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Chapter 27

“You threatened her?”

“I continued where you left off, but I controlled myself. I used some lines from action movies, like “You’ll be sorry,” “I’ll make you pay,” and “I’ll be back.” I wanted to get my point across, but I didn’t want to make the girl pee in her pants. You already had her shaking in her tennis shoes.”

“Tara didn’t want to disappoint you,” Buffy added after a brief pause. “You care about her too.”

“Yeah, but so what? It doesn’t change anything.”

“It’ll affect how we get past this.”

“If we get past this,” William grumbled. “You and me, I know we’ll be alright. But if your memory isn’t restored to tip-fucking-top shape, the witches and I… I won’t get past it.”

Buffy and William were sitting cross-legged on their bed. After walking Tara to the door, Buffy had gone into the kitchen, found the meal William had already laid out, and gathered up as much as she could carry in her hands—which boiled down to two forks, one over-flowing plate of leftovers and two drinks. She kept her can of soda, but replaced William’s soft drink with a beer from the refrigerator. As they spoke, Buffy fed herself and with every few words, she slipped a fork-full of food past William’s lips.

“Honey, would you actually keep Tara away from the kids?”

“There can always be another nanny.”

“But can there be another Tara?”

It was a simple question, but Buffy knew she had struck a soft spot. William gulped down about half of his beer and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“What bothers me is that the majority of this bullshit could’ve been avoided. I’ve got two meddlesome witches doing their best, trying to fix problems we never really had. I don’t need a sodding intervention, magical or otherwise, when it comes to my wife, thank you very much. I can fight my own battles. I can handle a bit of heartache. No one needs to go to such great lengths just to spare my feelings. It seems to be trend among you and your girlfriends: keeping me clueless, then saying it’s for my own good. Well, isn’t that just utter shit?”

“It’s shit?” Buffy asked as she fed him the last scoop of pasta. “Should we want to hurt your feelings?”

“No, but—they got trampled on anyway, alright?”

“William--.”

“Don’t. Don’t ‘oh, William’ me. You’re always trying to look after me and my precious emotions. It’s nothing new. I know you won’t change. I don’t even want you to. We balance each other out, Buffy. You come unglued when you’re protecting my Nancy-boy feelings and I do the same when I think you’re putting yourself in harm’s way.”

“So it isn’t so shitty after all?” Buffy placed their plate on the carpet before taking his empty beer can and setting it on top of the plate, between their forks. “You want another beer, baby?”

“I don’t know what I want.”

She heard his pout before turning to see it on his lips. She crawled across the bed, wrapped her arms around him and placed soft kisses on his face. “God, do you have any idea how much I love you?”

“Yes. I’m completely aware of how much.”

She snickered before whispering, “William, I have another secret for you.”

“Fuck off.”

“William!” Buffy laughed in response to his growl and laughed again once he attacked her with passionate kisses. She quickly found herself sprawled out on her back, underneath his body. Her shirt was pulled over her head. He kissed down to the edge of her lacy bra. Then he let out a frustrated groan.

“What the bloody hell is that?” he asked.

“Um, it’s Tara’s magical sachet-pouchy-thing. She said I had to keep it close.”

“So you thought it would be best to shove the thing into your cleavage? What if it gives you a rash? What if that hocus-pocus shit rubs off on me?”

“Keep your head out from in between my boobs. I’ll keep my bra on. We’ll have nothing to worry about.”

“I…love, I just don’t know about this.”

“You won’t touch me because I have some herbs in my bra?”

“Oh, I’ll touch you alright, but—wait, you caught Tara hiding that thing in your pillow, yeah? Why can’t we try that out?”

“Who says I’ll sleep on my pillow tonight? Last night I slept on you mostly. I’ll try to keep to my side of the bed, but I can tell you right now that seems pretty unlikely. Besides, don’t you think if it has actual contact with my skin it might work quicker? I mean, I have no idea how it’s supposed to work, but that makes sense to me.”

“Is it working? Your latest secret, is this something you’ve remembered? Or are you just taking the piss?”

“Taking the piss? God, that’s nasty.”

Letting out a sigh, he propped his head up on his hand while he watched her. “Are you teasing me, Buffy?”

“I knew what you meant, but that doesn’t make what you said any less gross sounding,” she answered defensively. When William continued to look at her patiently, Buffy shrugged. “I don’t know if it’s working. Since we’ve learned about this spell business, I’ve been focusing my attention on the present and our future. I was going to say something just for you though, something we can keep between us.”

Feeling a chill in the air, Buffy hugged her arms to her chest after rolling to face him. Noticing her goose bumps, William took off his shirt and draped it over her upper body.

“Always a gentleman, aren’t you, baby?” She chuckled as he snorted and pulled her closer. “Don’t repeat this to anyone, but I can’t be a hundred percent mad at ‘those bloody witches.’ First off, the magic stuff is still hard for me to swallow. I definitely don’t want them putting spells on us ever again, but… William, they’ve given us something special.”

Buffy felt him take a breath. She placed a hand to his chest and caught his lips in a quick kiss before he could speak. “I woke up that first morning and it was as if I had stepped out of a time machine. I thought that I had just been shot. I thought I had just spent two months avoiding you and treating you like crap because I couldn’t accept that I was pregnant. Everything was moving so quickly for me back then. Our first kiss suddenly became our first night together, and soon after I found out I was pregnant. And you know how overwhelmed I felt three days ago. It didn’t help that amnesia takes a heck of a toll on a girl’s confidence. William, Tara and Willow gave us both a lot of heartache, but they also gave us something amazing. Maybe we didn’t have problems before this spell, but the spell worked anyway, I think. I’ve been able to fall so hard for you all over again, and under crazy circumstances. I love you so much now—gosh, William, my heart kind of wants to explode when I think of how deeply I’ll love you once I get my memories back. And that goes for the kids too. Tara wanted me to realize how important my family is, and all I can say is: mission accomplished. I might not remember much of anything, but I’m learning and I’m enjoying every minute of it.”

“You… Summers, you’re too much.” He came at her again, burying his head, nuzzling against her while he whispered loving words into her neck and shoulder. He made another wet line to her bra, but this time, he put a hand between her breasts as he freed and kissed them one at a time.

“You give the witches and their spell too much credit, but I get what you’re saying. I do think these past few days underscore some things about us, like how close we are, and how much we depend on each other, but I want you to know, we are who we are, Buffy. This spell…we were like this before and we’ll be like this after it.” As he spoke, he stared thoughtfully at her partly exposed chest. He experimented by moving the bra lower on her ribcage. He slipped a finger under the band and cursed softly, finding it too loose to hold the pouch into place. “Bet it’d be too uncomfortable anyway, with those underwires poking into you. Stay where you are. Give me a minute and I’ll be right back.”

Buffy grinned up at the ceiling until William returned with a Band-Aid box in one hand and the tape dispenser in the other. “Honey, are my boobs really this important to you?”

“Yes,” he replied simply. He thumbed through the box and pulled out two of the largest Band-Aids. “It’ll be like the patch you had me wear when I quit smoking. Hopefully that thing will fit inside it. If not, we’ve got tape. We’ll call that our plan B.”

“Is there a plan C?”

“Come here. Let me see your arm.”

“William, really, I don’t want my arm to be taped up. It’ll feel weird.” Although she protested, she stood on her knees, tossed aside her bra, and shuffled toward him.

“Give me the magic—what were you calling it earlier? A teabag? This doesn’t look like any blasted teabag I’ve ever seen. Doesn’t smell like one either.” Handling the pouch carefully, he pushed it into the center of two square Band-Aids he had stuck together. “See? There now,” he said, rubbing the adhesive into place on Buffy’s upper arm. “Does it feel weird?”

“It’s alright,” she responded. “I never would’ve thought of this. You can be awfully crafty when you want to be.”

“With the right motivation, anything is possible.”

She leaned in just enough to enjoy the sensation of her nipples brushing against his chest. “And your motivation was, um, a strong desire to have your head in my cleavage?”

“I want you comfortable.” He paused to unbutton her jeans. He pulled down the zipper and slipped his palms into the backside of her loose pants. “You’re always my first concern, cutie.”

“And you’re mine.”

“You say that confidently, as if you might even mean it.”

“I do mean it,” she said, tipping her chin to meet his mouth. As they kissed, she reached around her to grab him by the wrists. Creeping backward, she tugged him toward her until he joined her on the bed. “William, before we get carried away, can I—wait a minute, please?”

With a sudden burst of energy, she pulled their pillows out of their shams, yanked down the bed sheets and blankets, and buried herself beneath them. She wiggled out of her jeans while still concealed. She dropped the pants to the floor and her underwear was tossed out next.

“What exactly are you doing?” William asked, clearly amused by her actions.

“Making sure we get under the covers this time. You can come and get me now.”

“Oh, can I? Shall I take off my clothes?” Not waiting for an answer, he crawled toward her on all fours. In a fluid motion, he flipped onto his back and dove next to her under the blankets.

As soon as Buffy had him resting against her, his body cradled by her open legs, she dug her fingers into his hair, gasping as he covered her breasts and stomach with kisses. He continued to travel down her body, and once he was out of reach, she grabbed handfuls of the bedclothes as he touched between her legs. At the first stroke of his tongue to her sensitive skin, Buffy’s legs shot up and she hugged his shoulders with her thighs.

“I can’t see you,” she panted, looking down to see only a large William-shaped bump under the covers. She threw the blankets aside and beckoned William to her with arms wide open.

“Hold on. Busy here.”

His left hand found its way into her right, just in time for her to squeeze it as she came. She kept her eyes closed as her heart pounded. She heard him unzip his zipper. She didn’t have to open her eyes to know that he was kicking the rest of his clothes away.

“There’s a reason why we wait until afterward to get in bed,” he said softly. “You roll around and yank the bed apart.”

She peeked her eyes open to discover William hovering over her. She smiled, charmed by his messy hair and sparkling blue eyes. She admired the sight of his aroused body for only a second before he was sinking into her.

“Oh my God.”

“I know. Buffy, I’m already about to burst.”

They stayed still, tangled together until their breathing became more controlled. Buffy rocked her hips against him and they fell into an easy rhythm. They played with the pace and intensity of their moments, trying their best to prolong their pleasure until they each reached a moment of release.

“William?”

“Mmmm? What now, pet?” he answered, his voice slightly muffled. He hadn’t pulled away. He continued to barely move within her. It was a steady pulse that made Buffy’s body tremble. Acknowledging her sensitivity, he spaced out each intimate nudge. “Haven’t we talked enough today? Can’t we rest now, Buffy?”

She squirmed underneath him until he rolled them over. Her hands rested on his as he gripped her hips. She leaned over to kiss her husband until they shared another orgasm. With a little whimper, she climbed off of him to retrieve the blankets that were sagging to the floor. She turned off the lights and checked to see if the ‘on’ switch of baby monitors were glowing. In the dark, she rushed over to the dresser and managed to locate a pair of drawstring pants and a nightgown. She tossed the clothes on carpet before meeting William under the covers. She was welcomed by an affectionate kiss and loving caresses that made Buffy laugh out loud.

“Hey, I thought you wanted to rest?”

“You checked the monitors,” he practically purred.

“Yeah, and I threw some clothes on the floor. I’m not sure why that’s such a turn on for you, but I guess I shouldn’t complain.”

“Why did you do it?”

“It seemed like the right thing to do?”

“Why?”

“Because we never know when we’ll have unexpected company?”

“Why, Buffy? There’s a reason behind it. Dig a little deeper, love. It must be skirting the surface, let’s force the memory out. You were mortified so it must’ve left a lasting impression. It wasn’t long after the twins got into their new big-kid beds. Jamie suddenly became hell bent on scaring us--.”

“He—oh my God,” she gasped. “He nearly walked in on us when we were—I was—oh my God! It was completely out of the blue. He actually snuck around the corner in the middle of the night and yelled, “Boo!” at us. I was mortified and you—you just laughed at me!”

She rolled onto her back. She stared up at the dark ceiling as memories drifted to her. Once William pillowed his head on her chest, she played with his hair until it stood alert in little bleached blond spikes. “I hid my head in your lap with the blankets over me because I would’ve died if I had to explain to our two-year old son why I had my head down there in the first place. Then you had to get him away from the door so I could run across the room to put something on. You couldn’t tuck him back into bed because you were…indisposed.”

“Yeah, by a raging case of blue balls.”

Buffy laughed before adding, “The next day we bought the baby monitors and I insisted that we always have clothes within reach from then on.” She yawned and let out a deep, happy sigh. “This is good. This is a good sign. It isn’t happening like Tara said it would, but I like it. It’s seamless. I’m not jolted by the memory. It creeps up on me, and luckily I have you to hold my hand and walk me through it.”

“Do you remember more? Can you tell me something about our girls?”

“Sarah…God, she’s an absolute doll. She’s thoughtful and strong, but sensitive. I wouldn’t be surprised if writes when she’s older; she’s so much like you. When we saw your mom, she told me about your poems. I even read a few.”

“How? I thought I had torched them all?”

“Your mom kept everything she could get her hands on. She adored her sweet William. She said you were such a good boy until that bimbo took you away.” Buffy’s nose wrinkled as the dark hair and pale skin of William’s ex-girlfriend, Drusilla, invaded her thoughts. “You changed for her. That’s why you hate it when I call you Spike. It isn’t a nickname you picked up at the academy. You gave it to yourself when you were with her. You created your entire badass persona just to impress that skank. You were too good for her.”

Buffy closed her eyes for a moment and opened to find William staring at her. Reaching forward, she stroked his face before giving him a light kiss. “You knew him,” she whispered. “You knew Angel. You told me after I woke up. That’s why you blamed yourself for the shooting. You worked for him until she dumped you, then you became a police informant. Angel was aiming for you.”

William acknowledged the truth behind her words with a single nod. “I’ve always had a way with people. Our Jamie isn’t the only chatterbox around here… I was a narc for Angel, then I…I switched teams, bad for good.”

“To get back at them. Angel took Drusilla away from you.”

“Angel has taken more away from me than I’d ever care to admit,” William muttered. “Little did he know, shooting you hurt me a hell of a lot more than if he would’ve blown my head clear off. And killing our baby…” He rested his forehead against hers and let out a small groan when Buffy kissed him again. “That stupid git. I doubt he had even the slightest clue of the damage he’d done. Makes me hate him even more.”

“I kept my dealings with him from everyone,” William continued. “I tried to tell you a few times, but I knew you’d rat me out. My Buffy’s always had this impeccable moral compass. It’s so fucking stubborn and it’s always pointing towards the greater good. Once I did gather up the balls to tell you, you convinced me to—well, when I went back to patrolling, let’s just say it wasn’t exactly by choice, but I did it because it was right and I did it for you. It marked the beginning of us. That’s how I won you over.”

“I tried to get your job back, but no one would listen to me,” Buffy added. Everything was starting to make perfect sense. It felt as if plot holes were gradually being filled in her mind. “After I came back to work, I was given another partner, but it wasn’t the same and it didn’t last. You and I were dating at the time and you were just as insistent about me not working in the field as you are now.”

“Our first year together was bumpy to say the least. We called it off so many times, but I think the longest break up lasted--.”

“Not even a week,” she blurted out with a smile. “Then you proposed. It was a very short engagement. I didn’t even have a dress before you were trying to get me down to City Hall, but we settled on Vegas a month after you proposed. We took Willow and Tara with us. And the honeymoon lasted a whole lot longer than a few days, William. Before we had the twins… As much as I love my babies, I’ll always love that time alone with you. We had a lot of fun.”

“Yes, yes we did and we still do have our fair share of fun. Every day’s a blast with our little rugrats,” he snickered. He studied her face before lowering his voice to ask, “What do you remember about Joy?”

“Jo’s unbelievably loving. She’s such a good baby. She smiles constantly and she’s hardly ever fussy.” She blinked as heavy tears filled her eyes. “I remember her. I remember you, Jamie and Sarah. I think I might even remember everything.”

“Thank God,” William said hoarsely. He let out a quiet sniffle before capturing her mouth in a lengthy salty kiss. “I have so many questions for you. I want to know when you found out you were pregnant, I want to know more about that bloody phone call that Tara overheard and—fuck me, but I’d like to know where you stashed my bike.”

“You want to know all of that now?”

“Do you have the answers? If you could answer just one of those questions… Pet, I don’t know the answers myself so I can’t prompt you this time, I can’t help you through it, and I need to know if I’ve got my wife back.”

“William, I never left you--.”

“Summers, just answer one question for me now, and I won’t bother you again, not until tomorrow morning. Please, Buffy?”

“Your motorcycle is at work.”

“You left it at work?”

“Yup.”

“But…please tell me you’re teasing. I don’t want those knobs at the station pawing at my bike.”

“It’s locked up, it’ll be fine. Nobody goes down to Evidence unless they’re forced to anyway, they hate the paperwork.”

“Where’d you get it from?”

“Sometimes working in the property recovery unit has its perks. I pulled a few strings and snatched it up before it could go to auction.”

When a little smile tugged at his mouth, she had to kiss him. Her fingers ran up and down the smooth contours of his back. She wiggled underneath him until he allowed her to nudge him over. She kissed his chest, along his stomach and down to his thigh.

“Babe…what color is it?”

“It’s red.”

“Like a cherry red? Or something deeper?”

“Honey, I don’t know,” Buffy answered with a laugh, realizing that her husband was more interested in the motorcycle than having sex. His body was responsive to the blowjob she wanted to give him, but his mind was elsewhere. She gave the tip of his erection a quick kiss before giving up. She retreated to her side of the bed.

“It’s a bright red, William. It’s also black and silver. It’s classy. I called someone to look it over for me and he said it was in perfect condition. Somebody from Santa Clara County brought it up, because no one claimed it after seven years. It isn’t new age-wise, but it looks new.”

“So it’s nice, yeah?”

“It’s very nice. It was a little more expensive than the other bike you’ve been drooling over, but it’s prettier. You’ll love it.”

“Summers, I have half a mind to… Guess it’d be too late to call Tara back here.”

“Yes, so don’t even consider it. If you want it so badly, you could drive to work, leave our car at the station and ride the bike home. Or we could load up the kids for a little drive, I doubt it’d take very long and they do love car rides at night.”

Buffy watched as William’s brows came together. She hid her smile against her pillow, both charmed and amused that he was actually considering her suggestions.

“No, it’d be too much of a hassle. To wake ‘em up, then to buckle up all those bloody car seats just for my own selfish reasons? It can wait. The bike isn’t going anywhere. I can wait.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah.” He let out a sigh before mumbling, “Guess you can go back to what you were doing before.”

“You think so? Maybe you’ll even pay attention this time? How am I supposed to know you’ll be with me? You’re probably only hard now because you’re thinking about engines and tires and other motorcycle shit.”

When she rolled onto her side, facing away from him, he tucked her back against his chest. He buried his face into her hair as he chuckled. “You must have your memories back. You’re feisty again…I like it.”

“You haven’t even seen feisty yet. You knocked me up, remember? You have a heck of a lot more feisty coming your way.”

“Your pregnancy does explain the crying, the ravenous appetite for my hot bod…”

“Bite me, William.”

“I’d love to,” he whispered, taking her earlobe between his teeth. “I’d gobble you up, my ripe, wicked, little--.”

“If you call me some kind of fruit—I swear, William,” she began. She rolled over and found him beaming at her. Her eyes narrowed, but she smiled as a silent joke passed between them. “You know I hate it when you call me the stupid nicknames you called her.”

“For someone who’s never met Dru, you sure have a lot of hate for my dark princess.”

“Dark princess, my ass,” Buffy snorted. “When we first worked together, you drunk dialed me nearly every weekend! Oh, my precious Drusilla! Oh, my dark wicked…kumquat! I don’t need to know her to hate her. She hurt you and I’ve heard about it for half a dozen years. I hate that bimbo’s guts.”

“Oh, now it’s official.”

“I’m baaack,” Buffy sang. They shared a laugh that she cut short with a kiss. “But seriously,” she whispered. “I never left you. William, I will never leave you. I can be shot at; I can have my memory erased by magical nanny witches… Honey, I needed you to get me through those things. I need you with me everyday. Every single day.”

“I know,” he answered simply, wrapping his arms around her.

“Goodnight, baby,” she yawned. She felt completely at ease and thoroughly loved. “I’m looking forward to seeing you in the morning.”
***





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