"Uncle Xander!" exclaimed a childish treble, hearable by parents and neighbors as a seven-year-old body rushed across a yard.

"Whelp!" came the reply from a young man who looked to have just graduated high school as he swept the tiny form up. Dangling the brunette girl under one arm, he continued towards the front door without breaking stride, and knocked politely.

Faith answered the door and smiled as Xander grinned cheekily at her and gestured towards the kicking feet trapped under his arm.

"I found this in the front yard and thought you might want to keep it."

"Why how thoughtful of you," she said with a laugh as she opened the screen door for him. "Di, you had better go get your room clean before your father gets home."

"But Uncle Xander's here!" exclaimed the girl as he set her down in front of him. She tugged on his hands and looked up at her mother with perfect puppy eyes. "I can clean my room later!"

Xander chuckled and leaned down, saying, "I'm going to be staying for a week, Di. That's plenty of time for you and me, so go do what your mom said, okay?"

"Okay!"

As the girl dashed off through the house, Faith shook her head, saying, "God, you're good with kids, Fangs."

"I just reverse everything my parents did and remember a bit of what Darien's did. And you're not so bad yourself. Di's a da-darn fine kid." At her arched eyebrow, he said, "Almost swore."

"So I noticed," she said with a smile. "I've done it myself. Can't be surprised with me though, can yah?" Shaking her head then, she leaned forward to hug him tightly and hissed in his ear, "What did you get sent here for?"

Xander sighed and pulled away, softly replying, "I've been finding these cultists all over the place where I've been over the past two years. Council's gotten news of them too and so have a few other contacts of mine. Since Bob and his team got wind of an apocalyptic looking plot, I've been trying to hunt them down."

Faith blinked then hissed, "They're here? In Cleveland?"

"No, its somewhere out in the countryside – middle of nowhere. I just thought I'd drop in before I went after them."

"Why haven't I heard about this?"

Xander ducked his head at that and mumbled, "Er…I asked Giles to keep this low-key." Looking up at her seriously, he continued, "These cultists are bad news, Faith. They've made deals with demons and anything else nasty that they could and are damn tough. Even I had a tough time taking a few of them out."

"Shit. You need my help then."

"Absolutely not."

"What?! Fangs…"

"Di needs her mother," he hissed. "You're the Slayer, yeah, but bloody hell, Faith, you're thirty-one now. And pregnant!"

She gasped, one hand flying to her flat stomach, and gasped, "How?"

"Well, there's this talk about the birds and the bees I could tell you…"

"Fangs!"

Xander tapped the side of his nose and replied, "I smelled it. Plus I can just sense the edge of another presence in you – three weeks along?"

"Four," replied Faith softly. "Just found out yesterday and I…Christ, I forgot. I haven't even told Saul yet."

"You ought to do that tonight," he said with a smile. "He's a good man. Hell of a lot better than that wanker Wood."

She laughed at that and shook her head at him.

"You've been hanging around Bob again, haven't you?"

"Yeah, I was with him all last month hunting down demons and a branch of the cultists in South America. But my statement remains the same even if I was happy for you then."

Faith shrugged, saying, "It seemed like a good idea at the time. We both seemed to need someone at that point just to be there. Two months after Sunnydale collapsed, I realized I wasn't really in love with him. But you know all that."

Xander nodded, saying, "That doesn't mean I don't mind hearing it again. Anyway, I figured I'd ask if I could stay the night on your couch before I started hunting."

"You know you're always welcome here, Fangs."

"Yeah, but its polite to ask first."

She smiled and said, "Stay as long as you like."

"Thanks. Should be just for a week, like I said to Di."

Faith nodded then they were interrupted as the seven-year-old sprinted back into the room, flinging herself onto Xander with a cry of, "Room's clean, can we play now, Mom, can we, can we, can we?"

Laughing at her daughter's enthusiasm, the Slayer replied, "I suppose so. You five by five with that, Fangs?"

"For my favorite goddaughter?" questioned the vampire as he bent to lift the girl up into his arms. "I'm shocked you even had to ask!"

"I'm your only goddaughter, Uncle Xander!"

"Now that, my little whelp, is beside the point. So what shall we do, hmm? And don't you suggest playing dolls!"

"I don't play with dolls!" exclaimed Di as Xander carried her back towards her room.

"You don't?" Faith heard him ask in faux shock. "I thought all little girls played with dolls."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Well then what have we? Holy crap, Transformers! Di, my whelp, you are ever more precious! And they're original ones too…"

Laughing, the Slayer shook her head and moved towards the kitchen to start fixing dinner, content in listening to their muffled voices through the walls. It was good to have her friend back in her house.