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Chapter 27: Meet the Parent

It was just after sundown when Buffy and Spike emerged from upstairs. Dawn and Jake were seated in the living room with Hank. Dawn seemed to look somewhat happy, and Buffy was glad for that.

“Buffy!” Dawn exclaimed, waving her sister over. “We were just talking about that time we went to Disneyland, and you totally threw up on Goofy.”

“I did not!” Buffy exclaimed, her hand seeking out Spike’s as they walked into the living room together. He laced his fingers through hers and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “That was you, liar.”

“No, I think she’s right, Buffy. Remember, you just had that big plate of nachos,” Hank explained. Buffy made a face.

“Ok. Enough with the trip down memory lane.” Spike smirked next to her. When Buffy and Spike sat down on the couch, she looked across at her father, who looked somewhat uncomfortable now. Good, she thought. I hope he squirms. Deciding to put her outburst later behind her for now, she looked at Spike and then at her father. “Dad, this is Spike. Spike, this is my dad, Hank Summers.”

“Mr. Summers,” Spike said casually.

“Nice to meet you…Spike.” The way Hank said Spike’s name sounded oddly similar to the way Giles said it…only not British. “Do you have an, um, actual name, or did your parents have a sense of humor?”

“Dad.”

“S’alright,” he chuckled. “My given name’s William Pratt, but I haven’t gone by William centu…uh, decades.” Buffy smirked, internally. Yeah. Try over ten decades.

“Decades? Exactly how old are you?” Hank asked, eyeing Spike. Spike cleared his throat and smiled a little.

“Twenty seven.”

“And my daughter is twenty.”

“I’ll be twenty one next month,” she corrected.

“Still, that’s…that’s quite an age difference, don’t you think?” Hank wondered. Buffy thought hard about asking him why he wanted to play the concerned father now, but she decided against it.

“Not really,” Buffy replied with a shrug. Besides, she thought, if you knew how old he really was, you’d know he looks great for his age. Hank, realizing that he wasn’t in any position to criticize his daughter’s choice in men, backed off.

“Alright. How’s your head, Spike?”

“Huh?”

“Buffy said you have migraines.”

“Oh. That. Yeah. It’s fine, thanks.”

“Well, how do you all feel about pizza for dinner? There’s a great little place down the road. I’m paying,” Hank offered.

“Yeah, it’s about time,” Buffy muttered under her breath. Spike was, seemingly, the only one to notice.

“Anchovies?” Dawn asked.

“Uh,” Hank said with a grimace, “I forgot you had your mother’s taste in pizza. Alright, I’ll get one with anchovies just for you.” He patted her head, and she smiled, like she was five or something. Buffy grimaced.

“Great,” Buffy murmured. “Spike and I are gonna go for a walk. We’ll be back before the pizza gets here.” Spike raised an eyebrow and looked at her, and she just nodded at him.

“Right. If we’re late, save us some.”

“Why are you looking at me?” Dawn scoffed. “It’s not like you’re going to eat much anyway.” She pulled her lower lip under her upper teeth, pretending to have fangs. Buffy rolled her eyes, and she shook her head.

“Dawn, can I talk to you for a minute?” Buffy asked. Hank was already on the phone ordering pizza.

“’Kay,” Dawn said with a shrug, following her sister into the hall. “What’s up?”

“How’d your talk with Dad go?”

“It was ok,” she said with a shrug. “We didn’t talk much, because Jake was there, but…it was nice to see him again.” Buffy nodded.

“Look, Dad’s gonna have a lot of things to tell you when he gets the chance. I just…I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Whaddya mean?”

“Just…I don’t want you to get your hopes up about us being one big, happy family again.”

“Dad said you were kinda upset earlier,” Dawn noted. “What happened?”

“We just got to talking. I got upset when we talked about…about after Mom died and why he didn’t come see us.” Dawn bristled.

“Why didn’t he?” she asked quietly, a hint of hesitance in her voice. Did she really want to hear this?

“Maybe I should just let him…”

“Buffy, spill,” Dawn ordered. “I can take it. I’m not a kid.”

“I know, Dawnie. I’m just…”

“Being the protective big sister. I get it. Spill.” Buffy sucked in a sharp breath.

“Dad had another family.”

“What?”

“That secretary he was with? She had some kids, and…and they had a son together.”

“Really?” Dawn asked, a little caught off guard. “We have a…a brother?”

“No,” Buffy said firmly. “He died, Dawnie. He was born early…around the time Mom died. And he was sick, so Dad stayed here. And when he died, Dad didn’t…he didn’t want…”

“He didn’t want to see the kids he forgot about,” Dawn pointed out bitterly.

“Dawn, just don’t…don’t freak out on him too bad when he tells you, ok? I just…I know he’s not been Father of the Year for…well, a long time, but…he thought he was doing the right thing.”

“By completely ignoring us?” Dawn’s voice was getting louder now.

“Dawn…”

“No. Don’t try to make excuses for him.”

“I’m not, Dawn. Believe me, I’m the last person who’d do that. I’m just saying…yeah, we lost somebody, but so did he. He lost a son, and then his family left him.”

“Serves him right,” Dawn spat. “He left us.”

“Dawnie…”

“Forget it.” Hank stepped into the hallway.

“Pizza’ll be here in twenty.” Dawn didn’t look at him.

“I’m not hungry.” With that, she headed up the stairs, and the door slammed loudly in place. Buffy turned to look at her dad.

“What’d you say to her, Buffy?”

***

Buffy sat next to the pool in her silky nightgown. Her legs were dangling into the cool water, and she stared at the reflection of the moon on the water’s surface. Everybody had gone to sleep, and after a long, long discussion between Dawn, Buffy, and their father, everyone seemed to be in much better spirits, except for Buffy. She couldn’t shake the fact that he’d just knowingly let his daughters struggle through the hardest time of their life.

She smooth sliding of the patio doors was followed by a swish as they closed shut. Spike sat down next to her, clad in his everyday clothes, seeing as he didn’t wear pajamas.

“S’late,” he murmured, lighting up a cigarette and taking a long drag.

“Yeah, I know,” she whispered. “I was quite the party crasher wasn’t I?”

“What’re you talking about?”

“I should’ve let Dad tell Dawn.”

“You were preparing her. You know how she is. She would’ve handled it worse than you did.” Buffy turned her head, resting her head on her own shoulder for a second, her silky blonde hair draping down into her eyes. Spike pushed it out of the way so he could see her better.

“I wanna hate him, Spike. I should hate him. But he’s my dad.” She turned back to look in the water. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get over what he did. How he just let us fend for ourselves. I don’t know what I would’ve done with Willow and Xander and Tara.” She smiled sadly, thinking about how different things were now. “They helped pull me through it. If they hadn’t been there, I don’t know if I’d even still have Dawn.”

“You would’ve made it work, luv. You adapt to any situation.”

“Some are harder.” She shrugged and watched the ripples in the water that came from the motion of her wiggling toes just beneath the surface. “You know, it’s funny. I thought I was mad at him for not being there before Mom got sick, but you know, I’m really not. I kinda gave up on him like he gave up on me. What gets to me is that he couldn’t take time out of his own life to even pick up a phone and call his daughters.” Spike reached over, brushing a lone tear from Buffy’s cheek.

“Don’t stake me for sayin’ this, pet, but…he’s human. He makes mistakes.”

“But this…this was…I don’t know if I can ever forgive him.”

“Do you want to?”

“Want to? Yeah. I think so. I just…I want to be mad at him, too.”

“That’s normal, pet. I’ve been around long enough to see when someone loves somebody so much that all they want is for that person to be happy. That’s what I see when your dad looks at you. Me, on the other hand, he looks at like he’d cut of my wrinklies and serve them to me on toast.” Buffy couldn’t help but smile a little at his attempt to lighten the mood. “You only get one dad, luv. Like it or not, that man in there is your dad. Maybe he isn’t the best one. I know if I ever had the chance to be a dad, I’d never let my daughter out of my sight until she was thirty. But I can’t speak for him. Everybody deals with things differently.”

“When did you get so wise?”

“I have my moments,” he smiled, pulling an arm around her. “Look, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. But I’m sure your mum wouldn’t want you to stay mad forever.”

“I don’t know. She got pretty mad at Dad there at the end.”

“Yeah, but that was different. She wasn’t going to have to be linked to him any longer. You, however, have your whole life ahead of you, not taking into consideration your Slayer status.” Buffy shrugged.

“I guess. I guess I can give him a chance to be my Dad again.” She eyed Spike. “This doesn’t mean I forgive him yet, ‘cause I don’t. But…like you said, he’s human. He makes mistakes. God knows I’ve made my share. Nothing like abandoning my family, but still. I still want him to feel bad though. Really bad for what he did.”

“Luv, I think you’ve got a head start on that one just with my being here.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. She sighed, feeling a lot better than she had when she’s slipped out here.

“How do you make everything seem so clear?” she wondered. “It’s like…a cloud’s lifted.”

“Maybe it’s part of the claim.”

“Nah, it’s been like that for a long time. Thanks.”

“Didn’t do anything…”

“Sure you did. You were here. That’s…well, it’s a lot, Spike. Really.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “I never thought I’d say this, but…I don’t know what I’d do without you.” They sat like that for several minutes, before Buffy finally pulled back, standing up and slipping her gown off to reveal her completely naked body underneath.

“What…”

“I believe I’m supposed to make up for earlier, right?”

“Oh…right,” he recalled, memory going all foggy at the sight of her hardened nipples just ready for his mouth. She slipped silently into the pool, the water cold against her skin. But it was a cold she was used to, what with Spike as her living block of ice sleeping next to her most nights.

She disappeared under the surface for only a moment, coming back up, hair drenched, skin sparkling in the moonlight. “What’re you waiting for?” Without further prodding, Spike stepped out of his shoes and socks. The pants came sliding down his hips, and the shirt was next. She smiled as he looked apprehensively at the water before making a louder-than-she’d-hoped splash.

He disappeared under the surface for a very long minute, and had she known he didn’t need to come up for air, she’d have panicked. When he finally broke the surface, she giggled at the sight of his hair, half slicked back, half curled. Oh, what a sight he was. A gorgeous sight, but it still made her giggle. He took her into his arms, backing her up against the dark corner of the pool, his eyes sparkling as they stared into hers. He began to go back under the water, but she pulled him back up.

“I thought I was making it up to you?”

“We’ll get there, luv. I think I’m gonna like this swimming thing.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively. “Think I’m gonna like it a lot.” With that, he disappeared under the water, throwing her legs over his shoulders. She let out a soft gasp as she realized that this would be a new experience for her. Never since she’d met him had she been so happy that he didn’t need to breathe.

She leaned her head against the side of the pool, gripping onto the edge as hard as she could, as Spike expertly worked on bringing her to orgasm beneath the surface of the water.

When she came, she let out a strangled moan, which immediately led to the barking of a neighbor’s dog. Just like that, a light in the house flipped on, and Buffy tugged at Spike’s ears, bringing him up.

“Oi…what…”

“Shh!” she hissed, clasping her hand over his mouth. “Don’t move.” The water lapped softly against their bodies, and soon it died down. She could see her father peering out of his window into the dark night, but when he didn’t see anything in the yard, he disappeared and the light went out. Buffy slowly moved her hand from his mouth. “That was close.”

“Right,” he muttered. “Now where were we?” He moved in for another kiss, but she put her hand against his mouth again. He tugged it away.

“What’s the idea, pet?”

“I think we should call it a night. Apparently I’m not as quiet as I thought…” Spike narrowed his eyes at her.

“You think you’re quiet? Maybe we ought to grab a camera…record…”

“Ew, no!” she hissed.

“Quiet, luv. Don’t want to wake the neighbors.” He kissed her softly. “Come on, let’s get you up to bed. No need to towel off…you’re already…” His hands moved to touch her under the water, “soaking wet.”

“It’s the pool.”

“Liar,” he teased, kissing her again. With that, he pulled himself out of the water and helped her out. With that, they gathered up their clothes, clutching them to their soaking wet bodies, and quietly slipped back into the house and up the stairs to the privacy of Buffy’s room.

***

“No. Dad, I’m not taking your money.”

“Buffy…”

“No! We’re doing fine.”

“That’s not what Dawn tells me,” Hank interjected. “I can’t make up for not being there, but I can help you get back on your feet.”

“We don’t need your help.” She folded her arms across her chest. Yeah, they did, actually, but she could be stubborn about it. “It’s too late to make up for…”

“That’s not what I’m trying to do. I can’t make up for any of the mistakes I’ve made. I know that now, and I’m not trying to. I just want to make sure that my children have what they need. Dawn’s worried about child services…”

“She is?” Hank gave her a little nod. “I…I didn’t know that.”

“She wants to stay with you, and Buffy, I know your love your sister, but love isn’t going to keep the state out of your home if you can’t provide for her. I want to help you.” He cleared his throat. “If you need it…I can take her in for a while, until you find a way to pay the bills.”

“No!” Buffy exclaimed. “Dawn has a life back in Sunnydale. She has school. She’s not staying here.”

“Um, hey, does Dawn get any say in this?” Dawn asked from the doorway. Buffy and Hank turned to see the youngest Summers girl come waltzing in, freshly dressed, hair still damp from the morning swim she and Jake had taken out on the beach. It was a small miracle that Dawn hadn’t wanted to use the pool, because even though barely anything had happened, Buffy didn’t want to think about her sister swimming where she and Spike had gotten a little frisky.

“Dawn,” Buffy said quietly. “Well, yeah, you get some say. Of course.” She eyed her sister carefully. “Why didn’t you tell me you were worried about getting taken away from me?”

“Because I didn’t want to stress you out. I know you have…a lot of things to do that keep you busy from getting a job. We still have some of mom’s money. But…but, it’s not gonna last much longer.”

“I know,” Buffy shivered, reality being served up in a heaping helping, much more than she would have liked right now.

“Look, I know it’s late…my offering this, but I want to help you, Buffy. I know I haven’t been the best dad. Actually, I’ve been a pretty lousy one,” Hank admitted, “but I’m still your dad, and I want to help. I can have Dawn stay for a while if it’s what you need. I can take care of her transferring schools.”

“No!” Dawn exclaimed. “I wanna stay in Sunnydale. Jake’s there.” Catching the gazes of her father and sister, she continued. “And Xander, Tara, and…and Willow, when she gets back. I don’t wanna leave, Dad.”

“You’re sure, honey? I know your mom had legal custody, but…”

“But now you’re…I guess you can have it back,” Buffy said quietly. “You want to fight me for Dawn?”

“No!” Hank said quickly. “I don’t. But if it’s best…if you don’t want to take my help, I could make it easier for both of you.”

“Well separating us isn’t going to make anything easier,” Buffy pointed out matter-of-factly.

“Then please…take this,” Hank offered, holding out an envelope.

“What? So it’ll help you sleep better at night?” Hank put the envelope down on the coffee table and stood up, putting his hands in the air.

“I don’t expect anything from you. If you leave and I never hear from the both of you after this trip, I’ll know you made the only choice you felt you could make. But I can’t say I won’t hate myself for the rest of my life for screwing up more than I ever thought I could. You can have the money. I won’t take it back. If you don’t want it, that’s your choice, but I’m not attaching any strings here. I may have messed up, but I’m still your dad, and I don’t want to see you suffer anymore than you already have.” With that, he walked out of the room, leaving Buffy and Dawn alone, staring at the package he’d left behind.

“Buffy…maybe we should…”

“Dawn, we don’t need his money.”

“Yes we do,” Dawn urged. “You might be the Slayer, but Slayers don’t get paid. Now, I think you should, because it’s probably the hardest job anybody could think to have. And you don’t have time for a real job. This’ll get us through for a while.” Buffy frowned.

“Maybe he’s right. Maybe you should stay in L.A. for awhile.”

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Dawn scowled. “No way. I’m going home with you. Take the money, Buffy. It won’t fix what he did, but he owes us.”

“I can’t, Dawnie. It’ll be like…like I’m letting it go if I accept it. I can’t let it go. Maybe it’d be healthier if I did.”

“Maybe,” Dawn said quietly. “You’re right. You shouldn’t take it if that’s how you feel.” With that, she snatched up the envelope.

“What’re you doing?”

“You heard him. He’s not taking it back. I’m due for some new clothes. Oh, and there’s a nice car I saw somewhere between here and Sunnydale. I think I’ll buy it.”

“What?! Dawn, give me that,” Buffy warned, holding out her hand.

“No. If you’re gonna be stupid and not take a little help from our dad…our dad who’s trying to offer us something after everything that’s happened, I’m gonna spend it on something practical.”

“Yeah, like a shiny new car? Fine. Give it to me,” Buffy seethed.

“Only if you promise you’ll put it in the bank.”

“Fine!” she hissed. “But I’m not promising I’ll spend it.”

“You’ll spend it. Because pretty soon, mom’s funds are gonna drain dry, and then where’ll we be?”

“I hate that I can’t just tell you to get lost and threaten to beat you up like when you were little.”

“Shyeah, like that ever worked anyway,” Dawn said with a roll of her eyes. “Now come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“To the bank.”

“Now?!”

“Yes, now.”

“He actually got to you, didn’t he?”

“I don’t forgive him for abandoning us, but I don’t hate him either. And I know you don’t, Buffy. He’s trying, and the money? He has plenty of it. So stop being so stubborn.”

“When did you turn into the rational grown up?”

“I have my moments,” Dawn said with a smirk. “Come on. Please.”

“Fine. Just…hold on. I need to talk to Dad first.” With that, she left the room, only to find her dad just around the corner. “Oh! Geez. Eavesdropping, much?”

“I’m glad you came to your senses. That’s the girl I raised.”

“For fourteen years,” Buffy pointed out.

“Yeah, but you were always headstrong and had a lot of common sense when you wanted to.” Buffy rolled her eyes.

“Like I said, Buffy, I can’t make up for what I did. But I do love you and Dawn. That never changed. I’m never going to forgive myself for what happened when your mom got sick. Life just turns out differently than you expect.” He shook his head. “I never thought Joyce would get sick, you know? Even when we were dating, I never saw her sick. Not even a sniffle. I just didn’t know how to believe it.”

“Yeah. She was always super Mom. If she didn’t feel well, she hid it. But it got to the point when she couldn’t hide it anymore.” Buffy felt her eyes dampening again. “Then we thought it was over. We thought the surgery was the end of it.” She let a few tears fall free. “I was scared, Dad. I didn’t know what to do when I walked in and found her like…like that.”

“I’m so sorry, Buffy,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I should have been. I…”

“Don’t,” she said briskly. “Please, just…don’t.”

“Ok. Is...is there anything…?”

“I didn’t know how to go on after that. It was like I was on pause, and the world around me was in slow motion. I had to be strong for Dawn. I couldn’t let her see me cry, but that just…it made it worse. She needed me to be strong, but at the same time, she didn’t need to be alone feeling like she did.” She shook her head. “I didn’t want to involve her in the funeral arrangements, but that made things worse. I just…I wanted to protect her, you know?”

“I know, Buffy,” he said, guilt playing over his face.

“And you…you weren’t there. And for a minute, I thought that was good, because…because I could do it on my own. But when it came down to it, I needed you. You weren’t there, and I needed my dad!” Her shoulders were shaking now, but the anger was gone. When he looked at her, all he could see was his little girl desperate to cling to a part of her life she’d thought she’d lost. But she was having trouble letting go of all of the hurt.

“It’s ok to not be strong sometimes, sweetheart,” Hank whispered, reaching out to touch her shoulder. She moved away from him. He’d sounded so much like her mother just then.

“Mom said that to me once,” Buffy sniffled. “When she was laying in bed sick. She told me it was ok. I’d never let her see me cry like that before.” She couldn’t stop the outpouring of emotion now. The floodgate had slammed opened, and there was no off switch.

Hank stepped closer to Buffy, and this time, she didn’t shrink away. “Before the surgery, when she thought she was gonna die, she told me…do you wanna know what she told me?” Hank swallowed hard and nodded slowly. “She told me to forgive you. She knew I was upset that you didn’t come to us. She said she knew you were a good man, and whatever reason you had for being away, it had to be good.” She wiped at her eyes. “And I told her nothing was more important than our family, and you let it slip away. You let us go.” She blinked a few more tears out, and a fresh batch began to well in her eyes. “I want to hate you, Dad. I want to, but I can’t. And it makes me angry, because I think hating you would be the only thing that would make me feel…”

“Better?” he guessed. Buffy nodded.

“But I don’t! I don’t hate you. I didn’t know about Rosa. Or about your baby. I just…even if I had, I’m not sure I could’ve cared then. Not with mom…not with everything going on.” She swallowed hard. “I needed my Dad. I needed you, and you weren’t there.”

“I’m so sorry,” he offered, not knowing what else he could possibly say. “I wish I could fix it. I wish I could take it back.” Buffy was standing before him now, a completely wreck, and the lump in his throat grew bigger. “Can I…” She only nodded, and he stepped in, enveloping her into his arms. With that, she crumpled against his chest, and he held her tight, kissing the top of her head. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry.”


Chapter End Notes:
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