*****

You say it's your Birthday!
Yeah, Well it's my birthday, too, yeah
So, Happy Birthday to ya!

Giles permitted himself this luxury once a year, playing his original copy of the vinyl White Album that he'd bought on the first day it was released. He remembered that day with utter clarity, going to central London with his mum, on her monthly trip to the big Marks and Sparks for, as she put it 'essentials', mainly underwear and socks. But that day, with the money that his uncle in Canada had sent him as a very late birthday present, he could actually buy something. He had five quid. More money than he'd ever touched. And the fact that the new Beatles album had just been released was like a sign. He still remembered clutching the brown-paper wrapped record (they still called them records, then), as he followed his mum back out of the store and down into the tube station for the long trip back home to the outer suburbs.

He had looked at the blank cover of the record, and suddenly realized he had owned this record for 30 odd years. He had family heirlooms much older than that of course, and some of his baby things in a box somewhere. But this album was the oldest thing that he still had that was completely his.

But vinyl, like a lot of things, doesn�t last forever, and every playing of the record brought it one play closer to death. But today *was* his birthday. And what was the point of keeping the vinyl around if you never played it. And for that matter, what was the point of playing the song if you couldn't play rather loudly and play a little air guitar as well.

The 'phone rang in mid air-strum, and a suddenly embarrassed Giles, went over and turned down the stereo, worried that it was the neighbours calling to complain. He picked up his cordless phone.

"Yes, hello."

"Oh, hello, Xander � Right, well, yes it is today actually. � Thank you, very kind. � No, actually, I am not quite ready for the 'home' (bloody cheek!). Yes, yes.. No that's really not necessary. � Oh, very well, if they've done all that, yes of course. � tonight then. � Yes, seven. Yes� Goodbye, then."

And as he put the phone down, Giles thought, they really can be quite charming and thoughtful, even if they do want the party at his place, probably to leave him with the washing up. And Xander, even he was bloody cheeky about it, was charming in his own blundering way about it all. Giles had to permit himself a small smile. First time anyone had thrown him a birthday party in years. And that had been his University chum, Ethan Rayne, and that particular party had *not* ended well. Calling down spirits while under the influence of chancy street-bought acid made for a little more excitement than anyone wanted. But enough of that. Just make sure that there were no incantations or drugs at this party.

Giles looked around his downstairs. He heaved a sigh. There *was* going to be rather a mess after tonight, and he'd just gotten his sofa steam cleaned.

============================

Willow and Tara were the first to arrive. Willow carrying what was obviously a cake box, and Tara a large colourfully wrapped package. They both wished him a happy birthday, and Giles was, in fact, touched that Tara leaned up and kissed him on the cheek as she handed him the package. Willow and Tara then busied themselves unboxing the cake and setting out plates and forks on the table. Giles put the wrapped present at the end of the table. Spike opened the door without knocking, walked over and thrust a bottle into Giles' hands, "Happy birthday you old git!"

Giles was impressed, single malt scotch, quite a good one, and aged 15 years as well. Beyond *his* budget. Then he considered the source. "I take you didn't actually buy this, Spike?" "And pay 80 bloody dollars, that's 40 quid! Not bloody likely, mate. Now, crack it open and pour me a drink, you old punter." And Spike went to the fridge to see if there was any blood lying around. Giles sighed, as though he could have expected anything else. He did nonetheless open the bottle, and went to the cabinet and got out some glasses. Any colonials who wanted to ruin good scotch with ice could bleeding get it for themselves. He poured a nice one for himself and another for Spike. He poured Spike a noticeably short one, just to irk him.

Spike came back, picked up the glass, looked at it, glared at Giles, who just smiled at him. Spike downed it in one gulp, and held out the glass for a refill. Giles just left him standing there. "Oi!, I need another.!" Giles turned around, went to the side table and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. He slapped them on the table in front of Spike. "I'd ask you to remember your manners, because I've still got these and the bathtub is currently unoccupied."

Spike just glared at him, saw the annoyance in the watcher's eyes and said, "Right you are, gov, pour you another?"

Giles nodded, and held out his glass. That's better anyway. Giles went over and put on the stereo, and pulled out some vinyl.

"Never mind the old British guy stuff , we brought party mixes!", and Giles turned around to see Xander come in, with about 5 of those CD things in one hand. He went over to the stereo, plopped one of the disks in and switched it on. Same sort of thing one heard at the Bronze, thought Giles. Ah, well, live in the colonies, and what can you expect.

Buffy and Riley, with another chap came in, Riley didn't call him sir this time, but his friend, obviously another initiative type did: "I'm Graham Miller, sir, Happy Birthday, sir."

Giles accepted the present from him, "Thank you. And Graham?"

"Yessir?"

"That's quite enough 'sir's for the evening."

Graham smiled a bit embarrassed, "yessi�"

Giles glared at him.

"Yeah, I mean, yeah, Giles."

"Better, my boy, better." And Giles gave the young man a pat on the shoulder. Buffy gave him a present and a kiss. Riley just a present. Giles looked around and reckoned the company was complete.

Spike had already poured everyone a drink of the expensive scotch. The only one who seemed to appreciate it was Riley's friend, Graham. He tasted it and then caught Giles eye and gave him a toast from across the room. Giles nodded in response and raised his own glass back.

The cake was set up. Clearly as a joke. And, Giles thought, a rather poor one. The entire top of the cake was covered with candles. There must have been 400 candles on the cake.

"Very funny, very funny. I am not that ancient." The young ones all cracked up. Giles endured it. Xander and Riley lit the candles. Giles was worried that it might set off the recently installed smoke detector, but he knew that tradition required the candles to burn through the singing of the happy birthday song. He endured the "Dear Giles" bit in varying keys. And then he quickly went over to the cake and took in a huge breath and blew.

It took all his breath, but they all went out. The assembled company cheered. And Tara and Willow, pulled the candles out, and began to cut pieces of cake.

"Birthday boy first." Willow said brightly, as she handed him a monstrously large piece. Giles tasted it. Quite good, excellent actually, probably from the pretentious French Bakery next door to the SunnyDale's one Starbucks. A genoise, if he wasn't mistaken, flavoured with Cointreau liqueur and minced candied orange zest.

"Wow, Yummy cake! It's orangy!" Xander exclaimed.

"Yes, my thoughts exactly." Giles had to grin. Youthful enthusiasm was charming, even when a bit crude.

When everyone had cake, Willow announced "Presents!"

And Giles went over to the stack of presents, and put his plate down. He took one more sip of the scotch. "I do want to thank you all for the party, it really is quite thoughtful�"

"Yadda, yadda, yadda, open the bleedin' parcels already."

"Spike, cuffs." Giles said softly.

"Git" Spike murmured under his breath, and then shut up.

"Right, the presents." Giles picked up the first one. "from Graham," he announced. He tore open the paper and then the box. He lifted it out. He looked at the gold coloured braid. Graham began, "It's a�" "Yes, yes, it's a Bhutanese prayer rope, for hanging prayer flags. Thank you, Graham, very thoughtful, very thoughtful, indeed. Just the thing for the anti-demon prayer flags that Oz sent me from Tibet." Giles reached over and shook his hand. Willow handed him another. "It's from both of us." The two girls were close to giggling. Giles ripped it open, and stared at the leather binding. He blinked. He sincerely hoped there were no tears. "The Orange Free State Watcher's Journals" Probably the rarest of all the Watchers' journals, from late in the last century in Southern Africa (Giles knew that some people thought the last centurty was the twentieth, but anyone who could count knew that the 21st century didn't begin until January, 2001). The first accounts of African vampires in English.

"Thank you, I am really quite touched." Tara and Willow almost jumped up and down at his reaction. Willow explained, "Tara has a rare book connection." Giles went over and gave each of them an avuncular peck on the cheek. "Thank you both very much indeed." Riley's present was a taser demon-stun gun. "Thank you, My weapons collection really is in need of an update, always good to have a present one can use." Giles grinned at him. Riley looked terribly pleased with himself.

The last present was clearly from Buffy. Giles had a feeling from the shape what it was. He tore open the paper. It was an album. But not just any album. It was a copy of 'Fresh Cream', Cream's very first album. The cover was in perfect shape. He knew one oughtn't look a gift horse in the mouth, but he couldn't help it, He carefully slid the vinyl record out. It was in mint condition.

"How? Where? How?" Giles stammered, genuinely touched. He remembered that several years before he had told Oz how someone had lifted his copy of Eric Clapton's early work at a party in London, just before he moved across the pond, and how he had given up hope of ever finding another copy. "Happy Birthday, Giles." Buffy said with a grin. Giles carefully put the album down and hugged Buffy to him. "Thank you. It's perfect, simply the perfect present." Tara and Riley started to crack up, but managed to recover.

"Can we hear it? Or is that a private sort of thing?" Graham asked sincerely.

"No, No, by all means, let's hear it." Giles took the record over to the stereo, opened the turntable cover and carefully put the record on the turntable. He turned the amp on, and switched the turntable on, and very carefully moved the tone arm to the beginning of the first cut, and moved the lever to let the needle descend on the spinning disk. From the first chord, Giles was mesmerized. He sat down in the armchair in the sweet spot, in the perfect place between the speakers.

The rest watched and listened as Giles listened to the first side of the album. They all had to agree that Clapton's guitar work was amazing. Giles took off his glasses and listened intently. Putting his head in his hands to surreptitiously wipe away a tear.

"OK, enough of old British guy stuff." Xander announced.

Giles stood up "Quite right, quite right." Giles went over and carefully put the precious vinyl away. It suddenly occurred to Giles that there had been no present form Xander, but the poor boy had probably lost another job and was on his uppers. One mustn't be churlish. Nice enough that he came to celebrate.

"One more present." Buffy announces. She pulls out a blindfold. "Put this on."

Giles takes off his glasses, and puts on the blindfold. There is a chorus of chuckles.

"Take him upstairs, guys."

Giles felt Riley and Graham on either side of him leading him upstairs. They took him into his bedroom and sat him on the bed. He heard another set of footsteps coming up the stairs. Plimsols, but that didn�t help identify the steps. All these Americans wore what they called 'tennis shoes'. He heard Graham say in a half kidding voice. "Hey, my birthday's next month."

He heard someone enter. And close the door. Felt hands caress his thighs. And reach for his trousers. And unzip them. A hand on his cock, pulling it out.

"No!" Giles whipped off the blindfold and saw Xander looking up at him with those brown eyes.

"Yes." Xander answered. And with more strength than Giles thought the young man had in him, Xander pushed him onto his back, and hands on Giles' chest, took the watcher's cock in his mouth. Xander licked the cock from base to tip. Giles moaned, and his cock stiffened.

Xander ran his tongue along the length of the shaft. "It's nice, Giles, it's really nice."

"Xander, I'm not sure that this is really an appropriate sort of behaviour�"

"Giles. Shut up." Xander said with a grin, and took the cock in his mouth.

Giles shut up. Except for the moaning. He watched Xander's head move up and down, watched his own cock disappear repeatedly into his mouth. Felt Xander's tongue licking the cock and it entered and left the young man's mouth. Xander looked up and watched Giles reactions to his ministrations. Paying attention to his reaction. Right hand on Giles' heart, feeling his reaction by the speed of his heartbeat. Giles' hands went down and caressed Xander's head, running his hands through Xander's hair, and running his hands along Xander's shoulders. Feeling the youthful muscle under that T-shirt.

Giles grabbed Xander's hair with one hand and arched his back. Xander felt him explode in his mouth. He continued to lick the cockhead as Giles spurted twice more. Giles lay on his back, breathing heavily. Xander licked the cock clean.

When Giles looked up, Xander met his gaze and whispered "Happy Birthday, Giles."

"Come on let's rejoin the party"

They went downstairs to applause and cheers. Giles turned bright red. Graham gave Xander a meaningful wink. Xander winked back, and checked Graham out again.

Xander sat next to Giles on he couch and explained as the others got up and danced. "So, we were all sitting around last winter, and talking and OK, we'd had a few beers, and talking about the best presents we'd ever had, and out of the blue, Anya says the best present was the first time I ever went down on her. 'It was very nice.' She said, ignoring this chorus of stares. And then there's this kind of stunned silence, and then Riley says, looking at Buffy "Well, actually� " and then the rest of us just crack up, and by the end we are all agreeing that oral sex is the best present.

And it became kind of an in-joke, Like 'Riley, gotten any presents lately?'. Or someone would just innocently wonder what present to get their mom for Mother's Day, and everyone would just stare at them and crack up and call them pervert and all."

"So when we figured out it was your birthday, someone asked what to get you as a present, and we all just cracked up. And in the end we decided that you were the best watcher we knew, so we had to give you the best present we knew of. And we figured if we all did it, we might give you a heart attack or something, so we drew straws."

"And you lost?"

Xander looked at him slightly hurt, "No Giles, I *won*."

Giles tousled his hair, "Quite the nicest present I've had in years, Xander." Xander grinned and leaned over, and put his head on Giles' shoulder. Giles caressed his head and made a mental note that he needed to be nicer to Xander in future. Much, much nicer.

Happy Birthday, Myst.

~fin

notes:
1. the first Cream album isn�t actually all that good, but Giles is clearly a Clapton freak.
2. Graham had to show up, 'cause this is an otsoko story.
3. And I left all the Canadianisms in cause it's more British.