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“Come on—push!”

“You push! I’m done fucking pushing!” Dawn growled, glaring at Buffy. She could feel her make up running down her face; of all the times to go into labor, her second date-date with Connor was, quite possibly, the absolute worst. (She wasn’t counting the other four times they’d tried to go out and Spike and Will had either ‘tagged along’ or ‘magically’ appeared at the same places the blossoming couple were going. To his credit, Connor had taken it all in stride. However, Spike and Will had not been amused when Dawn icily told them that their worry was unfounded since ‘the worst’ had already happened and she really needed to work off her pregnancy hormones…)

Dawn screamed as a contraction ripped her in half. Buffy was telling her something, but she was too busy trying to get the parasite out of her body. The part of her that was lucid and removed from the situation was pretty sure she’d feel guilty and sorry for that thought when this was over. But first, this would need to end.

“I see the head!” the Doctor announced.

“Well bully for YOU!” Dawn hissed, trying to glare at him—but she was interrupted by another crushing contraction.

“Come on Dawn! You’re almost there! Keep pushing! One more, that’s all I need, just one more,” Buffy encouraged. Dawn closed her eyes and summoned all of her energy. Her tired body protested, but there was no stopping the birthing process. She PUSHED, the air in her lungs forcing itself out in a yell.

“One more should *really* do it,” the Doctor announced. Dawn felt another contraction building and braced herself. She pushed with it and felt something give. She collapsed backwards, gasping for breath, feeling light and empty. She closed her eyes, relaxing into the bed, her body weary from the birth. The cry of a newborn infant filtered through her tired haze. She opened tires, mascara-rimmed eyes and saw Buffy holding a small, wrapped bundle. Dawn’s eyes teared as Buffy presented her with the bundle.

“You have a vibrant, gorgeous, well-lunged little girl!” Buffy told her, nestling the tiny child in Dawn’s arms.

Dawn couldn’t begin to describe the feelings that went through her when she looked at the tiny, pink little face and the slightly misshapen head. She laid a kiss on her daughter’s cheek. “Hello,” she whispered with awe. She felt her eyes tear up as she looked on the perfect creature in her arms. She was hers. This tiny life had lived in her womb, and now she was here, and all Dawn could do was stare at her and reassure herself that her daughter was real. A nurse came over, smiling at the new mom.

“Have you decided on a name?” Dawn glanced at Buffy with a smile.

“Her name is Cainna Elizabeth Giles-Summers,” Dawn said softly.

***

Will and Spike were a bundle of nerves, pacing the waiting room and starting every time someone walked through the door. Connor watched them with amusement, grateful for the distraction they provided.

He felt a little out of place being here; he wasn’t even Dawn’s boyfriend (yet)—though being the one to drive her to the hospital made him a bit indispensable in the short run. And he really did like Dawn. There was something magnetic about her. And he was cool with the whole baby thing—that didn’t bother him much. Which was weird, but he figured Dawn was worth the extra stress of a child in the mix. He had two years left in college—one and a half if he busted it—and his prospects were good. He’d be able to get a pretty well-paying job straight out and—he stopped himself. Again, he and Dawn weren’t even dating. It was a little early to start planning their life together. Stillness settled over the room, breaking Connor from his reverie.

Buffy was standing in the doorway, smiling softly at a green-wrapped bundle. They met her halfway, awe etched on their faces.

“I’d like you all to meet Cainna Elizabeth Giles-Summers.” Will and Spike inhaled sharply, their blue eyes searching Buffy’s face.

“She named…Dawn gave her…” Spike trailed off, his eyes glistening. Will’s hand gripped his brother’s shoulder, no less moved.

“I told her you wouldn’t mind,” Buffy murmured, pressing the small, fragile life into Spike’s arms.

“Why would we?” Will murmured, his focus entirely on the mewling perfection in his brother’s arms. “She’s family.”

***

They settled into a type of routine, and Dawn was thanking her lucky stars that she had three other people willing to help her out. Being a single parent was a daunting task, and she had a huge respect for people who managed it. She was just very, very glad she had help. When she was too tired, her guardians would keep little Cainna and let her catch up on her sleep. This whole parenting thing was much easier with three minions to help her out. She smiled and rocked her daughter, watching Buffy, Will, and Spike prepare dinner. Well, really Will was preparing dinner, and Spike and Buffy were playing a game to see who could make Will break first.

“NO! I mean…baby, what if we hold off on the garlic so we have enough for the lamb? Chocolate-garlic cake is for another day, yeah?” Dawn giggled again, and Cainna let out a happy giggle herself. She started describing the scene to her happy baby, as Will kept trying to prevent Buffy from happily sabotaging Cainna’s two-month-old celebration meal.

“SPIKE!” Will yelled, wishing he could make it to the other side of the kitchen where his errant brother was helping himself to the vegetables. Will was seriously considering chucking the pot lib at his brother’s head when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” Spike said with a grin, deliberately helping himself to another cucumber wedge. He winked at Dawn and caressed Cainna’s still hairless head. (Dawn was convinced her child was going to be bald for the rest of her life.) Spike whisked the door open with a grin. It didn’t matter who was actually behind the door, he was in too good a mood for anything to bring him down. “Yes?”

A young man, teetering on the edge of full adulthood, was staring at him with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth, as if his words had escaped him the moment before he began to speak. He was wearing threadbare clothes and well-worn jeans; a sad looking backpack was lung over one shoulder. Something niggled at the back of Spike’s mind, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Can I help you?” Spike asked gently. The boy seemed to freeze, then reboot. He was suddenly full of nerves, his mouth moving faster than Spike could follow.

“I was just around, and I found her address, and I though she wouldn’t mind, because brave, fearless heroes are always doing great things for the little people, but she must have moved and…I’ll just go.”

“You’re looking for Buffy then?” Spike asked, trying to work though what the boy had said. A light seemed to go on. “Well come on in, dinner won’t wait forever! We’re having lamb. I’m Spike, by the way.” He grabbed the boy’s arm and guided the suddenly shy boy into the house.

“I’m…in awe.” Spike gave him an amused look, propelling him into the kitchen.

“One more for dinner, luv!” he announced. Buffy turned around, her eyes bugging. Dawn’s jaw dropped as she took in the shaggy-haired boy she hadn’t seen in months.

“Andrew!” Buffy exclaimed. She put her glass of wine and pilfered carrot down, enveloping the boy in a giant Buffy-sized bear hug. “I was wondering what happened to you! How are you? What have you been doing? I’m so glad you’re here!”

Andrew smiled shyly and ducked his head. He glanced over at Dawn, and a look of awe stretched over his face at the tiny baby she held in her arms.

“You had your baby!” Dawn smiled, and took Cainna over to Andrew.

“This is Cainna Elizabeth,” she told him proudly. Andrew looked at the little girl, smiling so happily up at him, and completely unaware of what her mother had gone through to keep her.

“She’s perfection!” he whispered reverently. Dawn glanced at her three roommates, who were deep in conversation, and figured it would be best if she kept Andrew occupied for a little bit longer.

***

“We don’t know that, pet. ‘twould be rude to assume something like that.”

“Look at him! He can’t possibly have anywhere else to go,” Buffy protested.

“We’re not arguing that,” Spike said placatingly,” we’re just saying it would be…uncouth to go up and say ‘Hi, you’re obviously homeless, stay with us.’” Buffy glared at Spike with all of the considerable derision she could muster.

“That is NOT how I would approach him,” She said icily. Spike held up his hands in a pleading gesture.

“I know, kitten. I’m just saying a little tact is in order, yeah?”

“Are you calling me tactless?” she snarled. Will clapped his hand over Spike’s mouth before he could shove his foot in further.

“What he’s trying to say, kitten, is that we need to let the boy lead us. No sense embarassin’ him, yeah? Isn’t that what you were gettin’ at?” Will asked with a pointed look at his brother.

“’sit exactly,” Spike said with only a touch of sullenness to his voice. Buffy was only slightly mollified, but she couldn’t deny that her Twinlets were, if not right, very close to making sense. The buzzer for the lamb went off, bringing an abrupt end to all of the conversations in the room.

“Dinner iz served,” Will announced in a horrendous French accent. Dawn and Andrew burst into giggles, while Buffy just rolled her eyes fondly at her idiotic, but very sexy, lover began arranging the food on serving trays.

***

“That was amazing,” Andrew sighed, leaning back in his chair. Dawn dabbed daintily at her mouth, as if that would make up for the three helpings of lamb, mashed potatoes, salad and green beans she’d put away in record time. When she had first moved in, Spike and Will had watched in awe as she ate almost everything in sight. Spike and Will swore up and down that they had the only two women in L.A. who actually ate anything, and therefore felt the need to make up for all the grossly skinny wannabe-starlets (and actual starlets come to think of it…) that were prepetually hungry.

“Props to the chef!” Dawn saluted Will, who nodded graciously in a dignified way, a smile lurking around the edges of his serious expression. A loud wail drew Dawn’s attention away from the table. “I’m going to feed Cainna and get some sleep. See you in the morning.” She paused and hugged Andrew. “Hope to see a lot more of you,” she whispered in his ear.

The four left at the table felt awkward; they all knew what was coming, but none of them wanted to be the first to break the jovial mood of the evening.

“So, Andrew, what will you be doing next?” Buffy glared at Spike, imagining creative ways for him to die—painfully. Especially after giving her that little speech about tact. Oh, he was so going to get it later!

“I…well. I don’t exactly have anything planned out. Or anywhere to go.” Andrew looked so unbearably small at that moment, curled up in his chair and miserable. “I was…I’m not sure what I was thinking, but dinner was great.” Despite his words, Buffy knew he was lying; he’d come here because he still believed, in spite of the horrors of a place that had tried to strip him of everything he knew and believed, that heroes existed and still helped the helpless. That he’d clung to this belief in the inherent goodness of humanity in the face of such human tragedy was a testament to the boy’s enduring goodness. He saw Buffy as his hero, and she wasn’t about to let him down.

“Well. We have an extra room that’s just going to waste, if you need a place to crash. Why don’t you see if it’s to your liking?”

It took Andrew a minute. They watched as his emotions flowed over his face, before settling on worshipping awe.

“You’re like Xena, always fighting for the weak and doing a battle against the strong. And I’m your Gabrielle, who you protect and teach and…”

“Right!” Spike interrupted with a clap. “Dishes, bed…sleep. Let’s go!”

Laughing, the four of them began cleaning up their meal, each of the adults taking time to show Andrew where everything went; after all, they expected him to be here for a while.

“We’re going to have to get a bigger place,” Will muttered good naturedly, before following everyone into the kitchen.

A/N: I didn't realize that I hadn't posted this chapter here--bad me! So if you read the previous Ch. 39 and were confused, it's because this one was missing. And in the next few chapters, an old friend might make an appearance...maybe. :)





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