Faith walked into the living area of the hotel room and grinned slightly, taking in the sight. Angel had apparently decided to make a cubby house out of the mattresses, the chairs, pillows, blankets, anything he could get his hands on. It faced the television and filled up just about all of the room.
"Angel?" Faith said, laughing as she saw Angel stick his head out of the cubby.
"Yes?" the vampire replied.
"Nice... um... fortress?" she suggested.
"Mommy! Uncle Angel made us this cubby!" Airlia squealed, charging out and into her mothers arms, Tru right behind her.
Serafina sat curled up next to Angel, in human form, but still looking remarkably cat-like. She smiled at Faith and snuggled into Angel.
"I got us chicken," Faith replied, holding up the bags of KFC. "Oh, and Angel, I got you some blood. Otter."
"Thanks... well kick your shoes off and come on in," Angel replied, sitting Sera in his lap.
"You know, since we left LA, you've been acting weirder and weirder. I like it," Faith told him, crawling into the cubby, her daughters at her heels.
"Isn't it cool, mommy?" Tru asked quietly, crawling into her mother's lap. Faith kissed her head and handed her a chip to munch on.
"It's very cool. Are you tired, bubs?" she asked.
"Little. But hungry too," Tru replied.
"K, well after dinner, we'll put you to bed, ok?"
"Wanna stay with you!" Tru protested.
Angel shrugged slightly, handing Serafina some chicken. "Well, I did lay both yours and my mattresses down in here... they're not exactly UNDER the cubby as such, they were a bit too big and... why are you laughing?"
"Sorry, just when you say the word 'cubby', I think somewhere, a vampire dies a little," Faith teased.
~*~*~*~
They finished dinner and Faith went to get Tru, Airlia and Serafina ready for bed, then while Faith had a shower, Angel set Tru up in Faith's mattress. Airlia and Serafina begged to stay up to watch TV a little longer before sleeping.
Faith crawled back into the cubby, now clean and lay down next to Tru, gently rocking the girl to sleep. Angel glanced over and hid a smile, then flicked the TV onto the cartoon channel.
~*~*~*~
Pretty soon, Airlia and Serafina had drifted off to sleep, Airlia on Faith's lap, and Serafina on the end of Angel's bed, in kitten form.
"Peaceful, isn't it?" Angel said to Faith softly, careful not to wake the kids.
"Yeah," Faith agreed, tucking Airlia into bed next to her baby sister. "Can't help but think it's the calm before the storm though."
Angel shrugged. "Even if it is, you know we'll deal with it. We always do."
"Spose."
The Vampire and the Slayer sat together for a moment, the comfortable silence broken only by Faith and the kids breathing.
"Think Cleveland will be ok?" Faith asked after awhile.
"Yeah," Angel reassured her. "Giles runs a tight ship. We'll be fine."
"Hope so," Faith yawned, laying back against her pillow.
Angel smiled and crawled into his own bed, lifting Serafina up to sleep on the pillow beside him. "It will be, Faith. It will."
Faith smiled sleepily and rolled over, pulling the blanket up around her shoulders. Her last thought before she drifted off, was about how strange Angel was for building a fort for them all to sleep in. She'd tease him mercilessly for it after more sleep.
Angel watched her fall asleep and stared up at the top of the cubby house. He rubbed behind Serafina's ears gently, the kitten purring in contentment.
Things just felt... infinite.