It never even occured to me that she would think it was Riley's. Ha.

Author's Response: LOL, poor Willow, but I guess no one would have though Buffy would have slept with Spike. ^_^

Hmmm...

Poor Spike.....life ain't easy for a vamp.

Author's Response: LOL, nope it's not. But it does get better.

Great chapter, although no Spuffy interaction. Please update soon!

Author's Response: Yeah I know, no Spuffy, but soon. Glad you liked the update. ^_^

grrr, no spuffy in this chapter. i was hoping he would have shown himself, i have to say that his staying away from her is really stupid. i get that he's upset, but he needs to get over the fact that she didn't tell him. she had her reasons and was going to tell him, she just didn't get the chance. what he needs to realize is that he's going to have a baby, something that he never thought he would have and he should be more happy about it. i can't tell if he cares about that at all. i'm glad he was able to get joyce to the hospital, but i hope these two will stop being so stubborn.

Author's Response: Well I don't think he's being stupid. You have to remember he's hurt, Buffy hurt him and he needs time to get over that, plus hey, he's going to be a dad. That's a lot to chew when your undead lol. Don't worry this wouldn't be a Spuffy romance if they stayed away from each other forever. Things get better the next chappie, promise.

Oh how much time is Spike going to need can't he see he is hurting her by not being there.

Author's Response: Well it's only been three days, remember Joyce said that. *smiles* But to answer your question, I don't think he'll need much longer. You have to remember Buffy hurt Spike also. I mean that's a big thing to keep your pregnancy from the man who helped get you that way but everyone else knows. Just let him breath, things will sort themselves out. ^_^

Great chapter! Can't wait to read more!

Author's Response: Thanks. Glad you liked it. More soon. ^_^

Oh, I think Buffy had every reason to be afraid. The fact she worked at getting over her fear and allowing Spike to get close enough to learn to trust means many things......the fact she was planning on telling him and even planned a sweet way to do it should mean somehing......and Spiike should be told and aware she'd come to trust him. But I have a feeling that something bad is coming........

Author's Response: Spike knows that she's come a long way, but it still hurt him to know that she kept this a secret for three months. Everyone knew but him. Can't give to much away though, so you'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for the review. ^_^

more please and spuffyness too

Author's Response: More coming soon. Spuffyness, well you'll have to wait and see. ;)

Glad to see the pieces being sorted out, look foward to more

Author's Response: Glad you enjoyed the chappie, thanks for the review. ^_^

Fantastic!!!! Can't wait for more.

Author's Response: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.

Okay, I kind of disliked everyone's reactions in this chapter. Yes, Buffy made a mistake in keeping Spike's impending fatherhood from him for so long, but did she really deserve her mother's rather cruel chastisement, blame, and anger for being afraid? Joyce seemed uncharacteristically harsh with Buffy-- after all, she told him (and although it wasn't exactly of her own free will at the time, she really was going to tell him!).

And also, when she and Spike finally spoke again on the back porch, he said she "did a cruel thing." Really, is that exactly cruel? Irresponsible, unfair maybe-- but there was in no way maliciousness intended on Buffy's part.

And Dawn? I understand that she's upset. But this comment just made me go "WHAT?!"

Dawn knew Buffy was the main cause for all the badness that had happened so far tonight....

Buffy told Spike, like they all had wanted her to do so-- and after she finally does, they abandon all their support and basically get with the you got what you deserve.

I'm not trying to criticize your fanfiction, but I just felt really bad for Buffy in this-- she was upset enough at what I felt was an unfair jumping to conclusions at Spike's part (assuming that she felt she needed to protect her baby from "demons like him," not merely to keep it from those that she slays) and her own self-ridicule at keeping things from him. It felt to me that her mother should not have retracted her support-- and more importantly, her understanding of her daughter's fear and prior motivations-- so quickly.

Again, not trying to criticize-- just sharing my thoughts. :) Did enjoy, just a little "blehh" about what went down event-wise (and characterization-wise) in this chap.

Author's Response: I'll have to disagree with you, Joyce hasn't withdrawn her support of her daughter. And I don't think she was being curel with her either. I mean she had one pissed off vamp in the kitchen a upset teen crying her eyes out, and she had no clue as to why. So she wanted Buffy to get over there so they could talk everything out, find out what went wrong that night. Well for me I thought it would be a cruel thing for a woman to do. So I asked the hubby as well as my best friends hubby and they both agreed, this is why I went that route ^_^ Some men may not think it's cruel, maybe cowardly or irresponsable of the woman's part for not telling. So to each their own, I guess you can read it the way you want, lol. Let's put it this way. Dawn knew that everything that transpired that night was a direct result of Buffy's not telling Spike. If Trinity didn't exist when Dawn made her wish then none of this would have come out in the open until Buffy was ready to take that step. So even though Buffy dug herself into this hole, Dawn still feels she played a small role in it. If she could have kept her wish to herself. Nah, I don't feel that, no one said "You deserved this Buffy," no one withdrew their support of Buffy either. But if you do think Joyce was acting harsh to her it will be explained you just have to wait, lol. No worries, I have you feeling bad for Buffy, you're having emotions reading what I wrote, this is good. I acomplished my job, lol. Now my beta she totally disliked Buffy in this chapter. She thought she was self absored and not really caring about Spike's feelings. So here are two people with two different views and emotions to the same chapter. And I on't think Spike is over reacting either. All he's asking for is some space and time, he needs to ajust. I am gla you shared your thoughts with me, this is great and lets me know what you think. When I read fics I got through a range of emotions from good to bad, from hating Buffy to wanting to stake Spike. But that's why I love reading fic. ^_^ Thanks for the review/comment.

Thanks for the wonderful chapter. I've been following this story since its beginning, and always look forward to updates :D . I get why Dawn would be worried, but I don't understand why she was panicking over her wish. I mean, there was no immediate danger from what happened, in fact it was for the best. Nonetheless, I loved this chapter, this story, and I can't wait for the next update :) .

Author's Response: She was in a panic since she knew Buffy wasn't ready to tell Spike. She also promised that she wouldn't say anything to him, and the wish well exposed all, lol. She does see the good in the act though, but she also sees that bridges need to be mended. Glad you enjoyed the update though. Thanks for the review. ^_^