Buffy slammed the door shut behind her, angrily throwing her jacket on a nearby chair. Not only had she been forced to work overtime, again; her boss had given her so much to do that she hadn’t even had time to meet up with Spike for lunch. And now she was furious. As a single parent she really needed her job, as an assistant to the principal at the local high school, but days like these, she just wanted to tell Principal Snyder to take his papers and stick them somewhere.
“Mommy! You’re home!” Hannah came rushing down the stairs and threw her arms around her waist, a smiling Willow following.
“Hi, sweetie!” Buffy knelt down on the floor and gave her daughter a big hug, already feeling a little better. “How was school today?”
Hannah shrugged. “Was okay.” She didn’t say more, and Buffy decided to leave it there.
She got up, then turning to Willow. “Thank you for picking her up, again. I hope she hasn’t been too much of a trouble.” She said the last part while looking at Hannah and winking at her, knowing that the girl never caused Willow any problems.
Willow laughed. “Of course not. We’ve had a great time today, haven’t we, Hannah?” Hannah nodded, a wide smile on her face. She’d always loved Willow, the red-head was like the aunt she’d never had.
Buffy slumped down on the couch, groaning. Hannah immediately climbed up on her lap. “God, I can’t believe how tired I am.” She looked at her daughter. “Would you be very disappointed if we’d skip making dinner and just order some take-out?” Holding her breath, she waited for the reaction.
“Yaay! Take-out! I want Chinese; can we have Chinese, Mommy? Please, please, please!” Hannah jumped off her mother’s lap and started bouncing up and down.
Buffy and Willow couldn’t help but laugh at the girl’s enthusiasm. Buffy looked at her best friend. “You wanna stay for dinner? It’s on me.”
Willow shook her head. “I’d love to, but I can’t.” She paused. “I kinda have a date tonight.”
Raising her eyebrows, Buffy grinned. “Really?! Who’s the lucky girl?”
Rolling her eyes, Willow giggled. “Very funny. You know I’m a one-woman girl.”
Buffy let out a whistle. “Tara again? Third night in a row now, is it?” Willow blushed. “It’s getting serious between the two of you, isn’t it?”
Smiling dreamily, Willow nodded. “I hope so. I really like her, Buffy.”
“I’m so happy for you, Will. You deserve some happiness after that disaster with Oz.” Buffy remembered how crushed Willow had been after finding her ex boyfriend in bed with another woman. After a couple of months of constant whining and self-pity, Willow had started dating women, and after getting used to the idea, Buffy realized that she’d never seen her friend happier.
Hannah spoke up then, turning to Willow; “You know who Mommy really likes? Spike!”
“Is that so?” Willow put on a serious expression on her face. Hannah nodded. “And do you like Spike?”
The girl nodded again, eagerly. “Yeah, he’s very nice. He calls me funny names, and we’re gonna have a tea party!”
Buffy burst out laughing. “Yeah, I can’t wait to see that.”
“So, Buffy? When do I get to meet this mysterious man of yours? I assume you have forgiven him for standing you up the other night.” Willow turned to Buffy, an expectant look on her face.
Before Buffy got the chance to answer, she was interrupted by Hannah. “Spike didn’t stand her up, he was just late. He and Mommy talked and then he spent the night here.”
Blushing, Buffy hid her face in her hands, and Willow giggled. “Really?”
“On the couch! He slept on the couch!” Buffy glared at her friend, who pretended to zip her lips closed while trying to hide her amusement.
“Okay! It’s been fun, but now I really have to go.” Willow grabbed her purple sweater and gave Hannah a hug. “Bye, sweetie. See you on Wednesday.” Hannah happily returned the hug. “Bye, Buffy! I’ll call you tomorrow, then I wanna hear everything.” With that, Willow waved her hand goodbye and left, closing the door behind her.
Hannah gave her mother a hopeful look. “Can we order Chinese now?”
Buffy smiled at her. “In a while, honey. I just wanna talk to you about something first.”
The girl got a suspicious look on her face. “About school? I told you it was okay.”
“No, not about school.” Buffy suddenly felt nervous, although she couldn’t understand why. “It’s about Spike.”
“Oh.” Hannah’s face lit up, happy that she wouldn’t have to talk about school. She sat down on the couch again. “What about him?”
“Well…” Buffy hesitated, not sure of how to begin. “You like Spike, don’t you?”
“Yeah!” Hannah nodded, smiling. Then, just as quickly, her smile disappeared and she looked worried. “Don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.” Buffy had to smile at the relieved look on the girl’s face. “I like him a lot.”
“Do you love him?” Hannah looked at her with her big, brown eyes.
Buffy started giggling nervously. “Hannah! That’s way too soon to say!”
Nodding again, Hannah looked thoughtful for a moment. “That’s what Spike said, too.”
“Well, he’s right. You have to really know someone before you can even think about love.” Buffy paused. “And that’s what I want to talk to you about. Spike and I might be spending a lot of time together from now on, that is if everything turns out the way we hope. You’ll get to be around a lot, but sometimes Spike and I are gonna want to spend some time together, just the two of us. Are you going to be okay with that?” She held her breath.
Hannah frowned. “What are you gonna do when it’s just the two of you?”
“Um…” Buffy desperately tried to come up with a proper answer. “Grown-up stuff!” She cringed at how shrill her voice sounded, but Hannah didn’t seem to notice.
“Okay, I don’t mind. Grown-up stuff’s boring, anyway.” The girl shuddered.
Buffy let out the breath she’d been holding. Then she realized that Hannah seemed to be thinking hard about something. “What is it, baby? What are you thinking?”
The girl was quiet for a moment. Then she looked down at her knees. “Is Spike staying, or is he going away some day, like my real daddy?”
TBC
Saving You by Pet
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