Oz leaned back against the wall of the school and tossed the ball to Connor. The boy ran, laughing crazily, chasing the ball before throwing it back to his father. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Oz looked over to the doors of the school. Xander stood there, watching Connor intently.
"Want to play?"
Xander nodded and they all formed a triangle. They took turns tossing the ball to Connor, who was pretty sure he was in heaven. "Daddy?"
Oz and Xander both looked at him, Xander dropping his eyes quickly. Oz took a deep breath. "Yeah?"
"Are you gonna be my daddy for good now?" Connor tossed the ball to Xander. "I just wondered cause I like Xander too, and I was wondering if maybe you could both be my daddy."
Oz opened his mouth to say something, but found he didn't know what to say. Xander tossed the ball to Oz and knelt down. "Connor, you remember what I said about what it takes to be a Daddy?"
"Yeah."
"Well, it still takes all those things. Oz is your father. He's always going to be your father, no matter where you are or what you do. And he'll always love you, just like your Mommy will. As for me, well, I told you I'd always be your friend and I'll always love you too. So for now, maybe you shouldn't worry about it, just worry about having fun and eating all the Twinkies you can."
His green eyes narrowed and he observed Xander closely. "Do you have any Twinkies?"
Oz laughed aloud. "You've certainly wormed your way into his heart."
"His stomach, anyway." Xander laughed too. He looked at his watch. "We called for pizza. It should be here soon."
"I'm going to have to…" Oz stopped, conscious of his son watching him. "Willow's going to have to take Connor home soon. The sun's going to set in about an hour."
Xander nodded. "They're devising a strategy right now. I think they're going to play the Grandpa trump card. Mr. Rosenberg enjoys eating with him, says it reminds him of how much he loved having a lot of kids in the house. Jesse and I would raid the Rosenberg kitchen on a regular basis when we were kids. I take it they don't know about Willow's…condition?"
"I don't know if she told anybody." Oz tossed the ball back to Connor. "I told her it didn't matter. Of course, I don't know how it went over, since at the time, I could barely manage to look at her anyway." Sighing, he sank down onto the grass. "I wish I could take it all back, you know?"
"Yeah. Hurting Willow was something I was really good at for a long time." Xander sat next to him. Connor, seeing two unsuspecting targets, ran at them, tackling them both. They caught his wriggling form and tickled him until tears were rolling down his chubby face. When he got away from them, he ran after the ball and started running circles around them.
"I think the Twinkies might make him hyperactive," Oz observed dryly.
"I want you to know, I…I think you're a nice guy, Oz. And I think that you truly love her. But that doesn't mean I think you're the best guy for her. And I'm going to fight for her." Xander stood up as the pizza delivery car pulled up. "And I'm determined to win."
Oz snarled and paced the length of the cage, his eyes glinting yellow in the dim light of the library. Willow cast a quick smile in his direction, trying hard to disguise the uneasiness she felt being around him in this state now. She moved a little bit closer to Giles, reading the spell over his shoulder. "Do you think this is the same spell Katherine will use?"
"I'm not sure. It's hard to know what she's capable of. The spell you showed me that she used to entice the wolf was fairly basic. However, it was also fairly obscure, so I fear that she's well equipped when it comes to information."
"Where did you find this spell?"
"Well," Giles removed his glasses and smiled at her. "When we first realized we had a werewolf on our hands, back when you were all in high school, I did quite a bit of research. I came across this spell when I was looking for information on controls. I had hoped to find something that would allow you and Oz to spend some time in the moonlight."
She blushed. "You're a romantic at heart."
He shrugged, obviously embarrassed. "Well, I hated to see how sad you would get sometimes, staring out at the full moon with all of your romantic inclinations shining in your eyes."
Giggling, Willow impulsively hugged him. "Hopefully not all of my inclinations." Giles blushed as well. Oz growled and leapt at the cage. Willow pulled back from the hug, surprise in her eyes. "Guess he doesn't like me touching you."
"Either that," he moved closer to the cage to observe his behavior more closely. "Or he senses something."
All of the happiness that had buoyed her earlier slipped away. "Katherine?" Oz snapped his jaw in Willow's direction and she nodded. "Katherine."
"She's in Sunnydale then." Giles nodded. "And on the loose. I'd better call Buffy."
"I spoke to my parents when I took Connor home. I told them that Katherine was coming to town and I thought it would be better for Connor to be out of her grasp. They agreed with me and are heading out of town tonight. Connor was upset, since he wanted me, Oz and Xander to go along, but I convinced him that we were planning a surprise party for him and he couldn't be here."
"Hopefully it won't turn out like the last surprise party we had," Giles moved over to the table and picked up his book. He glanced up at Willow. "Is his birthday coming up?"
"In a week. I was going to tell everybody this week, but with," she gestured at Oz. "This, I didn't even think about it. Well, that and the tranquilizer dart kind of knocked me for a loop."
"I'm so sorry…"
"It's okay." She smiled and sat at the table. "Do you think she'll attack us tonight?"
"No. I don't think she'll take the risk. It would be too easy for us to free Oz. Not only that, but when they're in full wolf form, the male wolf is the leader. The others in the pack would defer to Oz, not Katherine. She's going to want to have the advantage of being dominant."
"Dominant women?" Xander walked in, drinks in hand. "I'm already liking this conversation."
Willow took a soda from him, but not before she slapped his arm. "We're talking about Katherine. And I think she'd be a little too dominant for even you, Xander."
He shivered and sat next to her. "Yeah, I'm gonna agree with you on that one. So, where are we on the research thing?"
Giles stood up and walked to the phone on the counter. "I'm going to page Buffy."
Willow nodded. "We think Katherine is in town already, although we don't think she'll come after Oz yet. But Giles wants Buffy to be on the alert."
Xander sank down into his chair and reached for Willow's hand. "It's going to be okay, you know. Everything always is."
"If you don't count things like Jenny and Kendra dying and Faith and Angel turning bad, right?"
He grinned sheepishly. "Right. You have to not count those things."
She put her hand on top of his and smiled. "I know what you're trying to do, and I appreciate it. I'm not worried, really. We're a good team, the four of us. And Oz will do what he can." She glanced at the beast that was her ex-husband. "He'll do it for Connor, and I hope for himself. He needs to be free of her. He's lost weight, which he really can't afford to do. He looks worn."
"He's going to be okay too, Wills. He came here for help, and we'll give it to him."
She laughed softly. "You know what's funny, Xander? If it hadn't been for me, you and Oz probably would have been friends."
"We are friends, Will. Because of you and because, well, Oz is a nice guy. And if you ever tell anybody that I said that, I'll deny it." He rolled his eyes. "And we'll get him away from the she-wolf and he can have his life back."
"Even if his life includes me?" She hadn't meant to ask the question, but it came out anyway.
He looked down and took his hand away. "Yeah. Even if it includes you. I'm not going to lie to you, Willow. I want you to choose me. I want you to admit that we're meant to be together, best friends and more. But if you love him, and he's the man you want, I'll step aside."
"You've grown up nice, Mr. Harris."
He shook his head. "Nah, I just asked Giles what I should say to sound mature." Her laughter delighted him. Pulling the book from in front of her, he looked down at it. "This is the spell?"
"Yep."
"Is there any risk to you? Or Oz?"
"Not that we can tell. You, Buffy and Giles will be with me when I cast it so I'm not afraid. And after Oz turns, he should remain human enough that we'll all be safe. Katherine and the rest of the pack, well, I admit I'm a little worried about them. I have a sneaky suspicion they're not going to want to play by our rules."
He nodded. "I think you might be right."
Giles unlocked the door of the cage and walked back over to the table, yawning hugely. He rubbed his eyes with one hand, setting his tea on the table with the other. Willow was curled up asleep on the chair in his office and Xander was face down on the table.
He looked up at the clock just as Buffy bounded into the library. "Sheesh, what's with the sleepyheads?"
"They were all up until about five this morning, doing research. How did patrol go last night?"
"Well," she set down the box she was carrying and sat next to Xander, nudging him in the ribs. He groaned and lifted his head. "I didn't see any sign of our new werewolf-y friends, if that's what you're asking, but I did see lots of wildlife that was no longer wild."
Xander rolled his neck, trying to work the kinks out of it. "So they're here, just hiding?" He opened the box Buffy had brought and grabbed a donut. "How much has Oz told her about us? Do we know that?"
Giles took a jelly donut and bit into it. Buffy grabbed the other and shrugged. "Don't know. We know she knows Willow is a witch, but we'll have to ask him about the Slayer thing. She could be in hiding, knowing that I'd be on the lookout."
Xander nodded. "He should be awake soon, we can ask him then."
The phone rang, startling all of them. A soft moan came from Giles' office followed by Willow's voice as she grabbed the receiver before the phone could ring again. "Library," she muttered sleepily. She sat up immediately at the voice on the other end. "Hey sweetie."
The group watched her through the doorway. Xander held up the box of donuts for her to see. She nodded and he grabbed one for her. He took it to her, listening to her side of the conversation.
"Well, you be good and have fun with Grandma and Grandpa, okay? And remember, if you're not good, you don't get a surprise." She smiled at Xander as she took her breakfast from his hand. "Yes. I love you too. Daddy's sleeping. No. Yes. Do you want to say hi?" She handed the phone to Xander. "Connor."
"Really?" He grinned and took the phone. "Hey mister." He listened as the little boy described his trip in detail, even though he'd slept most of the time they'd been gone. "All right. I'll tell him. You want to talk to your Mommy again? Okay. Have fun. Be good." He listened for a moment. He smiled widely. "I love you too."
He hung up the phone and tried not to smile. Willow shook her head. "It's okay to smile."
"He told me he loves me."
"He does."
Xander nodded and sat on the arm of her chair. "I've never had a kid tell me that before." He blushed. "Other than you when we were five."
"Well, I was a misguided soul."
"Thanks." He looked up as Oz appeared in the doorway.
"Buffy said Connor was on the phone? Is he okay?"
"Yeah." Willow stood up and stretched, unaware of the appreciative gazes they both gave her. "My folks have him out of town and he wanted to call and let me know that he was having a wonderful time, even though he misses all of us, and we'd better have a really good birthday party for him when he gets back."
"And he loves you," Xander added.
Oz gave him a strange look. "Okay."
"He wanted to say hi, and he told me to tell you he loves you, since Willow had told him you were asleep. And when is his birthday?"
"Next week." Willow watched Oz's face. He wouldn't look at her. "Oz?"
"Sorry, I was just thinking of the last party we had for him." He turned and walked to the table in search of breakfast.
Xander watched him, waiting until he was out of earshot before turning to Willow. "What happened at the last party?"
Her green eyes were dark and he could see the pain in them. "I walked in on him and Katherine having sex."