“So what story would you three like to hear next?” Colin asked.

The girls talked over each other to answer. “The one with the dragon, Daddy.” “No, the one about Granny and the Goddess.” “No! Buffy and the Farken…Fraken…”

“Frankenstein?” he prompted. Emily was five, and had the same trouble with the names of monsters as her beloved Great-Aunt Buffy.

“Yeah!”

“No! I want the one about the castle, Daddy. Why does Emily get to pick?” Ellie had apparently forgotten that she’d been demanding the dragon only a few seconds earlier.

 “Can we have three more stories, Daddy?” Hannah, ever the diplomat.

“No, you only get one more. It’s late, and you need to get to sleep so Santa can come and give you presents,” he said, leaning over to tuck the blanket back in under Ellie’s legs. She wouldn’t sleep unless she was tucked in, and he made sure her stuffed unicorn was tucked in beside her.

Emily and Ellie shot mutinous looks at each other, then turned their almost-identical faces on their besieged father. Before they could shout contradictory demands at Colin, Hannah spoke up again. As the eight-year-old elder sister of twins, she had a certain gift for compromise.

“What about the Spike and Xander story?”

“Yeah!” came twin exclamations.

“Deal,” Colin agreed quickly. “Now, settle in. Hannah, are you still comfy, sweetheart?” She was propped up on a pillow at the end of Emily’s bed.

“Uh-huh.”

The twins snuggled down in their matching beds, and he could tell the warmth of the room was finally making them sleepy. The lamp on the bedside table cast a warm glow through the room, softening its bright colours and making a homey contrast to the snow falling outside the window.

Colin sat with his back up against Ellie’s headboard. “Shove over a bit more, honey.” His daughter wriggled over, to give her father some more room, then nestled back under his arm. Emily and Hannah looked at him from the other bed, giving him their wrapt attention in a way that only ever happened at story time.

“Okay. Xander and Spike.

“Spike was a vampire, old and very nasty. He came to Sunnydale—”

“Where Buffy lived?” Emily interrupted.

He frowned at her. “Emily, you know the rules. Are you gonna let me tell the story?”

“Sorry, Daddy,” she said, contrite.

“So, as I was saying. Spike came to Sunnydale – where Buffy lived – and he was a bad and evil vampire. He did some bad things, but then, one night, he met a certain young man.”

“Xander!”

He raised his eyebrow at Ellie, and she snapped her mouth shut again.

“So, when Spike met Xander for the first time, they were fighting on opposite sides. Spike was evil, and Xander was good. He’d been fighting vampires for years, and helping Buffy, and keeping the town safe from the bad things.

“But then Spike got sick, and he couldn’t eat humans anymore. He couldn’t hurt anyone, so Buffy let him fight on their side.”

“Cause he could still fight demons, right, Daddy?” Emily said.

“Right. He fought with Buffy and Xander and Willow and Giles, and helped them kill vampires. And even though they were fighting on the same side now, Spike and Xander hated each other. They bickered, and teased each other, until Buffy and Willow were sick of them.

“Then, one day, Great-Aunt Willow cast a spell by mistake. This spell made Spike and Xander think they were supposed to get married!”

The girls giggled.

“You know that story already – I think Granny told it to you – so you know that the spell was lifted, and everything went back to normal.

“But Spike realised he really was in love with Xander. Even though they’d always fought, and Spike thought he hated Xander as much as Xander hated him, and even though Spike was still a bit evil, he realised he was in love with Xander, and he couldn’t keep hating him anymore.

“But Spike didn’t think Xander would ever love him, because Xander was a hero who saved the world, and Spike was a bad guy, a vampire. And Spike was still a bit evil. He could love Xander, but it wasn’t the same as real love. Demons can’t love like humans can love.

“So, Spike kept his love for Xander a secret. And he didn’t tell him for a long time.

“One day, though, a new monster came to Sunnydale. It was bigger and scarier than anything that had come before. And Spike was scared that Xander would get hurt, so he tried to make Xander leave the hellmouth, and abandon Great-Aunt Buffy.

“But Xander was a hero, and he couldn’t leave his friends to fight the monster alone. He told Spike he wouldn’t leave, and Spike got angry. He didn’t like being told that Xander wouldn’t go away with him, and he got so mad he tried to hurt Xander.

“And even though he was a demon, and demons don’t care when they hurt people, Spike cared about that. He felt really bad for hurting Xander, so he left Sunnydale. He went to Africa, he made a demon give him back his soul.”

“And you three know that the worst thing you can do to a vampire is give him back his soul.”

The girls nodded solemnly. They’d met Great-Uncle Angel, after all.

“The soul made Spike hurt, and he was even a little crazy because of it. But he fought his way back to Sunnydale, because he needed to see Xander again.

“When he got there, Xander helped him. He let Spike live in his apartment, and forgave him for the things he’d done when he was evil. And he tried to make Spike feel better.”

“Did Xander give him bandaids?” Ellie asked softly.

“Yeah, baby, he did. He tried to make it stop hurting.

“And Spike helped Xander and Buffy fight the big, scary monster – the one that was the biggest, scariest one yet – and he made up for being so evil in the past. He almost died, but he survived, and he made sure Xander didn’t get hurt.

“And, when all the fighting was over, he turned to Xander and said, ‘I love you’.

“And Xander was surprised, because Spike had never told him before. But he realised that Spike really was good, now, and that he was just as much of a hero as Xander. And Xander said he loved Spike, too.”

“And they both lived happily ever after?” Emily said hopefully.

“That’s right. They both lived happily ever after.”

Emily smiled, satisfied. Hannah was yawning, and Ellie had already fallen asleep. Colin gently eased his arm out from under her, carefully placing her head back on the pillow. He lifted himself off the bed, dropped a kiss on her forehead, and moved around to tuck Emily in.

Hannah waited sleepily while he gave Emily a goodnight kiss, and took his hand so he could take her to her room.

He pulled the door of the twin’s room open, only to find his mother waiting on the other side.

“Hi Granny,” Hannah said dozily. “Daddy was telling stories.”

“I know, honey, I heard. You’re going to bed now, right?”

“Yeah, I’m just about to tuck her in,” Colin said, frowning. His mother looked concerned. “Is everything alright?”

“Of course, Colin. It’s just…join me in the kitchen when you’re done?”

He nodded, and lifted Hannah up into his arms. She was practically asleep on her feet.

Her room was just next to the twins’, and she settled into bed with the minimum of fuss. He paused a moment in the doorway, to make sure his eldest was really asleep and to wonder what his mother was worried about.

Spike and Xander. They were legends to him, bedtime stories full of adventure, romance, and plenty of humour. His mother had told him their stories with such affection that, even though he’d never met them, Colin almost felt like he knew them. Passing the stories on to the girls was a pleasure, especially since they loved the Spike and Xander stories as much as he had. Perhaps his mother had another story to add?

When he reached the kitchen, she’d made them some tea, and although the room was mostly darkened, the fire in the kitchen grate still cast warm, inviting light on that end of the dining table and flickered across the holly and pine strung along the mantelpiece. Colin sat across from his mother, accepted some tea, and waited for her to say something.

For several moments, she didn’t. Finally, he asked, “Mother? Is something wrong?”

He’d obviously started her out of a recollection or something, as she turned her gaze back on him like she’d forgotten he was there.

“No, sweetheart. I’m sorry, I’m just…I didn’t know you were telling the girls that story.”

He shrugged. “I tell it the same way you told it to me. It’s one of their favourites.”

“Of course. I was just…didn’t you ever wonder what really happened to them? What was really behind the ‘happily ever after’?”

That sparked his interest. “I never realised it was all that different.”

She smiled at him, a bit sad. “Of course it was different, sweetheart. You just told the girls a fairy tale.”

He nodded, grimacing. “Is it…bad?”

It was a valid question. It had taken him several years to realise that the stories his mother told him were based on real events in her life, and longer to understand that in reality, many of them ended more painfully than she’d made out. When he was old enough, he’d been told what really happened with his mother, his aunt, and the hell goddess, and after that, he’d stopped asking for the real versions.

Besides, she usually refused to tell him. This time, she shrugged. Not too bad, then.

“What happened to them? In the end, I mean.”

“Oh,” she said. “They died.”

He looked down at his tea. He knew that, of course. He would have met them, if they’d still been alive. But he couldn’t help but be disappointed.

“But they did other stuff first,” she said quickly. Then, “Do you still want to hear the real story?” she offered.

“Why tell me now?” he responded curiously.

She smiled again. “Well, it’s Christmas, and this time of year always reminds me of them.”

He nodded, leaning forward a little. This was a rare opportunity to hear about two of the people who’d been his superheroes.

“Well, the story about Willow’s spell is mostly true. And afterwards, Spike fell in love with Xander. But he only kept it a secret for a couple of months. I knew before anyone else, cause Spike was babysitting me at the time, and I noticed the way he used to check out Xander’s arse,” she said smugly.

“Mum!” Colin was horrified. She just grinned at him, and went on with the story.

“The part about him believing Xander was some kind of hero is true, too, and Xander was. But instead of leaving him alone, Spike…he tried to seduce Xander to the dark side.

“It wasn’t pretty. Xander resisted, of course, and Spike eased off some, but his feelings for Xander never really went away.” Here, her expression darkened. “When demons love, it’s like an obsession. They will lie, cheat and manipulate as much as possible, to get a hold of whatever it is they want. Spike was just biding his time, and waiting for an opportunity with Xander.

“Then reports started coming in, and we realised the First was active. Spike panicked. He freaked out, kidnapped Xander, and dragged him off to who-knows-where. Xander came back a few days later, furious and sporting a few nasty bruises. He refused to tell us what happened.

“I never found out the truth about that, but I always wondered if…” She trailed off.

“What?” Colin asked. But she just shook her head, and went on.

“The next time we saw Spike, he had a soul. And he was hurting, and crazy with grief and guilt. Xander wanted to help him, but Spike could barely look at him. He felt so terrible for whatever he’d done to Xander that he refused all of our help for a long time.

“But then Buffy told him she needed him, that he had to get better so he could keep Xander safe. It seemed to work, and Spike started to fight with them again. It was painfully obvious to everyone that Spike was still in love with Xander, but I think the two of them convinced themselves it was over.

“Then, the fight came to a head, and Spike didn’t survive. He died destroying the First’s army, and burned up inside the hellmouth.’

Colin was shocked. Spike died? Before they even… This was definitely a version of the story he’d never heard before.

His mother went on. “Right before, in the last moments before the battle, he told Xander how he felt about him. That he still loved him, with his soul as well as his demon, and that he’d sacrifice everything, even though he knew Xander would never feel the same.

“And then he did it. He died saving the world, and he did it for Xander.”

“I’ve never seen anyone as devastated as Xander. He just…stopped functioning. It was scary.

“I think he’d been in love with Spike the whole time, and never admitted it to anyone, not even himself. And losing Spike before they even got together…well, it was hard on him. He got reckless with demons, started taking missions that were far too dangerous, and almost got himself killed a few times. Giles did his best to stop him, but Xander was grieving.”

Colin stared at her. He wanted to speak, to ask how this could possibly be the real ending. How could his heroes end so wretchedly, without ever having the many adventures she’d told him about? But his throat was tight, and he couldn’t even get the words out.

His mother sighed, shifting her fingers on her empty mug, and went on.

“Then Andrew took a job in LA, and found out Spike was alive again.”

“What?” Colin choked out. “Alive? How?”

“The amulet he used to destroy the First’s army trapped him, and when it was returned to Angel – who’d brought it to Sunnydale in the first place – Spike got resurrected. And he’d been there for almost two months without any of us knowing.”

“You mean he didn’t call you? What about Xander? Why didn’t Spike go to him?” Colin demanded.

“Because he came back as a ghost, and he didn’t want to tell Xander he was back while there was still a chance he’d just die again.” She paused. “And then even when there wasn’t, even when they’d found a way to make him corporeal again, he still didn’t come back to Xander.”

She paused, and leaned forward, conspiratorial. “Between you and me, I think he was terrified of what Xander was going to say to him. It’s one thing to declare your undying love when you think you’re all going to die, but it’s another to say it and have to live with the consequences.”

Colin frowned. “Consequences? What, like years of romance and adventure?” he said, thinking of the tales. Maybe parts of them were true.

His mother shrugged. “Spike was still afraid Xander didn’t love him.

“So, anyway. Andrew found out about Spike, and of course he tattled to Xander. I was there, actually, when Andrew called. Xander got really quiet, and asked him to repeat himself a few times. Then he just left the house. Apparently, he went straight to the airport, bought a ticket to LA, and headed for Spike.

“He found Spike in Angel’s office. No-one knew Xander was coming, so Spike was totally shocked. It wasn’t like we were going to call ahead and warn him.

“According to Angel, Spike started to say something about how he wasn’t sure if he was wanted, that he didn’t want Xander to have to put up with him again, or some other rubbish. And Xander just walked calmly over to him, waited for Spike to stop babbling, and asked, ‘Spike…

“…do you wanna go out on a date?”

Colin blinked, and his mother giggled at him. “A date?” he said, stunned.

“Yep,” she replied.

“A date? Was he nuts? Why the hell would he want to bother with a date?”

“Oh, he didn’t,” his mother replied, a smile playing across her lips. “It was a sort of a joke. In the early days, when Spike’s tragic love was still a secret, he and Xander had a very strange conversation where Spike basically admitted he’d never been on a date. He was a vampire, and a Victorian before that, and neither group was really big on dating. Xander spent a solid hour trying to convince him why dates were worth going on. Spike argued, saying why waste the time when you could just get to the sex, but…I suppose it struck a chord in Xander. He always said a date was the first step towards building something real.”

“So for Xander, asking Spike out on a date was the first step. Spike knew that, knew what it meant for Xander. Which was why he just stood there staring for fully five minutes. Xander smiled back at him, and finally they started kissing like it was going out of style,” she said with a smile.

“Then Spike told Xander he loved him, and that he was sorry. Xander shushed him, and said sorrys didn’t matter. And he finally told Spike he loved him, too. Angel still can’t talk about it without getting a bit teary.”

Colin smiled, looking back down at his tea mug. Then, something niggled at his memory. “But Mum, why does this story remind you of Christmas?”

“Oh,” Dawn replied. “Cause Spike and Xander got married on Christmas Day.”

***

Epilogue – 53 years earlier

“I will love you faithfully, through the best and the worst, through the difficult and the easy. What may come I will always be there. As I have given you my hand to hold, so I have given you my life to keep.”

The ceremony was a hodge-podge, adjusted from a dozen different marriage rites and rituals. The grooms had walked each other down the aisle, and hadn’t bothered with best men or bridesmaids.

“Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people are my people, and where you die, I will die and there I will be buried,” Xander finished softly.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Buffy murmered happily, tearing up at the expression of sheer adoration on Spike’s face as he looked at Xander. “I can’t believe they’re really doing this.”

She stood arm-in-arm with Dawn, whose equally-teary eyes were on the same sight as her sister. Angel stood behind them, and both Summers women pretended they couldn’t hear the occasional manfully-suppressed sniffle. Willow and Giles stood on the other side of the aisle, and while Giles had managed to keep his eyes clear, Willow was bawling openly.

Buffy turned her attention back to the altar of the tiny church. Spike and Xander were facing, unable to tear their eyes away from each other. Father Gideon, a friend of the grooms for several years, presided over them, speaking the words that would bind the couple forever in several different dimensions and planes of existence.

“We here today witness this marriage, and sanctify this celebration of the unending love and friendship that you share.

“Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you. May your days together be good and long upon the earth,” the Father concluded proudly.

Spike and Xander stepped forward, meeting to exchange a soft kiss. When they parted, Spike rested their foreheads together for a single moment of stillness. Xander smiled, murmured something soft, and Spike chuckled.

They turned away from the altar, and as the small crowd of family came to congratulate them, the church bells rang out above their heads. Someone opened the door to the street, and Christmas carols floated in from outside. The air was cold and crisp, but the snow clouds had cleared. A rare patch of sun suddenly lit the stained-glass windows, and the colours streamed down over everyone.