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A/N For those of you who wanted to know, the last chapter was supposed to be the end of the story and then it would have been continued in another story. I’ve been going back and forth, but ultimately I didn’t want it to be compared to “Mr. William” (not that I would mind the comparison at all, but I’ve wanted to make sure this one is different). Instead, the story continues, but you can look at this as Part Two. Thanks for the wonderful reviews!
Chapter 21
TWO YEARS LATER
Buffy pulled into her mother’s driveway, turning off the car and glancing
back at the dozing toddler.
“We’re here, honey,” she said softly, reaching into the backseat and patting
the fat little leg, smiling when sleepy blue eyes greeted her.
“Mama?”
“It’s me, baby,” she whispered, smiling at one of the words in his limited
vocabulary. His favorite word….and Buffy’s favorite word to hear.
“Where is my grandson?”
Buffy climbed out of the car, smiling as her mother ran down the steps and
practically threw herself in the backseat, unfastening the little boy.
Buffy smiled with a roll of her eyes.
“Yes, forget all about your daughter,” she said good-naturedly. “I know
when a baby makes an appearance, the parent ceases to exist.”
Joyce climbed out of the back of the car with her grandson securely in her
arms. “You know that’s not true…entirely.”
Buffy laughed as she grabbed their bags from the trunk.
“I just can’t believe I get you both for more than a week,” Joyce said with
an excited smile.
“Yeah,” Buffy agreed, although the enthusiasm wasn’t in her voice as they
walked into the house. “Have you…”
“No,” Joyce said quietly. “I haven’t seen him.”
“Yeah,” Buffy said softly. “I didn’t really expect anything. I don’t know
what I was thinking.”
“You were thinking about Michael.”
Buffy gave her mother a genuine smile as she looked at her son. He was
slowly waking up and taking in his strange surroundings. He seemed content
as long as his mama and grandma were in the vicinity.
“You should go out, Buffy,” Joyce said with a smile as she put Michael on
the floor. He stayed close to Buffy, clutching at her pants with one tiny
fist, while the other clutched his small toy hippopotamus named ‘Tubby.’ He
didn’t go anywhere without that hippo. “Go see Willow and Xander,” Joyce
continued. “You haven’t seen either of them since they went to visit you at
Christmas.”
“I don’t know. I might go see them tomorrow. I want to make sure Michael
is adjusted before I just take off.”
“Oh, we’ll be fine,” Joyce said in a playful tone as she scooped up her
grandson again. “You’ll have fun with Gamma, won’t you?” she asked,
tickling the little boy’s tummy.
Both women laughed at the giggle that erupted from him.
“Go,” Joyce said with a little push for her daughter. “Xander’s working at
The Pub tonight, and Willow is probably close by.”
“Gee, I just got here and you’re already kicking me out,” Buffy said with a
smile.
“I just want to take my grandson and show him off.”
“Aaah, and the truth comes out,” Buffy said with a laugh. “You want to
kidnap my little boy and parade him around to all of your friends.”
Joyce smiled sheepishly. “Can you blame me? This is the first time you’ve
been home, and all I’ve ever had to show them were pictures.”
Buffy shook her head with a grin before offering her mother the car keys.
“Take my car, since you’ll need the car-seat. I’ll take the Jeep.”
Joyce happily took the keys from her daughter. “Take your time and have fun
with your friends.”
“Okay, thanks, Mom,” Buffy said with a hug. “Bedtime at eight o’clock for
the little one,” she continued, tickling Michael's legs as he squealed and
squirmed around. “Mommy loves you,” she whispered with a gentle kiss to the
top of his head.
* * * * *
Buffy sat in The Pub for over an hour, helping Willow plan her impending
wedding. She and Xander were tying the knot the following week, and Buffy
was the obvious choice for Maid of Honor.
Xander joined in the conversation when he could, but the bar was busier than
normal that night, and he was the only bartender assigned to the shift.
“So when do I get to see your dress?” Buffy asked excitedly when Xander was
out of earshot.
“Soon,” Willow said with an excited hop in her seat. “I have to go for the
final alterations in the morning. You can go with me if you want to.”
“Great!” Buffy said, almost as thrilled as her friend was. “I’m so happy
for both of you,” she said with a soft smile. “You two belong together.”
“Thank you for being here, Buffy,” Willow said, squeezing her friend’s hand.
“It means a lot to me that you would come back to town considering…Spike.”
“It’s okay, Wills-“
“No,” Willow said, frantically shaking her head. “Spike’s here…right now.”
Buffy felt her chest tighten as she turned around, looking at a man she
hadn’t seen in over two years. He wasn’t looking her way, and Buffy took a
long moment to just stare at him. He was standing with another man,
searching the crowded bar for a table. Buffy saw his eyes drifting toward
her and quickly spun around, not wanting him to see her. She felt the
familiar tingle that ran through her body whenever he looked at her but
shrugged it off as Willow gave her a sympathetic smile.
“Are you okay?” she asked softly.
“Does he come here a lot?” Buffy asked.
“Not much,” Willow replied. “He’s not exactly on Xander’s ‘favorites’ list,
so the two of them tend to stay away from each other, but I have seen him in
here every now and then. Are you okay?” she repeated.
“Yeah,” Buffy said with a soft smile as her mind flashed back to the past.
* * * * *
18 MONTHS AGO
Buffy looked at the tiny baby in her arms, letting the tears stream down her
cheeks as she realized she was part of creating something so beautiful, so
perfect. And the other person responsible for this tiny life deserved to
know about him.
With a deep breath, Buffy lifted the phone off the cradle, next to the
hospital bed, and dialed the number that was still familiar to her after all this time.
“Hello?”
“Spike.”
“Buffy?”
“It’s me,” she said softly. “I just…I just wanted you to know that…I had a
little boy.”
Spike felt himself intake sharply, desperately needing the air to fill his
lungs.
“Spike? Are you there?”
“Yeah,” he said softly. “Is everything okay?”
“We’re both fine.”
The silence stretched between them like a wide chasm before Buffy sighed.
“I just thought you should know.”
“I’m…I’m glad you did,” he said, overwhelmed with shock.
Buffy felt her heart break all over again. “Yeah…well, thanks for caring.”
“Buffy, wait-“
But she was already gone.
* * * * *
PRESENT DAY
Buffy took a deep, steadying breath before standing up. “I should probably
get going, Wills. I haven’t spent any time with Mom, but I will definitely
be there the alterations tomorrow morning, bright and early.”
Willow stood up, hugging her friend. “Thank you for being here,” Willow
said with tears in her eyes. “I need my best friend with me.”
“I can’t imagine not being here.”
“Hey, Buff, you taking off?” Xander asked as he wiped down the bar in front
of them.
“Yep, but I’ll see you later,” she replied, leaning across the bar to give
Xander a kiss on the cheek. “Bye, guys,” she said with a wave.
* * * * *
Spike looked up from his conversation with Charles Gunn to see a blonde
woman hugging Willow Rosenburg. Spike hadn’t spoken to Willow very much
since she graduated, but something about their interaction kept his eyes
trained to them. He couldn’t see the woman’s face, but he watched as she
leaned across the bar to kiss the whelp on the cheek.
She gave a friendly wave before turning to the door. Spike felt his breath
catch in his throat. He couldn’t believe his eyes. She had lost at least ten
pounds and her hair was longer and more of a honey blonde, but it was
definitely…
“Buffy,” he murmured, causing Gunn to stop talking and look around.
“That’s her?” Gunn asked as he sat back and watched the woman walk toward
the door. “Damn, she’s fine. Nice choice, my man,” he said with a grin as
he slapped Spike on the back. Spike sat still in stunned silence as Buffy
walked out of the bar. “What are you waiting for?” Gunn asked. “The woman
you’ve been pining after for years just walked away, and you’re not going to
go after her?” he smiled as Spike practically bolted from his seat and ran
from the bar. “That’s what I thought,” Gunn said with a chuckle.
* * * * *
“Buffy!”
Buffy stopped walking, swallowing the lump in her throat as she turned to
face him. “Spike,” she said in casual greeting.
Spike stared at her for a long moment, not believing that it was really her.
“Well, if you’re done staring, I have to get going,” Buffy said, turning
around and walking away.
Spike chased after her, grabbing her arm and spinning her around. “Listen,
pet, I just wanted to talk to you…to check on you.”
“Check on me?” Buffy asked in disbelief. “It took you long enough. Since
when do you care?”
“You know I care,” Spike said, tightening his hold on her arm as she
attempted to walk by him. “I always have.”
“Just not enough,” Buffy replied with a raised eyebrow.
“Buffy, I was going to lose my job-”
“Yeah,” Buffy agreed with a nod. “You lost something else instead.”
“I never meant to…I never wanted to hurt you, luv.”
Buffy laughed in disdain. “Yeah…you never meant to hurt me. It’s too late,
Spike. You’re too late.”
Spike watched as she turned her back on him, walking toward her car. “I
love you,” he said softly.
Buffy stopped at the admission, fighting the tears in her eyes. “No, you
don’t,” she replied with more conviction than she felt.
“You think I haven’t tried not to?” he asked, taking a step closer to her as
Buffy turned around to face him.
“Try harder,” she said, repeating the words he had told her so long ago.