Chapter 7: ‘Always’
Summary: Buffy starts her tutelage of Dawn’s education on being a lady!
Spike dreams up a way to spend a lot of time with Buffy and the Bit.
Dawn gets to see Buffy practice her show.
A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reads and reviews. It really inspires someone like me!
Buffy woke up, in her bed, groggy from some distant dream she had been having. Well, it might have been a dream, except one of the characters from it was sitting at the foot of Buffy’s bed, very much alive and not dreamlike at all.
“Did you sleep well Doll?” Buffy asked the dark-haired, blue-eyed six-year-old that sat, crossed legged at the end of her bed.
“Yup,” Dawn replied with a sweet smile. “Never slept better,” the young girl added happily.
Dawn was wearing the adorable pink satin pajamas that Buffy and William had bought at Bloomingdales yesterday. The tiny girl truly looked like a little doll, sitting on the edge of Buffy’s bed, grinning happily.
Buffy felt a strange tug at her heart, remembering that this poor kid’s father was probably not going to be back for this precious child. Dawn’s present fairy tale like state would not last much longer, she feared.
‘Men,’ Buffy snorted silently, ‘they break our hearts with their selfishness and they always will.’ Buffy resented this Ted Merrick, even though she had not laid her eyes on him.
“Where’s Mr. Spike?” Dawn blurted out, in her coy manner. “I thought maybe ‘he’d’ stayed here, last night. You know, for a sleepover,” she added eagerly, her blue eyes gleamed brightly.
“Oh, honey, no!” Buffy laughed in response, even though she was rather taken aback. “A lady doesn’t have a gentleman stay in her bedroom all night. Not unless she’s married to him or, well, unless they have an understanding together? I mean, in that way and all…” Her voice trailed off to a whisper as she tried to explain the mechanics of adult relationships to the innocent child.
(***Anvil alert for later in the fic!!!***)
“Oh,” Dawn sighed dramatically, “you mean if Mr. Spike and you love each other? Then he could sleep with you? In your big bed here?”
“Not exactly,” Buffy giggled nervously, “but well, maybe kind of something like that.”
“But Mr. Spike ‘does’ love you Buffy,” Dawn whimpered a little. “It’s so plain, written right on his face and all. Don’t you love Mr. Spike, Buffy?” She asked the older woman in such a sad, childish tone, that Buffy couldn’t answer right at first.
It caused such an ache in Buffy’s frosty heart, that a small little girl could see what was so obvious. To think that this little doll could detect and state William’s devotion to Buffy? Even with all the sarcastic words and verbal sparring that William and Buffy always did with each other? Were their innermost feelings so very blatant and clear to everyone around them? Apparently, they were, at least to this wise, knowing young child.
“Now that’s a loaded question,” Buffy countered good-naturedly, deciding that it was the best way to field off the curious child’s interrogation.
“It’s complicated, Dawn,” Buffy murmured, avoiding the girl’s honest blue eyes.
“Can’t figure out why it’s so complicated,” Dawn muttered stubbornly. “If…”
“Hey,” Buffy blurted out excitedly, “what say we go to Lindy’s for lunch today!”
“Who’s Lindy?” Dawn asked suspiciously. “I thought the dark prince’s name was Angel?”
“It is,” Buffy responded quickly, “no, I mean Angel isn’t the dark prince, he’s not the dark prince at all! I mean,” Buffy rambled on, after taking a deep breath, “Lindy’s is a place, a restaurant; not a person.”
“Oh,” Dawn replied with a scowl. “Will Mr. Spike be coming with us?’
“No!” Buffy spat abruptly. “Well,” she continued, a little unsure of herself, “maybe?”
“Hope so,” Dawn giggled happily. “I like Mr. Spike, Buffy. He’s the best knight of all. Mr. Spike is like Lancelot! The most loyal and bestest knight and Princess Buffy’s true love!”
“I see,” Buffy mumbled nervously. “William is that,” she finally admitted reluctantly. “Loyal I mean,” she finished with a blush.
“Let’s go round up Maggie, eh?” Buffy offered her little charge. “We’ll have a huge, wonderful breakfast together and then go to the club I work at. I have to practice my new song. Would you like to go there? To my work place, Dawn?”
“Oh yes!” Dawn exclaimed gleefully. “I’d love to watch you sing, Buffy! All the beautiful things you and Mr. Spike bought me should be here this morning. Right Buffy!”
Spike sat on his living room couch, trying to patiently listen to Xander and Giles explain Angel’s latest scheme, fully, to him. This was pretty hard for him because, frankly, his mind was busy trying to think up ways to be close to Buffy. After that little stunt the night before, where he kissed her, against her will…
‘Against her will my arse,’ Spike mumbled ruefully, ‘she wanted it the same as me!’
Buffy could be pretty damned resourceful when she wanted to be and it was going to be hard for Spike to slip back into her world. He would do it though, no matter what it took; he would get Buffy back one way or the other.
“Spike?” Giles gave his employer and friend a raised brow look. “I know you don’t approve of this fixed horse race business that Angel’s concocted. However, you’re into it now so against your will or not? You will have to go along with it.”
“Peaches is a bloody moron!” Spike growled at Giles in his best menacing tone. “You’re right, I don’t like this horse doping scheme of his, not one fucking bit. I’ll go along with it because I have to, but that doesn’t mean I like it!”
“I know, Spike,” Giles a lot more gently, “I don’t like it either, but Angel O’Connor is our employer and…”
“Just get on with it!” Spike groused, lighting a cigarette. “I ‘spose we’re stuck in this shit. Don’t see why we have to go check the doomed horsemeat out today. I don’t like the idea of lookin’ into the poor beast’s eyes, knowin’ what’s in store for him.”
Xander Harris chuckled at Spike’s somewhat sensitive statement. His boss tried so hard to be a fucking big bad and all, but inside? Spike Jameson was just a big teddy bear, something Buffy Summers had figured out years ago.
‘Buffy’s right,’ Xander reasoned, not for the first time. ‘She’s right about the boss, completely. He’s betterin’ this lousy life we’re in and he could be anything he wanted to be. Why doesn’t he see that?’
As Giles and Xander yammered on about that bloody horse and all the other betting plots they had, Spike’s mind went into overdrive. He had come up with a great way to wheedle his way back into Buffy’s good graces and spend time with her. Along with the Bit of course.
Spike would go pick up Buffy and Dawn; take them to see the bloody horse, The Charger. The kid had to love horses, right? After all, Dawn was in love with the King Arthur myth and everything that went along with it. Didn’t the King have some wondrous horse he worshipped or something? Spike could get the kid all excited about ‘meeting’ The Charger and maybe she’d make the myth connection.
Buffy would never allow Spike to take the Bit to the track alone, now would she? Especially since his Buffy would automatically assume that the rest of Spike’s boys would be there.
‘Now, surely my golden goddess will not stand for Dawn to be around me and my boys, will she? Not without her there to keep her eye out on all of us.’ Spike smirked, delighted that he’d come up with a perfect, sure fire plan to get back around Buffy. Knowing his ex as well as he did, he knew she’d insist on being there, every time Dawn was exposed to Spike’s world.
‘Now, there’s the ticket!’ He thought smugly. It was a sure fire plan and nothing could go wrong with it.
(Yeah, right Spike!!!)
“Miss Summers’ residence,” greeted the snobby, nasally voice of Mrs. Margaret Walsh. When Spike called Buffy’s place, he had forgotten that old biddy, Walsh, would probably answer the phone. It was one of her household duties for God’s sake.
“Is Buffy available, Maggie,” Spike mumbled into the line. He detested Margaret Walsh and had since Buffy hired her, over five years ago. The old bitch made it no secret that she had disliked and disapproved of Spike Jameson. Margaret Walsh was a first class bitch and Spike hated the way she always stuck her nose into Buffy’s business.
‘Old bat probably hasn’t changed a bit,’ Spike mused as he waited for the said bat to answer him. ‘I just bet she fawns over Peaches, though,’ he reasoned with resentment.
“Miss Summers is out for the day, Mr. Jameson.” Margaret finally replied, rather harshly, Spike thought.
“Is the Bit with her?” Spike asked, suddenly suspicious of where Buffy was and what she was doing.
“If by the ‘Bit’ you mean the young girl you saddled Miss Summers with? She is with my employer,” the maid spat in her constant tone of disapproval.
“Buffy offered to take charge of little Dawn, Maggie,” Spike sighed in exasperation. “She felt it best to have the Bit with her and not me.”
‘Why the fuck am I explaining this to the hired help!’ He asked himself in disgust.
“Where are they, Maggie?” Spike muttered, anxious to get this phone call over with.
“They have both gone to Mr. O’Connor’s club, Mr. Jameson.” Spike noticed the change in Maggie’s voice. When she’d mentioned Mr. O’Connor and his fucking club that is. Now, the bloody bitch’s tone was all warm and fuzzy.
‘I think I’ll throw up now,’ Spike groaned.
“Buffy took the Bit to Heaven’s Haven!” Spike roared, a little louder then he meant to. “Why the bloody hell did she do that?” He was instantly enraged for some reason.
“She needed to practice her show for tonight’s performance,” Maggie began to explain, all business-like again. “I told Miss Summers that I did not think the ‘child’ should be exposed to ‘that’ type of atmosphere, but she insisted. I suppose Miss Summers took the ‘Bit’ with her to save me the trouble of watching her.” Maggie’s sense of sarcasm was not lost on Spike.
‘Yeah, I’ll just bet you bloody bint,’ Spike reasoned. ‘Buffy probably took the Bit with her to save the poor kid from the likes of you. You old battle axe.’ He had to stop himself from vocalizing his inner conversation. It’d do no good to piss off Buffy’s housekeeper any more at him.
Although Maggie was a widow, for some time now, she did not live with Buffy. Just as Johnathan did not live with Spike, but had his own home and family. Maggie lived someplace, close by to Buffy, with her mother or something.
Spike had come to the conclusion, just a few moments ago, that he’d better keep in Maggie Walsh’s good graces. At least somewhat, even though the old bat didn’t live with Buffy. She did hold some sway with his golden goddess and it’d do no good to turn the old witch completely against him.
“I’ll contact Buffy at the club,” Spike mumbled quickly before hanging up the phone. “Thank you Maggie.”
Spike strode over to his coat rack, grabbed his coat and hat. He turned to a confused Johnathan and spat, “give these bums a decent home cooked meal.” Smiling at Xander and Giles, Spike slapped his hat on his head quickly.
“You two look like you both could use a home cooked meal,” Spike shrugged as he donned his coat. “I’m off to rescue my two favorite girls. I’ll see you later, with the others, at the track.”
“But Spike,” Xander stammered, “we’ve got business and…”
“I’ll wait,” Spike spat back at the confused trio, “I’ll meet you, at the track, in about two hours. The Bit and Buffy’ll be with me, so behave yourselves when we're there!”
Buffy stood on the stage, warming up her voice for that very nights show. Dawn sat, not ten feet from her, in a lone chair at a small table. When they had arrived at Heaven’s Haven, Buffy ordered the staff to open the kitchen early and make the little doll a snack or two.
While Buffy went over the music with Daniel Osbourne, Dawnie sat and nibbled on all kinds of treats. Buffy smiled as she watched the small child eat, heartily. Frankly, Buffy felt that Dawnie was a little on the skinny side for her age. It worried the older woman, especially since she feared that the kid’s father would never be back for her. Then again, seeing the less then stellar job the man had done so far? Maybe it was for the best.
“Let’s do the ‘Always’ number, Danny,” Buffy said with an affectionate grin at Dawn.
‘Always’ (Irving Berlin lyrics)
‘Ev’rything went wrong
And the whole day long
I’d feel so bue
For the longest while
I forgot to smile
Then, I met you
Now that my blue days have passed
Now that I’ve found you at last…
I’ll be loving you, always
With a love that’s true, always
When the things you’ve planned
Need a helping hand
I will understand
Always, always
Days may not be fair, always
That’s when I’ll be there, always
Not for just an hour
Not for just a day
Not for just a year
But always
Dreams will all come true
Growing old with you
And time will fly
Caring each day more
Then the day before
Till spring rolls by
Then the springtime has gone
Then will my love linger on
Always’
Dawn began to clap wildly at the end of the song and Buffy actually blushed in pleasure.
“That was oustanding, Princess,” William’s deep voice echoed through the club and up to Buffy.
A/N: Short chapter, to keep the story going. There were anvils everywhere in this chapter and I hope you readers caught them!
Thanks for reading and please review, spufette
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you for reading and reviwing this.
I promise, very soon, very soon 'Spuffy'!
I promise, very soon, very soon 'Spuffy'!