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Author's Chapter Notes:
This was a difficult chapter and I hope you read and enjoy.

This is the next to last chapter/epilogue.

Oh, please know that I appreciate all of you reading and reviewing this story. I've been behind in my responses and for that I truly apologize.
Summary: Angel and Darla’s child is born. What will happen to her and the rest of the characters?


Chapter 30: ‘New Life/New Beginnings’


“Oh Jesus,” Hank Summers gasped in disbelief, “is that a newborn’s cry?”

Buffy’s father stared at the closed door between himself and what he figured was where his missing daughter was.

“Well, yeah,” Spike chuckled, anxiously eyeing the door himself.

“Tis Angel, my cousin and his wife Darla. Buffy’s helpin’ with the babe being born and….,” Spike faltered when he saw the horrified look in his father-in-law’s dark eyes.

“Seems the little one came a bit early and all,” he continued, his discomfort was apparent. “I’d figure you’d know about babies Mr. Summers,” Spike mumbled half-heartedly, his blond head bowed in respect. “Havin’ three yourself and…..”

Hank Summers was a practical man, in most ways that is. He was the salt of God’s green earth and loved his wife and children above all else; after God himself of course.

The Summers elder also considered himself a man of worldly knowledge and such. However, he had never considered something so very basic; not since his oldest child had been stolen away from him, his wife and their home.

‘These men,’ Hank thought to himself in amazement, “they’re just like all men, at heart. They have wives, lovers and sweethearts; children maybe? They are men like me; with ties and obligations,’ he realized, finally.


“It’s a beautiful baby girl!” Buffy squealed in delight as she held the newborn child out to Angel.

“What am I supposed to do with that?” Angel whined nervously, backing away just a bit from Buffy and his child.

Angel turned to look at his wife, Darla, who was horribly still on the makeshift birthing bed.

“Darla,” Angel whispered harshly before he joined her by the side of the bed.

“I, I’m okay Angel,” Darla whimpered, but Buffy could tell that the older was woman was anything but okay.

‘She’s lost way too much blood,’ Buffy thought fearfully. She held the precious new little baby to her body, tightly, and watched what transpired between husband and wife.

“You’re not okay,” Angel murmured huskily, taking Darla into his big arms. “You need help baby,” he stated the obvious.

“She does,” Buffy interjected, feeling rather intrusive at this sensitive moment between the couple.

“Your wife needs help, Angel,” Buffy repeated numbly, even as the child in her arms cried for her mother.

“My baby,” Darla whispered longingly, her arms stretched out for the child. The pain in the Darla’s voice belied her brave front she was putting on for Angel and Buffy.

“Here sweetie,” Buffy murmured, hurrying over to hand the lovely dark-haired/dark-eyed girl baby to her mother.

Buffy gently placed the beautiful child into her mother’s waiting arms.

“Oh, oh my dear little Angela,” Darla murmured lovingly and weakly just before she passed out.

Angel clasped his wife to his body in terror as Buffy swept little Angela into her arms.

“Listen to me Angel,” Buffy ordered the big lumbering man. “I’ve a plan and you need to hear it out and accept it or not. I shall warn you,” she added carefully. “This will not be easy for you or your wife, but…..”

Buffy went on to explain her plan to Angel, quickly of course since his wife’s health needed expediency in the matter.

“Stay here,” Buffy commanded her husband’s cousin sternly. “I’m taking Angela out into the other room with me. I have a plan Angel and you need to be strong about this. My father, he’s a good man and…..”

Buffy looked longingly towards the closed door and then back at the huge man who tenderly stroked his unconscious wife’s head.

“Do you want Darla to be alright? To get the medical help she needs?” Buffy asked, carefully tucking the swaddling cloth about Angela’s little body.

“Yes, of course,” Angel stammered, bravely trying to hide the tears in his dark eyes.

“Then I’ll go talk to Papa, right now,” Buffy mumbled in reply. “He’ll help you Angel. You and Darla and your child; and the rest of us in the process.”

She hurried out of the small room, only sparing one glance back at the unconscious woman on the bed. Angel watched Buffy leave, carrying his and Darla’s precious little girl.

Buffy would always remember the terrified look in Angel’s dark eyes. That and the way he used them to silently plead with her to help his wife and daughter.


“Papa?” Buffy whimpered from the doorway before she threw herself into Hank Summers’ arms.

“My baby girl,” Hank murmured happily as he embraced his oldest child to him. The elder man tried carefully not to crush the infant in his daughter’s arms.

“We…..” he began, but was cut off immediately by Buffy herself.

“I need your help,” Buffy whispered desperately into her father’s ear.

“I, we need you,” she repeated, cautiously looking into her father’s deep brown, soulful eyes.

“What…..what do you need?” Hank asked his eldest and favored child.

Buffy took a deep breath and gazed into the eyes of the man she had worshipped for seventeen years.

“Daddy,” she began carefully, “I need a favor. I need you now Daddy, more then ever. My husband,” Buffy began, taking Will’s hand in hers. “His cousin is Angel Crawford and this child,” she continued as she held Angela Crawford out to her father.

“Her mother,” Buffy choked out, the emotion overwhelming her for a moment. “Darla is her name and she is in mortal danger Papa.”

“What do you want me to do?” Hank asked, much like a confused child. His own dark eyes surveyed the newborn girl carefully.

“I need you to take Darla into your charge Daddy,” Buffy explained, her hand entwined with her husband’s, Williams.

“I, well we trust you,” Buffy continued before she placed a tender kiss on Angela’s warm little head.

Hank looked at Buffy, then at Spike with confusion.

“How can I take Darla Crawford into my care when…..”

Angel took that opportune time to enter the front room of the building.

“Because I’m giving myself up,” Angel stated evenly as he handed his guns over to Hank Summers.

“I, I don’t understand,” Hank stuttered.

“I’ve talked Angel here into giving himself up,” Buffy admitted shyly. “To help his wife; himself and yes, all of us,” she finished coolly.


There’s a time in a man’s life, Hank Summers realized, that he had to listen to his children; no matter how hard that might be.

He had always been a practical man, Hank had, and he considered himself a progressive man of sorts.

Right now, his oldest daughter, Buffy, was asking for his help and since he loved Buffy and Buffy loved this Spike and his family…well.

“I, I don’t know Buffy dear,” Hank stammered unsurely. “It’s all well and good for Angel here to turn himself in but Marshall Merrick seems to be out for blood. I’m not sure that the marshal will be satisfied with just one member of the Crawford gang. Even if it’s the ring leader.”

Hank gave his daughter a pointed look and then glared at Spike and Angel, respectively.

“It was Graham that murdered Uncle Richard,” Buffy blurted. “He was an evil man, Graham was,” she added with a shiver of hatred.

“He’s dead, Daddy,” Buffy continued evenly, “Graham that is,” she finished sourly. “He…..”

“Is dead,” Spike confirmed with a nod of his blond head. “Dead and buried back by a ranch up close to the Utah border. Unfortunately so is Riley Finn; one of the best blokes I’ll ever have the pleasure to know. It was Finn that rescued my Buffy here and…..”

“Okay,” Hank interrupted gruffly. “I’ll see what I can do with Merrick and the others,” he continued carefully, “but I can’t make promises,” he finished with a shrug.

“Now, if Buffy was to agree to go home with me and….” Hank offered without hesitation.

“No!” Buffy and Spike roared in unison.

“No way,” Spike grunted defiantly.

“Never,” Buffy chimed in as she felt her husband tighten his grip on her arm.

“Daddy,” Buffy began again, less abrasive this time, “I ‘am’ home now,” she declared wistfully.

“Home is here, with my William,” she looked up lovingly at her husband and Hank knew that they had lost their beloved Buffy forever. At least in some sense of the word.

Spike grinned down at his beautiful bride and beamed with pride at her.

Hank watched the interaction between his daughter and his newly found son-in-law. He realized, finally, that this was it for Buffy, his Buffy; his sweet dear little girl.

However…..she wasn’t so little anymore and apparently, she was not ‘his’ anymore either. Buffy belonged with Spike and he with her and that was that.

“Okay,” Hank sighed wearily. “I’ll do what I have to do to help Angel here and his wife,” he added evenly. “I can try to cause a decoy; keep the posse from coming in here or…..”

“Thanks Daddy,” Buffy squeaked as she embraced her father fiercely.

“Your mother is going to kill me you know,” Hank sighed again in resignation. “For not bringing you home with me,” he finished with a kind of manly sob.

“No she won’t Daddy,” Buffy whispered into her father’s ear; standing full on her tippy- toes. “Mama will understand, believe me,” she added with a giggle.

“What about Montgomery?” Hank asked cautiously as he eyed his son-in-law warily.

“Tell that monster that he is an incredible…..” Buffy began with hesitation.

“That’s he’s a bloody prat and you’re kicking him to the pig’s trough,” Spike offered hopefully.

“What my husband said,” Buffy giggled with a sly wink at her husband.

“Gladly,” Hank grunted in self-satisfaction. “That’s the most pleasant chore I’ll have in a lifetime!”

Hank let go of his daughter and gazed at the newborn girl that his son-in-law now held.

“What about this little beauty, though?” The older Summers asked softly. The moment he had looked into Angela Crawford’s deep brown eyes, he was hooked.

“Angel wants William and I to look after little Angela here,” Buffy whispered as she took the small baby from her husband’s arms.

“Oh,” Hank mumbled wistfully as he gently tweaked Angela’s tender little pale cheek.

“We thought…” Buffy began, but she hesitated when she saw the tender look in her father’s dark eyes.

“Well, we thought that Angela here could be raised; with our children,” Buffy murmured softly, her hand covered her own tummy protectively.

“You’re….” Hank began, then choked up; too overcome with emotion to continue.

“Yes,” Buffy favored her husband and father with a most feminine smile. “You’re going to be a grandfather, Papa,” she sighed happily.

Hank noticed the way Spike Giles clasped his daughter’s arm; possessively and protectively.

“A life in Mexico,” Hank began carefully then continued evenly. “It’ll be rough, honey,” he pointed out to Buffy. “I wonder if maybe the little girl should be here, around her mother and father, with someone you can trust. You know, when her momma wakes up and….” Hank gazed at his daughter hopefully.

“Angel?” Buffy turned to her husband’s cousin and gave him a raised brow. “I have to agree with my father. When Darla wakes up, she’ll want her daughter close by, right?”

“Right,” Angel muttered under his breath as he lovingly gazed at his newborn child.


A/N: I wrote myself into a corner with this story and I hope this is a fix for it.

In the next chapter and epilogue, we will find out what happened to most of the characters in this story.

I guarantee that Spike and Buffy will make it to Mexico and then to ‘who knows’? Maybe a small town in California?

I will say this much: Hank will keep his word and help the remaining members of the gang at least get across the border to Mexico. His plan will work and only Angel and Darla will be left behind to pay the price for the gang’s ill gotten gains.

The baby, Angela, will have a good family, don’t worry; the question is will it be Angel and Darla or the Hank Summers’ family?

What will happen to Caleb and the others? Will Connor Crawford ever meet Dawn Summers?

Please don’t worry; Spike and Buffy will have a long, long future together and be the patriarch and matriarch of a whole new generation of Summers-Giles.

Please read and review. Thank you, spufette.





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