Fic: Safe and sound (1/3)

[naol]

Okay, here's the first third of the request-fic for mymatedave, involving the entire gang on the night of Mina Summers first birthday. I had a lot of fun with this. Also, I finally explained the 'Mina' thing, which I've been aching to do for a very long time. As this turned out, it's got some Buffy/Angel moments, some Spike/Illyria hintage and the potential

Comments

[mymatedave]

This is incredible. I loved all the characters, especially Illyria's convo with Spike, Buffy's vulnerability and Xander's interaction with Mina was just terrific.

[naol]

:)

Glad you like it. I have no idea how Spike and Illyria got in on the action but as soon as I had them sitting down together, they started interacting and it was impossible to shut them up. Same with Mina, but then she's a very chatty baby *grins*

[naol]

Thanks. I was really worried about those baby scenes especially. Didn't want to oversell the cute but having Xander actually talk and listen to her was very important. In the end, Mina just took over and the result was very fun for me to write :)

[aaalex55]

Loved it as usual! Sometimes when I read you stuff I'm so amazed by the way you can hit the character's voices so pitch perfect that I wonder if you're JW in incognito! And I mean that as a compliment in every way it could be. I'm not talking about that JW that sometimes let us down, I'm talking about that JW who had the good mind to create the characters we all love so dearly

[naol]

*is happy*

Mina was a sweetie to write. I didn't have all that much experience to go on, just my own memories of my sister when she was chatting to Mum in her crib, so it was hard to write these moments here but I really enjoyed how they turned out.

You sent me an email? Agh! I'll go looking right now.

Oh, and feel free to take any icons of mine that you like, no worries :)

[aaalex55]

Well you did great on the baby talk! Reading this really did remind me of my nephew. He's in the stage now where he is starting to pick up sounds and test them out. He's all about saying Mamamama and dadadadada and Papapapapa and cute stuff like that. I'm expecting Aunt Lexie to come out of his mouth any day now. ;)

Thanks for the icons! I'll try loading up on my computer tonight!

And if you didn't get the FB email I sent ya let me know and I'll look in my sent folders and resend it to you. And if you would like to see what I had attached to the email go check out my LJ for a cut to my latest fic. It was my first attempt at posting my fics on LJ... see what you have inspired!! ;)

[lwbush]

Loved the babystuff as well, although I'm pretty sure, even shrunken, Xander's Jockey shorts would fall off any of the full-grown girls in his life, let alone a one year old. And the flannel shirt would wrap around her, oh, six or seven times. It would be more like a blanket than actual clothing.

But yes, babies conversationally babble just like that - you would swear they understood every word you said to them if they didn't seem so comfortable with the fact you understand nothing of what they're saying in return. Which never fails to frustrate normal humans, so either babies aren't human (I have heard this argument proposed, especially during bouts with colic), or they really don't understand, but just enjoy hearing the sound of their own voice. And, if need be, yours.

I know we'll find out eventually, but i'm dying to know who's da daddy?

[naol]

Ah, well Xander had a mishap with some bleach and an industrial washing machine. His shorts wound up shrunken twelve sizes. That's a whole other story, of course *grins*

Actually, I don't really have all that much of an idea how big a one year old baby would be. I mostly decided Mina was the length of Xander's forearm, with her head resting in his hand. Hope it's not too big. And if it's too small, then that's just because she's got her mom's genes :D

The conversation side of things is purely my own memories of my sister. It was Mina's reaction to Xander that had me wondering. I didn't want to make her too aware but still enough to understand he was relating to her.

Oh, and this story is kind of about the daddy thing. Mina isn't Xander or Angel or even Spike's biological daughter, but the result of a night Buffy spent in Rome with the Immortal. But being a father isn't just about biology, is it? And this story is mostly to show that side of things *nods*

[sroni]

This was great. I look forward to reading the next part.

I bow down to worship the Nemo god.

[naol]

:)

Don't worry, FB for your story is on the way!