A VERY LITTLE TALE – CHAPTER 4
A girl pulled her car into the driveway of her house. A house that had once belonged to her mother. A boy was parked down the block unable to decide what to do.
Buffy gathered a bunch of stuff from the backseat—a heavy shoulder bag, a few bags of groceries, and a very special little bundle. Her back hurt with the load, but that’s the way things had been for some months now. She put all of the bags on the dining table and the bundle onto a different table. Cold stuff went into the fridge, and the other groceries stayed on the counter. She’d deal with it later, along with the dirty dishes in the sink. Whenever she got a chance. Whenever that might be.
Likewise, Buffy ignored the stack of mail on the table in the foyer. Too much junk mail and undoubtedly some bills. The bills weren’t a problem in and of themselves. She just didn’t want to deal with little pieces of paper with numbers on them right now. It was sort of a dirty dishes kind of problem.
When she went back into the living room, the boy was sitting in the big chair across from the couch. Buffy ignored him like she did the other problems in her house. She fussed with the bundle on the little table instead. The boy reached for a smoke and then thought twice about it.
Without turning to face him, Buffy said, “What do you want, Spike? This is my day off, and I’ve got a lot to do.”
Spike fiddled with his Zippo lighter. “What do ya’ think, pet? Why else do I come around? I wouldn’t really expect you to be up for a bit of the rough and tumble, but you know. A boy can dream.”
Buffy looked up at the ceiling before turning to face him. “That’s it? That’s all? Just dropped by for a quickie? Gosh, I think I’m getting wet already.”
Her venom went right past him. Spike said, “Wouldn’t use the word ‘quick’, luv. But yeah, that’s the idea. For starters.”
“We’re not doing… that anymore. I told you, Spike. I told you last year. And I know it wasn’t the first time I’ve said it, but that was it. No more. I thought you finally figured it out. I haven’t seen you poking around in a long time. Thankfully. Besides, aren’t you banging Harmony now. Or is it Drusilla again? I can’t keep track.”
“Nope. And nope.” Spike shook his head and inhaled on the cigarette he wasn’t smoking. “Neither, pet. Not for months now. A good deal more than nine months to be exact.”
Buffy found this nearly impossible to believe, but over the years her Spike-bullshit-detector had gotten pretty good. “Really? Well who’s the lucky person with female sex parts these days?”
“Guess.”
“Don’t tell me you’re back with Darla.” Spike shook his head again. Buffy said, “Then who? Anyone I know so I can warn them off?”
“Nope. There’s no one.”
Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. “Seems unlikely. What about Aura? Or Amy?” More shakes. “Okay, what about Lilah or Eve? Or Winifred? Kendra? Kennedy? Satsu? Faith?”
“Nada, but each and every one’s a fine upstanding lady. Except that last one. She pretty much kicked my ass.”
Buffy racked her brain. “What about Cordy? She told me that one time you two…”
“That was ages ago. Like junior year. Way before you and I even…”
“Okay fine. Then tell me. Are you currently, or have you ever…? With Anya, Willow, or Tara?”
Spike hesitated and then admitted the truth, “Once, almost once, and never even tried. Tara’s not even remotely bi. You’ve got a better shot at her than I do. If you could just nose Willow out of the way, that is. But we’re getting’ off the point here, luv.”
“What is the point, Spike? What’s this all about, anyway?”
Spike stood up to collect himself. He said, “The point is that I miss you. And, and, I guess that I haven’t been nailin’ anyone else in your stead. Pale substitutes at best.” Spike began to get more animated, waving his arms around when he talked. “But that’s not the point either. The point, pet, is that I know you think I can’t love or some such rot, and that I’m just a mean, mean man. And if that’s what you think then…”
“You haven’t been mean.” Buffy’s soft voice interrupted him. He stared back at her wordlessly. She continued quietly, “You are a rude, crude, socially unacceptable, crazy-making, frustration of a man. But you are not mean, Spike. Do you have any idea the last time you were actually truly mean to me?” When he still said nothing, Buffy went on, “We were eight. You pushed me down in the playground during recess. And, oh yeah, you hit me in the arm first.” Buffy stepped closer to him. “Do you remember?”
Spike spoke just above a whisper, “I do. I think. You had pink ribbons in your hair. You were so beautiful. That was the first time I ever noticed that. Although I might have said something to the contrary at the time. Sorry ‘bout that, pet.”
“Thank you, Spike. I forgive you.” Buffy moved back over to the little table and fiddled with the bundle some more. Spike joined her there.
Indicating the bundle, Spike said, “How is Angel, anyway?” Buffy shot him a look. He said, “Pretend I’m concerned.”
Buffy blushed hard, gulped once, gathered her courage, and answered, “I haven’t the slightest, Spike. I haven’t seen him in…well, in a really long time.”
“Oh, what then, like a year? So you decided not to tell him? I wonder what I think about that.”
Buffy picked up the bundle and held it to her. “Well, don’t think anything about it. ‘Cause there’s nothing to tell him. It’s been more than a year. More like three since I’ve seen Angel.”
Spike didn’t flinch or run for the door. Or start screaming. Or anything. He just stated the obvious. “Then he’s not the father.”
She gently bounced the fussing baby in her arms. “Nope. He’s not the father.” Buffy met Spikes eyes. Her guilt was obvious in them. “Spike, you can tell me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure this is the only truly mean thing I’ve ever done to you. Maybe you can forgive me. That’s up to you. I forgave you for the hitting and pushing down thing, remember? And if you do want to forgive me then I’ve got a favor to ask. So either way, the thing of it is this. He was a late baby. Way late, like seventeen days late. Which puts things back into the middle of October last year, which is pretty much almost exactly the last time that you and I…”
Spike stopped her with a question, “What’s his name?”
“That’s the thing, um, William. His name is… William.”
Spike kissed the baby on his head and gently but deliberately kissed Buffy too. He said to her moistening eyes. “What’s the favor you wanted to ask, my love?”
Buffy blinked. “Could you maybe, um…my back is killing me. Could you change your son and watch him for a while so I can take a nap? I’m sorry. But I’m really tired.”
Spike smirked at her. Possibly it was the thing that still had the potential to irritate her the most. He said, “Not a chance, Summers.” She stiffened and frowned, but then she managed a smile. It was because he said, “Not until you show me how first.”
So Buffy changed the baby with Spike at her side. She showered while he made some lunch for them. After that Spike watched both Buffy and his son sleep most of the afternoon away. Outside, the clouds broke up, and the sun began to shine again.
*** End of A VERY LITTLE TALE ***
[Reviews - 13]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 2051 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
This is the first actual story I’ve ever posted anywhere. Hope I haven’t scared you off already. It’s short and it’s finished. There are four chapters and I will post one per day. Any and all comments will be helpful and appreciated. Thanks for taking a look. And thank you, B.
Chapter End Notes:
Like I said, it’s a very short story. Thanks for the comments, I’ll take all I can get. I hope it was worth reading, and I hope to start posting another story sometime soon. thanks all… :)
One more thing to sum up. When I started, I wanted to write a quick little piece of fluffy. Something entirely fun and cute. But as I went, it turned out that I couldn’t really make things very easy for Buffy. When is it ever? But even if she makes bad choices, or random events or just plain life try to beat her down, it doesn’t mean that there’s no hope for some kind of happiness in the end.
As for Spike, even though most of what he does appears to be self-serving, a lot of the time he either accidentally or even sometimes intentionally, actually does the right thing. And why is this so? There’s only one force in the universe that has this affect on Spike. And, of course, that’s Buffy.
One more thing to sum up. When I started, I wanted to write a quick little piece of fluffy. Something entirely fun and cute. But as I went, it turned out that I couldn’t really make things very easy for Buffy. When is it ever? But even if she makes bad choices, or random events or just plain life try to beat her down, it doesn’t mean that there’s no hope for some kind of happiness in the end.
As for Spike, even though most of what he does appears to be self-serving, a lot of the time he either accidentally or even sometimes intentionally, actually does the right thing. And why is this so? There’s only one force in the universe that has this affect on Spike. And, of course, that’s Buffy.