arms to join his pet.

Lorne chuckled and set up the plan on the main desk. He had been selected to be the official decorator, but had decided to let everyone help so long as they followed his plan. "Come on then my little elves. Let's get cracking."

Gunn laughed at Lorne's nickname and threw him a box of holly and ivy to wrap around the banister of the stairwell. "Next thing you know he'll be calling himself Santa."

Illyria watched in confusion. All these mortals and half-breeds were spreading happy emotions because of brightly coloured toys. This indeed was a confusing scene. Why would they feel so joyful over these small material things?

Wesley turned to her and watched as she eyed up the bells he held in his arms. "They're decorations." He said, as if this explained everything to the former god. Illyria merely cocked her head to the side and reached out to feel the texture of the foreign object.

"What are they used for?" She asked with her voice full of wonder. Indeed it was funny to think that she was so interested in a small human tradition such as Christmas. Although, Christmas was never a small thing.

"We decorate our houses and places of work to celebrate Christmas." He explained. How did you explain Christmas to an ancient God who ruled the earth even before the origins of the holiday? This was indeed going to be difficult. "It's a human holiday that occurs at this time every year. Most people celebrate it."

"But why do you need to decorate? It makes no sense." Illyria pointed out. Wesley was about to reply when he found that he couldn't. Illyria was right. What was the point in decorating? Of course we wanted to celebrate the birth of Christ and give and receive gifts, but why decorate? Was there any point?

"Coz it makes you happy." Came and small voice from below. They both looked down to find Spike looking up at them. He tugged on Wesley's trousers and waited until he was in the man's arms before continuing. "And everyone has to be happy at Chri'mas." He pointed out. Illyria still looked confused.

"Why?"

Spike looked shocked and gasped at the ex-gods reaction. Didn't she know? Everybody knew. Angel even knew, and Angel wasn't really that clever. "Because ovverwise Santa wont come." He said and waited for Illyria to show she understood. She didn't. "Santa only comes to houses where everybody's happy."

"Spike it's time to do the tree." Angel called from beside the great fir. It stood 15 feet high and was in the prime of its life. Lorne had been persistent that they had a good tree for their first year at Wolfram and Hart, what he got was a great tree. The child clapped his hands in joy and quickly clambered down from Wesley to run over to his sire.

Gunn had brought over the box of lights and began sorting through the wires. Spike was trying his best to help, but only succeeded in getting them even more tangled than before. Wesley brought over Illyria and they watched as Angel tried to pull out his childe whilst Gunn also got tangled up.

"I see no point to this ritual. There is no reason for you to be doing this." Illyria watched as Gunn handed one end of the lights to Angel and let him drape them round the huge tree, whilst he untangled himself.

"It's for decoration." Wesley said again and began adding string to the few baubles that had none. He remembered doing this at the watcher's academy when he was younger. Those days seemed so long ago now. "It helps us celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. He was the person who started the Christian religion."

"Then if this is a holy ritual, why are the half-breeds helping? Surely it is not proper for unholy beings to be celebrating such a festival?" She looked on as Spike made a tinsel collar for Peaches and the kitten ran around in a tizzy trying to get it off.

"It's because Spike only remembers Christmas. He doesn't remember being turned or being evil. He classes Christmas as a major event and Angel didn't want to break his heart by saying he couldn't celebrate it." Wesley handed a few baubles to Lorne and the demon put them at intervals on the lower branches of the tree.

"Deck the halls with lots of holly, tra la la la la, la la la la." Gunn was singing to himself quietly as Spike handed him some more tinsel to put on the tree. The younger vampire grinned at the man and soon joined in. "Tis the season to be jolly."

"Tra la la la la, la la la la." Now Angel had joined in. Spike laughed and handed his Sire another snowflake to put on the tree. The whole bottom layer was white and silver now. Some of the branches had little Santa figures on them, and bells, and snowmen, and reindeer, and trains, and everything. Spike clapped his hands and took a step back to see their handiwork.

His grin faded slightly when he saw what the whole tree looked like. He tugged on Angel's trousers and the older vampire bent down to hear what Spike had to say. "The rest of the tree's still naked Siwe Angel daddy." He whispered and pointed to the top. Indeed, the other 9foot of the tree was still bare and needed some decent decorating as well.

Angel ruffled Spike's hair and picked him up to set him on his shoulders. "It's okay Spike, we're going to get some ladders to help us reach. But until then, why don't you do a little bit all of your own?" Spike cheered and clapped his hands.

"Gunn, please can you pass me the 'nowflakes please?" Spike asked and Angel chuckled at how polite this younger version of his Childe was. Regular Spike would've ordered, not asked. Gaining the decorations he needed, Spike began directing his sire where to stand.

Soon Lorne and Gunn were passing up tinsel and other vital things to Spike so he could make his layer the 'bestest' of all. Bells were jingling, fake snow was flying and Spike was covered in tinsel glitter and needles from the tree.

"I is finished!" he proudly announced and Angel backed away to see Spike's creation in full. He smiled and lifted Spike off of his shoulders to place him next to the still tinsel struggling Peaches. Unlike Lorne's plan to have a silver and white covered tree, it now had a band of gold, red, blue, green and even purple. "Is it preety?" Spike asked innocently.

Wesley smiled and patted Spike on the head. "It's beautiful Spike. Just what we needed." Lorne was cocking his head to the side and obviously trying to get the best perspective of Spike's decorating. Finding none he sighed and shook his head before helping Gunn bring in the much-needed ladders.

Angel carried a box to the stairwell and seated himself ready to hand out decorations to Gunn who was on the ladder. Wesley was footing the ladder and Lorne was directing where to put the decorations. Illyria was standing back and watching as Peaches tried to climb up the back of Wesley's trousers as the man tried to stop him.

These humans, half-breeds and demons were confusing creatures. Why decorate for a ritual? From what information she had gained throughout the experience, the actual ritual only happened for one night. So why keep these decorations out for so long? This is very odd indeed.

"'Lyra?" Spike tugged on the God's hand but didn't pull back when she scowled at him. "Is this you firstest Chri'mas?" Illyria watched as Peaches clambered up the material of Wesley's trousers, only pulling them down as well when he slipped. Why did the half-breed care for such small things, such as the kitten and Christmas?

"Yes. I have never celebrated such an insignificant ritual before. They were always held for me before." She thought back for a moment. Remembering when she was worshipped and feared by all. She could do anything she wanted, yet now. Now she merely existed.

"'Lyra? Do you know what Chri'mas is?" asked the innocent child from the floor. He was so small and insignificant to her. He would have been murdered during her reign. Just for fun. But the child was growing on her. He still clung to her hand.

"No."

Spike gasped and covered his mouth with a sparkly hand to show just how shocked he was. "You don't know what Chri'mas is? But...But everyone knows 'bout Chri'mas." Everyone did. Otherwise, if you didn't believe in Santa then you didn't get presents. And 'Lyra was bigger than him. So who had been giving her presents before now?

"Chri'mas is when everyone's happy and Santa comes and gives you presents and everything looks preety and no one's sad no more. Nofing ever bad happens at Chri'mas. It's not allowed." Spike watched as the God pulled away from him and went to talk to Wesley. Why didn't she believe him? He felt upset, and his child brain processed the information as usual. When upset, find Angel.

He made his way up the stairwell and slumped at his Sire's feet. Angel was handing out baubles and tinsel to Gunn whilst Lorne pointed to the exact spot it needed to be in. "Siwe?" he called and watched as Angel dropped a bauble in surprise and it fell to smash against the lobby floor beneath them. "Oops."

"Spike. You made me jump." Angel picked up his childe and rested him on his hip as he handed Gunn a bell. Holding Spike securely with one arm, he looked down to see the tears in his eyes. "Oh Spike, don't worry about the bauble. It's not your fault Sweetling. It was an accident."

"'S not that." Spike sniffed and wiped his face against the shoulder of Angel's shirt. Lovely. "'Lyra's never had a Chri'mas afore." Angel blinked and watched as Spike waited for what he would say.

"Well then let's make this one the best ever." He told his precious boy. No need for Spike to be getting upset because Illyria's never had a Christmas before. Of course she hadn't. She was a God. She didn't need to have a holiday or any type of celebration to cheer her up. She had people bowing at her feet.

They handed Gunn more decorations until Lorne called out for them to stop so he could make Gunn readjust some that were now out of place. Angel smiled and listened to the carols that were playing form some unseen sound system somewhere in the building. This was a great Christmas. He could at happy and no one would think it was because of Angelus. Spike needed to be shown how great Christmas is and he was going to.

"What's that?" Spike pointed upwards and interrupted Angel's line of thought. Angel followed the finger and saw what he was pointing to. Above them was a sprig of green plant with white berries hanging from the centre.

"It's mistletoe." He answered and waited for more questions.

"What's it for?"

"Well...if you and another person walk under it at the same time, you have to kiss as a way of showing how happy you are. It's a Christmas tradition." Angel explained and waited to see what Spike would think of the weird idea. He remained looking at the small piece of green above them and wondered if Buffy was under a similar piece with the immortal right now. He was torn from his brooding when he felt small lips press against his gently before pulling away as fast as they had appeared.

"Mewwy Chri'mas Siwe Angel daddy." Spike whispered before laying his head on Angel's shoulder. Angel smiled and kissed Spike gently on the forehead. Silly boy. All of the excitement of decorating had worn him out and now he was in need of a nap. He was about to take him back to his office for his afternoon nap when he heard Lorne.

"Okay. I think we've just about done it." He called from the ground. "It looks perfect. A real holiday spirit maker if ever I saw one." Gunn slid down the ladder and looked up to see his handy work. It was spectacular. Except...

"There's something missing..." Wesley said as he pulled up his trousers for the sixth time. It seemed Peaches had found a new game. Right now the fur ball was digging its claws into his leg again, he quickly snatched him up and handed him to Gunn, who was laughing loudly at the Englishmen's pain.

"There's no star at the top." Gunn pointed out and saw the vampires look over to double check. Indeed, their tree had no huge sparkly star at the top.

"Well, let's have an angel at the top." Lorne pulled the beautifully decorated piece of at from behind his back and offered it to Gunn.

"Uh uh." Came a small voice from the top of the stairs. "Angel wont fit at the top. He's too big. And he'd fall down."

Illyria watched as the humans and demons alike all laughed at what the small one had just said. This Christmas thing was very strange. But indeed, Spike was right. Everyone was happy at Christmas. Even her.