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Chapter 72: Goodbye

Buffy hugged her dad as tightly as she could with a
swollen belly between them. He’d been staying with her
and Spike and Dawn since everything with Travers and
Dana. They’d had the chance to catch up and make
things right between them, and now he was going back
to L.A. to try and put together the shambles of his
business and his life. It was going to take a while, but he
was determined.

“Dad, you can stay a while longer if you want. Your
granddaughter’s gonna be here in a few months.”

“I’ll come back and spoil her, sweetie. I promise,” Hank
said with a sad smile. “But I can be sleeping on my
daughter’s couch for the rest of my life.”

“Thank you for everything,” Buffy said quietly, still holding
onto her dad like she was five years old, and he was
dropping her off for her first day of kindergarten. “Thank
you for being here and for helping us.” Hank kissed the
side of Buffy’s head and gave her an extra squeeze
before they broke away. He’d already said goodbye to
Dawn, and she’d taken off to stay the night with Xander
and Anya, because she knew Spike and Buffy would be
wanting a little alone time.

Buffy backed up from Hank’s car, and Spike pulled an
arm around his wife. She sighed softly and fought back
the tears as Hank got in the car and drove away. They
stood there in silence for a few moments, before Spike
cleared his throat.

“You alright, pet?”

“Yeah,” she said with a slow nod. “It’ll be weird. Not
having him here, you know? I kinda got used to having
him around again.” She shivered. It was a cool, May
night, and she’d had a long day. She very much wanted
to wrap herself up in Spike and not think about anything
else, but Faith was busy tracking a Frovlof demon on the
other side of town, so that left Buffy and Spike to do the
patrolling.

“We should go get changed and head out to the
cemetery.”

“Buffy, you’ve barely had any rest today, luv. You stay
home, and I’ll go do the dusting, alright?”

“Spike, I don’t need to…”

“If you look worn out, imagine how Bitty Buffy must feel.”
Buffy frowned at him.

“You think I look tired?”

“You look beautiful. But you and the little bit need some
rest. Now I won’t hear any arguing. You go on up to
bed.” Buffy couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow and grin a
little.

“Oh, so now you’re turning into the pushy, dominating
husband?”

“Only if you want me to,” he teased, pulling her in and
brushing his lips over hers for a moment before kissing
her forehead. “Please, Buffy. Just go up to bed and rest.
Do it for me, please?”

“You can stay home with me. What if I get a crazing?”

“I’ll bring you home something from the Doublemeat
Palace.” Buffy made a face. “Oh, right. The doublemeat
medley doesn’t agree with you.”

“Actually, I think it doesn’t agree with the baby. It’s pretty
tasty to me.” Buffy shrugged, and Spike chuckled walking
up toward the front of the house with Buffy.

“I’ll be back shortly, luv. You rest, and when I get home,
I’ll take care of you.”

“You better,” she laughed, kissing him one last time
before she headed inside to rest until Spike got home.

***

Spike walked through the graveyard, bored out of his
skull. There were no fresh graves tonight, so likely, he
wouldn’t be seeing much action. Still, he was glad that
Buffy was home and resting. Even a Slayer had
limitations during pregnancy.

He had been checking up with Giles, asking if they were
any closer to finding something to help Dana with. He
knew it still bugged Buffy that she hadn’t been able to
help her, and that the girl was locked away in some
mental facility for the criminally insane. Giles had been of
no help. They were no closer to curing her over there,
and Giles was already hinting at perhaps having Willow
and Tara temporarily move to England to help. They were
doing what they could from Sunnydale, but it didn’t seem
as if there was much hope for Dana.

Buffy hadn’t been totally gloomy since Dana’s
institutionalization and Travers’ capture. She was truly
happy that she was having a baby a she and Spike were
doing fine together.

Spike felt complete. Well, he would feel completely
complete when the baby arrived, he was sure, but he was
happy the way his life was now. He was with Buffy, and
Buffy loved him. God, the way her eyes filled with love
when they lay in bed holding each other…he couldn’t
describe it. But she was everything to him. And now, he
was going to be a father.

The idea frightened him and thrilled him in many ways.
He was afraid of what would happen when it came time
for his grandchildren to be born, and he looked as young
as he looked the day his own child was born. He feared
outliving his child. The theory that if one died, the other
died was scary. It wasn’t for certain. In fact, it was likely
that it wouldn’t happen, but he knew he had to be careful
or else he could risk orphaning his own child. He didn’t
want to leave his daughter without one or both parents.
He’d grown up being raised by a single mother, and he
didn’t want that for his child. He wanted to be there. He
wanted to protect her and beat away the boys that came
knocking when she was old enough to date.

“Spike!” Spike snapped out of it only to see Faith
standing behind him. “Damn, yo, I called your name like
five times.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be tracking a Frovlof demon?”

“Bagged and tagged,” she said, putting her hands on her
hips and cocking her head to the side. “Where’s B?”

“At home. Resting.” She raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Whose idea was that?”

“Mine. What are you getting at?”

“You know she’s probably making up a spot for you on
the couch right now, since you went all caveman on her
and made her stay home while you go slay the baddies,
right?”

“It’s not like that with me and Buffy. She knows I’m
worried about the baby. I’m worried about her.” Faith
shrugged her shoulders.

“But she’s also a hormonal pregnant woman. A
hormonal pregnant Slayer.” Spike knew Buffy probably
wasn’t upset with him, but honestly, he’d rather have
been at home with her than out patrolling.

“Maybe you’re right. I should go check on her.” She
stuffed his hands in the pockets of his duster. “You care
to take over here?”

“You kidding? That Frovlof demon was just a warmup.”
Spike shook his head, uncertain he’d ever get Faith’s
zest for the kill. It wasn’t like she was evil…well, anymore.

“Right then.”

“Tell B I said hey.” Spike nodded and took off. He was
grateful that Faith had found her own place to stay for a
while. He didn’t exactly enjoy the arguments that usually
ensued when she and Buffy were in the same room.
They were getting along, sure, but two Slayers at once
sometimes got to be a bit much, and Spike figured that if
the two birds were men, they’d have been whipping them
out to see who was bigger.

By the time he turned down the street, he could sense
something was wrong. Something didn’t smell right. He
smelled fear.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he fled up the street
toward the house, and if he’d had a beating heart, it
surely would have hammered its way out of his chest.
The door was open, and draped across the threshold
was Buffy’s still body.





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