*Banner By Ariel Dawn*
Thanks AD! Hugs~Opal
Story Dedicated to Meli!
Thanks for being a great Beta. Hugs~Opal
Chapter 6 – Pondering Daddy
Joyce was thrilled to see daughter holding her newborn baby. She was even more thrilled to see that the baby didn’t look like Riley but looked like a certain bleached blond vampire that used to frequent her kitchen for a good cup of hot cocoa.
Even though Buffy had only vaguely spoke of the botched up spell Willow had done months ago, Spike had been much more open with Joyce. He had been a gentleman and spared her from the intimate details, but Joyce had quickly come to that conclusion on her own. It was clear that the vampire had feelings for her daughter, which pleased Joyce immensely because she enjoyed his company. Unlike Angel, he didn’t have a soul to lose.
It boiled down to, vampire or not, Spike wore his heart on his sleeve, he was committed to his love, and he was honest. Not many human men were like that.
Sadly, her daughter had her own ideas of who the perfect man for her was. Joyce grimaced at how that turned out. The stupid soldier had left her before even confirming if the baby was his. He skipped right out. All the more reason that throughout Buffy’s pregnancy that Willow botched her spell up enough to make this Spike’s baby and not Riley’s.
From the timing, the face, and the chosen name it appeared that Joyce had her prayer answered.
Of course it was at that moment that Joyce realized that the herbs around her daughter were part of a spell. At this point, Joyce really didn’t care but Willow had been nervous about doing spells around people since her big botch up. Giles had really given the young girl a tongue lashing; which in retrospect was not the best approach to take. So since then, she hid her spell casting from all of the Scoobies, with the exception of Buffy.
****
On the other hand, Willow was becoming nervous. Now that it was obvious that Spike was the father, would her best friend hate her?
“Buffy, he is so beautiful!”
“I know. He has his dad’s eyes.”
“He’s just a little bundle from heaven.”
“My little bundle from the powers alright. One hundred percent Spike Jr.”
Buffy noticed Willow wince at her remark. It reminded her that Willow has been nervous about the topic of Spike since her botched up spell. Buffy was quick to reassure her that there was nothing to be nervous about.
“Wills, I couldn’t be happier that this is Spike’s baby. Yeah Riley and I are still friends, but he wasn’t the long haul guy.”
“Yeah but Spike, evil vampire.”
“Missing evil vampire. Which means me and little William are going to have so much fun together with no worries.”
“But what if Spike comes back Buffy?”
“I’ll deal with it then.”
Buffy placed soft kisses on her son’s head and rocked him gentle in her arms. Right now nothing would spoil her happiness as she held her precious cargo in her arms.
“Buffy, honey you should think about it.” Joyce advised.
“Think about what mom?”
“Think about how Spike is going to fit into this. I know you do not like him, and I know that my beautiful grandson is a result of a magic spell. I also know that he loves you, he’ll support you, and he’ll take care of you.”
“Mom, he is also an evil vampire without his chip. He can also eat us and no more nice Buffy and baby William.”
“Well honey, he will undoubtedly be back.”
“I know. I’ll think about it.”
“Just be careful Buffy.” Joyce asked of her only daughter. ‘Be careful with his heart.’
Joyce left the room, and left Willow and Alexandra to aid Buffy with the baby. Alexandra took out a few candles and placed the around the room.
“Buffy, I’m just going to do a quick spell to protect you and the baby. It will not only protect the house, but also the property around it. No vampires will be able to enter your yard for the next few weeks. This will allow you to rest and recover from giving birth.”
Buffy was relieved that Alexandra was going through with this. It killed two birds with one stone. Kept nosy vampires away from her house and would keep Spike from coming too close to see what was going on. That is if he did come around. During the spell he said he would protect her always, never leave her. That was then.
The Powers That Be only knew where he had left to all these months. He could have gotten the chip out, could be with Drusilla. It didn’t matter though. She would have to be on guard for him if he did show up. She’d protect her baby with her life.
****
Several weeks went by, and the baby had grown just a little bit. William was still so tiny, easily fitting in his newborn diapers. Buffy gently placed him in the bassinet to sleep, when she heard a knock at the door. She was curious who would be over this time in the afternoon, since everyone else she knew was at work or at school.
“Riley!”
“Buffy! You look great. You don’t even look like you had a baby! So where is the little one?”
Of course that is when Buffy realized that she hadn’t told Riley that he wasn’t the dad.
“He’s over in the bassinet sleeping.”
“A boy? That’s great Buffy. What’s his name?”
“William.”
There was an awkward silence in the air, but it only took the name of the baby to confirm what Riley knew all along. Hostile 17 was a dad.
“That’s a great name. You know Buff, there’s something I really need to tell you.”
“Why don’t you go first, because I have a few things to say too.”
“I know Hostile 17 is the father.”
Buffy was shocked. There was no way that he knew Spike was the dad.
“Well that explains your distancing from me. Now maybe you can explain to me how you know?”
“Well I saw you go to the clinic that night. I didn’t think I would ever need to tell you, but apparently I should have. Walsh has the clinic monitored by the Initiative. Forrest was on that night.”
“Oh.” Buffy barely squeaked out her acknowledgement.
“So I had access to a lot of things. I could tell from looking at the age of the ultrasound pictures that the baby was further along and the rest just logically fell into place.”
“So that’s why you left?”
“Yeah it would have killed me to have continued falling in love with you only to have your bear another man’s child.”
“I’m sorry Riley.”
“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about Buffy, wasn’t your fault.”
“Walsh knows that you’re not the father?”
“Correct. But she doesn’t have any of the records from the school clinic. I had those destroyed. She doesn’t have access to your personal doctor’s records either.”
“But why would she care?’
“Because that woman is up to some pretty strange things in that secret lab of hers, and you would be a prize to her.”
“Thank you. Thank you for protecting both William and I.”
“I’ll be here to protect you and help you Buffy, as your friend.”
“I appreciate that Riley, I really do.”
The pair had just sat on the couch when William decided to scream off the top of his little lungs and remind his mom exactly why she was having this conversation with her ex-boyfriend.
Buffy took her son out of the bassinet and held him close to her. She sat back down on the couch and rocked him gently as he fell back to sleep.
Riley felt it was probably a good time to bring up another sensitive subject. He took a deep breath and crossed his fingers tight.
“So does Spike know?”
“I haven’t seen him since he left after the spell. As far as I know he doesn’t know.”
“Would you tell him?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been frightened of him before, but to tell you the truth Riley I am now.”
“Why you’re the Slayer?”
“Yeah, but he’s just a little baby. A little baby that can’t defend himself if his mommy gets hurt and his daddy has lost his chip!”
Riley laid his hand on her shoulder to offer some comfort to her.
“I’ll be here to help you with that Buffy. I won’t let him get you and the baby.”
Thanks to everyone for taking the time to leave a review. Additional thanks to Meli for taking the time and effort to beta the chapter! :) **Hugs** ~ Opal
PS - HAVE NO FEAR - THERE WILL BE ABSOLUTELY NO BILEY.
Just before you bash me in review land, remember this is an answer to a challenge fic which is requiring me to write some more angsty shit. This story will definitely be a rollercoaster ride, but well worth it. I'd hate to see you drop off of reading this fic, so that's why I warn you.
You can be promised a happy Spuffy ending. I don't like teary Spuffy endings.
So now I'll leave you all wondering ....will Riley really be there for Buffy and William, or does he have other intentions up his sleeve? Would Buffy eventually allow Spike to be a part of William's life? Hmmm....
Cheers! ~ Opal