CHAPTER 6 --
A/N: Hey, if you guys haven’t been to www.captivesouls.com -- go check it out. It’s this new archive that only houses completed Spuffy fics. Post and review there. I’ll eventually be posting a version of Before Today with song lyrics in it. As to Back Together, I’ll try to make my chapters a little longer Slayer rock chick! Thank you for each and every review -- it keeps me writing!
A/N: Someone nominated me at Tales of the Slayer Awards! This is the first time I’ve ever been nominated for anything like that! This chapter his dedicated to the person/people who nominated me!
Leaning towards the door, Spike noted that Connor’s room remained quiet and he was thankful for it. Trying to be heard over Johnny Rotten would prove counterproductive for what he was about to do.
Knocking, Spike waited for his son’s annoyed “Yeah?” before entering.
Not surprised to find his eyes trained on his notebook of drawings, Spike approached the bed. Connor hastily closed the book, sliding it under the pillow beside him.
“I thought you’d want to have this,” Spike told him, revealing a piece of paper in his hand. When Connor didn’t reach out for it, Spike set it face-up on the quilt beside him. Connor afforded it a glance, realizing it was not a paper, but a photograph of a beautiful girl his age. It was a close-up of her sweetly smiling face. She must have been outside, because the sunlight was lit up all around her, brightening the honey color of her hair. “She may look a little different,” Spike continued. “That was taken on her sixteenth birthday -- a couple months before she got pregnant with you and Dawn.” Neither expecting nor receiving a telling reaction from his son, Spike repeated his earlier statement, “I thought you might want it.” Nodding, Spike moved to leave the room.
“Hey!” Connor called out. Spike turned his head. Connor was staring at the photo, lightly fingering it. “Thanks,” he said softly.
Spike smiled. “Your welcome,” he replied, closing the door.
Connor gave the picture a thoughtful look before he leaned over his bed.
And picked up his sketchbook.
Outside his son’s room, Spike took a deep breath. Buffy would be in his home in a few hours.
Buffy.
Christ.
He should have expected it though. If it had been Connor in California, Spike would have had his ass on a plane as well. She should be here anyway. The four of them had some major decisions to make. Because they obviously couldn’t go back to the way things were before -- feigned ignorance that the other two didn’t exist.
For one thing, Dawn wouldn’t have it. The girl was so blinded with joy that she was blissfully unaware of her parent’s uncomfortable vibes with each other or her brother’s anger.
And how could he go back to not spending time with Dawn? He loved his daughter. Having bonded with her, Spike couldn’t imagine going months without seeing her again.
Spike rolled his shoulders, trying to relieve some tension building up in his back before heading to his office, trying to get some work done before all hell broke loose.
________________________________________
Hours later . . .
“Xander!” Buffy embraced him in a tight hug and Xander picked her off her feet, swinging her around, before dropping her to tackle Willow in an equally suffocating welcome embrace inside Spike’s office.
Spike stood away from the group at a safe distance until Harris was finished mauling their friends. Willow approached Spike, a huge smile on her face. “Hey, Spike,” she wrapped her arms around him, squeezing. Spike returned it with both arms around her, closing his eyes tight.
“Missed you, Red,” he replied. God he missed this -- the group of them. He had forgotten how good it felt.
Letting go of each other, all eyes turned to Spike and Buffy, who stood across the room from each other.
“Hi Spike,” Buffy said softly.
Her hair was longer and straighter. And she had long bangs framing her beautiful face. She was wearing fitted jeans, a cream blouse, and a brown leather jacket. Her face was glowing with a California tan.
“Buffy,” Spike nodded.
Sighing at their silly awkwardness, they moved toward each other, exchanging an awkward hug.
“You look good,” she commented, absentmindedly smoothing out his wrinkled shirt.
“You too,” he replied, taking her fussing hands in his and moving them to her sides. She blushed profusely.
The four of them were silent for a moment.
“So . . . It’s been awhile,” Buffy understated nervously, trying to lighten up the heaviness permeating the room.
“Mom!” a voice called from behind her. Buffy whipped around to see her smiling daughter launching herself at her. “Hey,” she took Dawn’s face in her hands, smoothing out her hair, “Having fun?”
“The funnest,” Dawn readily replied. “Grandpa has all these books he’s going to lend me!”
“If I remember correctly, your mother finds my books rather dull,” a British voice called from behind Dawn. Buffy let go of her daughter, looking towards to door.
Buffy flung her body towards him, “Giles!” she exclaimed, throwing herself into the arms of her surrogate father. When they were all in Sunnydale, Giles had been a father figure to all his son’s friends, but especially to Buffy, even before she had gotten together with Spike. And when she and Spike decided to split up, the broken relationship had taken four of the most sacred people to her with it -- all the men in her life.
“Hi mom.”
Buffy froze at the young male voice behind her. Turning slowly, she came to face her son. The bright blue eyes his father had given him looked back at her.
“Hi, baby.” Tears instantly sprung up in her eyes and she didn’t bother trying to hide them. She wiped the escaping drops from her face as he stood across from her, not sure what to do as his eyes nervously darted around the room.
He was completely clueless on what kind of reaction was expected of him. Everyone else had hugged like best friends. Well he sure as hell wasn’t going to.
Buffy read his thoughts, “You don’t have to hug me if you don’t want. I understand.”
Although it broke her heart to say it, Buffy had prepared herself on the long flight over for an icy reception. She was a virtual stranger to her own son.
Connor nodded, making no movement toward her, glad she had made the decision for him, but not letting himself dwell on the fact that she had instinctively known what he was thinking and had saved him.
The sound of a car pulling up through the gravel out front provided a welcome distraction.
“Who’s that?” Willow asked from Xander’s side, the reunited best friends had an arm flung around each other.
“The brain surgeon herself,” Connor grumbled. Spike shot him a look.
“Who?” Buffy questioned.
“Harmony, my fiancée,” Spike filled in before Connor could do it in more colorful terms. Spike cringed a little, not enjoying how empty those words sounded in Buffy’s presence.
“Oh,” Buffy squeaked, glancing over at Willow, Buffy doing a slightly better job at hiding her shock.
Dawn didn’t seem as perturbed, dancing on her tip-toes in excitement, “But it’s okay now right? Because mom’s back and you can’t marry her now.”
Her parents looked at her, slack-jawed. “What? Dawn we’re different people now,” Buffy began gently.
“She not dating anyone!” Dawn interjected, looking toward Spike.
“Dawn!” Buffy admonished, nervously glancing at Spike.
“It’s true!” Dawn continued, “She was with this stupid guy Riley for awhile. But it’s over now!”
“Dawn, where is this coming from?” Buffy demanded, embarrassed to be having a conversation about her lack of a love life in the presence of the only man she’d ever loved. A person who had so obviously moved on. “Dawn, we’re not getting back together.”
“No!” Dawn objected, “This isn’t how it’s supposed to be! You can’t just tell me I have a father and a brother and then split us all up again!”
Spike, now understanding her sudden outburst was less about her parents reuniting and more about losing her new-found relations, approached her, “Dawn, it’s not like we’ll never see each other again. We’ll see each other all the time now.”
“When? Christmas?” she challenged. “I don’t want to see you only on Christmas,” she pleaded. “I’m staying here! You can’t make me go back to Sunnydale!” Dawn turned, storming out the door.
“We’ll go see if she’s okay,” Willow said worriedly, following Dawn with Xander trailing them.
Connor and Giles took the opportunity to slip out themselves -- Connor to escape from the emotional turmoil, and Giles to give his son and the mother of his children some privacy.
Spike and Buffy looked at each other, helpless on how to fix the situation with Dawn, to reassure her that they could be a family even though they lived on two different sides of a very vast ocean. But could they make her that promise? Dawn claimed that she wasn’t leaving England. She said that now, but how long would it take until she began missing her friends and her grandma? Buffy and Willow certainly couldn’t stay in London. They both had lives built for themselves in Sunnydale. And Buffy had just seen her son in thirteen years -- there was no way in hell she was leaving her baby boy indefinitely.
How do you rebuild something so fragile as a family when it was ripped apart so long ago?
They didn’t get long to contemplate their options because they were soon interrupted.
“Spikey! I’m home,” a fluffy blonde loaded down with bags breezed though the door, oblivious to the serious predicament the rest of the house found themselves in. Either she didn’t notice it, or chose not to acknowledge it. Looking at the girl in front of her, Buffy assumed it was the latter.
When Harmony failed to notice Buffy as she told Spike the tale of how she came to be the proud new owner of a Gucci top, Buffy held out her hand, “Hi, I’m Buffy, nice to meet you.”
“Oh, hi,” Harmony responded dully. She twisted on her Prada heels towards Spike. She pointed at Buffy, “Now which one is she the mother of again?”
Spike closed his eyes, “Both of them. Again -- twins, remember?”
Harmony shook her head, as if clearing confusion, “Oh, yeah, whatever. Anyways, gotta run. I’m meeting the girls down at the club for a drink,” she addressed Buffy with a tilt of her head, “You know how it is.”
Buffy tried to remember the last time she had been to the Bronze -- before her life was overcome by crying babies and thousands upon thousands of diapers. “No, actually, I don’t.”
Unfazed, Harmony breezed by them and out the door.
“Sorry ‘bout that,” Spike said, breaking the silence.
“It’s okay,” Buffy replied, looking at the floor.
Spike scuffed the floor with his shoe, trying to collect his thoughts. So many questions but not one of them seemed an appropriate opener: How have you been? What have you and my only daughter been doing the past thirteen years? Who taught her to ride a bike? It sure as hell better have been you or Willow.
But his mouth shot out another question entirely:
“So, how long are you planning’ on stayin’?”
The abrupt question caught her off guard, “Oh . . . Um . . . I’m not sure. Willow and I still have to find a hotel. We were kind of in a hurry to get here,” she shrugged sheepishly.
Spike found himself shaking his head, “No, no, I can’t let you stay in a hotel. Stay here. There’s plenty of room.” They both looked equally shocked by the words that came out of him.
“Oh . . . Thank you. But . . . won’t you fiancée mind?” Buffy asked, giving him the chance to back out.
Which was exactly why Spike stuck to his original offer, “With the amount of time she spends here I doubt she’ll even notice.”
His crack earned a small smile from Buffy. Yes, that was exactly why he offered to let her stay here -- plenty of room. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that every time Buffy smiled he forgot who he was and where he was and was willing to get down on his knees and beg her to do it again.
No. It had nothing to do with that.
TBC
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