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A/N: I said I’d try and update weekly, doesn’t mean that will happen. LOL Actually, the holidays threw me off, family visiting, kitty quandary, sick computer and job hunting so I apologize for taking so long. Thank you for the reviews and just to let you know, this isn’t going to be a long story. Maybe 10 chapters tops unless more readers seem interested in it. ;)

***Remember this is a sequel to my one chapter fic, ‘Out of the Blue’. So you’re not confused, you should probably read that story first.

Disclaimer: I have to say this cause I can’t afford a lawsuit but all my characters in this story? They’re not really mine. They belong to some genius mind by the name of Joss Whedon and all the companies that had a part of bringing us 2 terrific shows. I’ll miss watching them. Thank God for DVD’s!

**~**~**

Morning came too quickly for Spike, who really hadn’t slept a wink through the night. Too many thoughts and ideas jumbled about, not to mention too much worrying about the future and what was to come. Funny though, he was never much of the contemplator, never fretted over the what-ifs, never anxious about outcomes and whatnot. He was, rather, the jump-into-the-fray-and-suffer-the-consequences-sort-of-chap. The do now, think later concept of life. Quite contrary to what he was before he had been turned; complete opposite, in fact.

But now…now he had someone who depended on him. Someone who would end up relying on him in the years to come. Right? A child he never thought in his wildest dreams he would ever possess. She was his. Given to him. A 125 plus year old souled vampire fathering a mystical child with a vampire slayer? Outrageous but otherwise miraculous. He wasn’t going to fault anyone for allowing it to happen.

But none of that helped him stop the ol’ mind from wandering. Oh, he would definitely be a father to the child. A bloody damn good one at that. There were no questions about his loyalty in that respect. His concerns were more related to the issues the girl would raise in her later years. How would he deal with questions she would surely lob at him about his…specialness and unique abilities? How would things be explained and when would he see her and…and…oh, bollocks. His main worry in all of this weirdness? Where did this put him and Buffy?

He sighed as he finally coaxed himself out of bed, knowing that he would see all three of them, his slayer, his nibblet, and his daughter, in less than an hour. Hit the shower, get dressed, and pick up his girls for breakfast. That’s all he should be concerned about at the moment. Thank God Angel was all wrapped up in the sentimentality of family to offer him a room for the night. It was nice to be close to loved ones even if they were on the other side of the building.

~~*~~*~~

On that other side, in another suite similar to Spike’s, Buffy woke to gurgles and babbles coming from the small basket set nearby. She laid there and smiled, content in listening in on the solo conversation her daughter seemed to be having. Not even a month old and she was already so animated. Happiness seeped out of her as she realized her world of chaotic scribbles was finally straightening out and forming an unbroken circle, engulfing all her loved ones in it and keeping them all safe and sound.

Of course, she was always leery of happiness clauses. She could never delude herself into thinking that, in the world they lived in, they would ever be safe, sound and truly happy. Which brought her to thoughts of amulets and mystical pregnancies.

Until concrete facts were unearthed about all of this dark and cryptic confusion, she would keep the happies to a minimal level. At the moment, she was delighted to know that Spike was indeed actually back among the “living” and that he had been fully receptive to the idea of having a child in this world.

Divide and conquer. One thing at a time. And right now, she had to get herself and Anjoy up and ready to conquer the breakfast buffet.

~~*~~*~~

9 a.m. he was standing in the lobby waiting. The everyday hustle and bustle of Wolfram and Hart flowed around him: Harmony answering the phone at the reception desk, Lorne in all his greeness and flamboyant attire, whistling a jaunty tune as he carried on with keeping the employees in line and happy, Gunn all suited up and looking stylish, running back and forth from his office to Angel’s, who apparently was in some type of conference, and even Wes had the decency to pop his head out before quickly shutting himself back up in his office .

Even though his world had been flipped upside-down momentarily, their lives, Angel’s and the gang, carried on with a sense of normality in what could be deemed a world as abnormal as a horde of vampires sunning themselves at the beach. But Spike was always prepared for the catastrophic, always on his toes, ready at the gate for anything life hurled his way. This was a big one, this fatherhood bit, but he was totally ready.

The doors to the elevator slid open and they were all graced with the eardrum piercing wail emanating from inside. Buffy, carrying the wee bit over her shoulder, shuffled off with Dawn in tow. Heads turned to see the exasperated mother bouncing the shrieking baby up and down while patting her back. Spike panicked at the shrill sound and the bewildered look of the slayer.

“What’s wrong? What happened? Did anything happen? She hurt?” Spike rushed question after question out as he leaned forward apprehensively yet still stood rooted in the same spot.

Buffy closed her eyes and shook her head from side to side. “To answer all your questions: I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know, and I bloody well don’t know.”

“Well, what do we do? What needs to be done?” Spike look absolutely terrified.

“Could you quiet the kid down? This is a place of business,” somebody in a suit and shiny shoes sneered.

Spike snarled. “Oh, bugger off. Can’t you see she’s in distress?”

He turned back to Buffy, feeling absolutely incompetent. She held her out to Spike suddenly and that rise of panic clutched at his stomach again.

“Here, take her, hold her, please. I’ll go fix a bottle for her. Maybe she’s still hungry.” Buffy turned to rifle through the diaper bag hanging on Dawn’s shoulder.

“But, Buffy, I-I don’t think…,” Spike stuttered. Slowly Buffy turned back to look at him as Dawn leaned around her older sister to gawk at him as well. He looked back at them, confused.

“What…?” At that moment, he realized his little one was momentarily pacified except for the post-crying hiccups that shook her tiny body slightly. He looked down at the bundle cradled in his arms; round eyes the color of the deep sea peering up at him intensely. Every person, place and thing around him disappeared as he was pulled deeper into her compelling stare.

Time slowed as he sunk deeper into the pools of cobalt liquid, but he felt no fear. He felt safe and warm, his very soul engulfed by love and hope. A distinct impression tickled at the back of his brain as though she seemed years older than just the few weeks she had been living and breathing and wiser than any mortal he had ever known. It was comforting, like a familiar old soul.

She appeared to be memorizing every square inch of his face, his sharp features, every lock of platinum blonde hair on his head, every speck of gold in his sky blue eyes. The look on hers was not of fear either but of curiosity as she strained to envelope every particle of his being, every inflection in his voice as he began to speak softly to her, for her ears only, low and faraway. She took a quick breath before a line of nonsensical babbles spilled forth from her tiny mouth and knocked him out of his trance.

Buffy had moved to his side during the staring contest and he was well aware she was close by as he turned his attention to her.

“What was that all about?” She whispered, a little afraid of his answer.

“M’not sure, pet. I think…well, I think she’s just introduced herself to me and committed me to her memory. Buffy? Has she ever done anything out of the ordinary around you?”

Buffy standing on tiptoe, rubbed her finger softly over Anjoy’s tummy. “Uhh, not that I can think of. That was the first time I’ve seen her do anything odd like that. It was kind of…cool. Intense but cool.”

“Yeah, it was cool.” Spike agreed.

Dawn cleared her throat as she raised her hand in the air as if to get permission to speak. “Um, yeah. Now that all the…weirdness is over, who’s for morning tummy yummies? I know I am!”

Spike smiled at his nibblet. No matter how old the Summers girls would get, they always had a way of making him smile with their adolescent cuteness.

“Alright, bit. Let’s go fill your tummy with nummy pancakes and sausages. Did I tell you about the lil’ sausages they…?”

~~*~~*~~

Back in his suite at the hotel, Spike reflected on the mid-morning festivity he and his family had shared in the restaurant. Dawn came toting a photo album, while Buffy had whipped out their daughter’s birth certificate for his perusal. He felt light and giddy and to tell you the truth, that’s something vampires never feel, or at least tell anyone they feel. He didn’t care, really; he was too happy. He didn’t even care when the phone in his suite began to ring.

‘The phone? Where the hell is the phone?’ he wondered as he looked about aimlessly for the annoying contraption.

Upon finding it, he picked up the receiver and answered cheerfully.

“‘lo, Spike ‘ere.” (I said cheerfully, not properly.)

“Spike, Angel wanted me to call…oh, this Harmony.”

Spike rolled his eyes for his own benefit. “I know who you are Harm.”— ‘I had to listen to that irritating voice drone on and on forever for a fraction of my lifetime,’ he thought but for some odd reason, he didn’t want to say it out loud and hurt her feelings. “What’s he need?”

“He wants to see you in his office ASAP,” she finished.

“Got it, be down shortly.”

Spike hung up, and spun around to snatch his duster off the sofa as he made his way out the door. Usually it would irritate him to be ordered about by Angel. Normally he just showed up whenever he heard something was going down through the grapevine because it was typical for Angel to not even include him when he passed out office memos about board meetings and such. Unusual for Angel to actually be calling him in, and even though he felt a twinge of worry, he casually covered up the brief concern.

He stopped in front of Angel’s office door and reached for the door handle yet halted before turning it. He was amazed as he watched his hand rise up and actually knocked on the door, waiting until he heard a firm “Come in” from the other side to open it and enter.

Angel looked up as he did enter and a weird look crossed his face. A look of disbelief mixed with panic?

“Came as soon as I got the call you wanted to see me,” Spike informed his grand sire with a genuine smile splayed across his face.

Spike noticed the expression on Angel’s face and that twinge of alarm hit him again as his smile faded. “What’s up, boss? Is it another apocalypse?”

Angel nodded his head up and down slowly. “Yeah, you knocked on the door, then waited until I asked you in. The world is going to perish.” He looked back down at his desk with a hint of a smirk playing at his mouth. “Or hell is going to freeze over, whichever.”

Spike grabbed his stomach and threw his head back with a fake and boisterous guffaw, stopping suddenly as he snapped back to his original stance. “I vote for frozen hell, cause you just made a funny.”

Angel chuckled softly more to himself, though Spike heard, as he nodded to his grandchilde. The younger vamp sat in the chair on the other side of the desk and waited as patiently as he could stand for Angel’s briefing. He watched as the elder shuffled the papers about on his desk, opened his desk drawer, pulled a pen out, twiddled it around in his fingers, held it hovering above the paper for a second or two, then opened his desk drawer and put the pen back in.

Spike slid down into the chair, threw his head backward to rest on the back of the seat and let out an exasperated sigh.

“For Pete’s sake,” Spike growled below his breath. He lifted his head and stared at the great poufter with irritation. “S’no time like the present.”

Angel smiled a nauseatingly sweet smile as he clasped his hands in front of him and looked on at the younger male. “How is fatherhood treating you?”

Spike looked at him warily. Was this all that Angel had asked him in for? To carry on a polite conversation about children and parenting? Nah, there was something up his sleeve, to be sure of. Yet…

“Not bad so far, thanks for askin’,” Spike’s smile split his face again and Angel returned a sincere one.

Another round of silence permeated the air and Spike itched to ask questions of his grand sire. Truth be told, he truly trusted Angel’s judgment on certain things and he always had a niggling feeling he actually looked up to him. Of course, he would never tell Sir Broods-a-lot that in a million years. But he really needed someone else’s input, someone who had been in the same predicament he felt he was in.

“Did it scare you to hold your kid?” Spike voiced softly

Angel looked on in amusement. “You’re telling me that you, “The Big Bad”, the “Slayer of slayers”, is frightened of holding a child?”

Spike scoffed and looked away, “Pfft, NO! Well…”

He dropped his chin to his chest and with a defeated tone he said, “I was askin’ you. Were you?” Spike gazed at Angel with expectation.

Angel looked down at the papers he was sifting through. “Terrified.” He could hear the cocky vampire’s release of breath as he looked up at him. Spike had looked overwrought a few seconds ago but now he had relaxed with Angel’s admission.

“Good, I didn’t want to be the only poufter too nervous about this whole fatherhood bit. What d’ya do ‘bout it?”

“I held him…a lot. I talked to him, I fed him, I changed him, I played with him, I sang to him…”

“Oh heaven help the poor soul. You could’ve killed the poor nipper with your singin’.” Spike chided.

“Hilarious.” Angel looked at him seriously. “I will tell you one thing. Spend as much time as you can with her because you never know.”

The older vampire turned his head and softly added, “You never know if you’ll ever hold them again.”

Spike noticed his change in behavior and wondered if it was a good time to ask him about it all. Just when he was about to speak, Angel cleared his throat and picked up a manila folder sitting to his left.

“I received some information from a colleague dealing with the amulet. At least I believe it does. It’s in another language though and we’ll have to find someone to decipher it. That is once we figure out what language it actually is.” Angel handed the envelope over to Spike for his inspection and the younger took it almost reluctantly. Angel noticed.

“Hey, at least it’s something, right? Don’t start dreading anything until we’ve got more to go on. And even then, I don’t want you dreading a thing, because we’ve been through a lot, seen a lot, and we’ve overcome countless situations before and have lived to tell the tale.”

Spike nodded once. “Right.” He pulled the information out and scanned its contents for a moment.

“Looks to be some kind of Indo-European language. Not something I’m fluent in, though.” Spike informed.

“Me, neither. We have employees that may be able to help us out so that’s it. Just thought I’d let you in on the matter at hand.”

“Thanks, ‘preciate it, mate.” Spike stood and slid the folder back onto the desk as he walked away. He felt Angel’s eyes following him and turned back at the door. They looked at one another for a few seconds until Spike looked away.

“Sometime, I’d like to hear about your…son.” He took a chance and glanced back at his grandsire. Angel looked surprised.

“I’d like to tell you about him…sometime.” Spike nodded before ushering himself out of the office wondering if his little nipper was up from her nap and wanting some “fatherly” company.

~To be continued…





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