Chapter 10
“I’m going to marry a very wealthy man when I get older.”
Buffy rolled her eyes. “I suppose you would want him to be Prince Charming, too.”
Elizabeth sighed in annoyance. “Of course not, I know he doesn’t really exist. I wanna find someone that would do anything for me. I hope to have a big family one day.”
“Why are you thinking about all of this now? We’re only fourteen; we have our whole lives to worry about that.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “You don’t know that, Buffy. We never know how short our lives might be. I’m hoping I’ll live to at least be a hundred. I wanna experience everything before I go, to see the whole world. I want to know what it’s like to really be in love. What about you?”
Buffy shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me. All I care about is getting out of here when I’m older. Unlike you, I live in reality. Real love doesn’t exist. The world is harsh and cruel. You’ll never know who to trust.”
It was Elizabeth’s turn to roll her eyes. “Why do you always think like that? You’re going to be very alone and bitter in the future with that attitude. It’s sometimes hard to believe that we’re twins. We couldn’t be anymore different.”
Buffy thought about her sister’s words and for once, had to agree with her.
* * * * *
“I had a feeling I would find you in here.”
Spike looked up when Buffy entered the nursery. “I just wanted to watch her sleep.”
Buffy nodded and handed him a cup of hot chocolate. “I figured you might be thirsty. Be careful, it’s kinda hot.”
Spike smiled and took the cup from her. He blew into it and took a long sip of the hot liquid. It felt great going down his throat. He placed the cup on the little table that was next to him.
“Do you want anything else? I could find you something to eat, or I could go out and get you something.”
He shook his head. “I’m fine, Buffy. You’re not my servant, don’t worry about it.”
She wouldn’t let it go. “I feel that I should do something for you. I can’t help feeling guilty.”
Spike sighed. “Why should you feel guilty? You’re not the one that cheated on me. I’m really okay, Buffy.”
“How can you be? You just found out that the woman you loved was having an affair. I still can’t understand this. After all of Liz’s talk about finding someone that would do anything for her, she goes and does this? It shouldn’t have mattered if you guys fought all the time. Couples always argue, but you don’t go out and find someone else because of it. My parents were always at each other’s throats, but they’re still together.”
Spike silenced her by dragging her down onto his lap and kissing her senseless. He pulled away to notice the stunned expression on her face. “Did anyone ever tell you that you talk way too much?”
She blushed under his gaze. “I just don’t understand why you’re not more upset about this.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m very upset. So much that I think I might cry at any moment, but I just choose not to show it.”
Buffy shook her head. “You shouldn’t have to hide how you feel, Spike. If you’re upset, then you should let it out. I’ll be right here if you need me.”
Spike held her tighter. “That’s good to know.” He glanced at the crib, where his daughter was still sleeping peacefully. “I just had a very horrible thought. I never would have suggested it before, but now knowing that my wife was with another man…”
Buffy knew what he was going to say and pressed her finger against his lips. “Don’t even think that, Spike. It’s not possible. Emma’s very much yours,” she explained, removing her finger.
“How can you be so sure?” he whispered.
Buffy smiled. “She has your eyes. There’s no one else in the world with eyes as blue as yours. She’s perfect, just like her daddy.”
Spike couldn’t hold it in anymore. Buffy’s words and everything that he found out earlier that day was just too much. He buried his face in her neck and finally let the tears fall.
Buffy soothingly ran her fingers through his hair as she held him. “It’s okay, honey. I’m right here, just let it all out. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be here for you.”
* * * * *
“You need to get over this, dude. You’re starting to bring everyone down. We’re in a bar with a lot of women. You could have a pick of anyone in here.”
William glared at his friend and took another sip of his Bourbon. “I wouldn’t expect for you to understand, Xander.”
“I don’t understand why you’re doing this to yourself. Drusilla dumped you two months ago. I would say it’s time to move on. How serious could it have been, anyway? You weren’t even sleeping together.”
William slammed his glass down. “Not everything is about that.”
Xander looked away. “Well, apparently it was for her,” he mumbled.
William heard him and decided to ignore the comment. He just looked to the stage, where a band continued to play depressing love songs. He glanced around at all of the half-dressed women at the Bronze, Sunnydale’s only real club. None of them really did it for him, until he noticed a petite blonde sitting in the distance with a red head that he couldn’t see the face of. He felt his breath catch in his throat at the sight of the woman. She was absolutely gorgeous. Xander was still going on about something that William could care less about, so he stood up and took a risk by heading in the woman’s direction. He was almost there, when he crashed into another female. Being the polite person that he was, he decided to help her clean up the drink that he accidentally caused her to spill. She left without a word and when he looked back up, the blonde woman was gone.
* * * * *
William couldn’t stop thinking about the woman all night. He kicked himself all the way home for not getting a chance to talk to her. His car was in the shop, so he had to walk to wherever he wanted to go. It was Sunnydale and luckily, mostly everything was in walking distance to where he lived. A little exercise never hurt anyone. His thoughts kept turning back to the woman and he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going, until he collided with someone. He cursed himself for being so clumsy again, but stopped his train of thoughts when he noticed the beautiful blonde that he ran into. It was the same woman from the Bronze. He couldn’t believe his luck and gave her a smile.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to nearly knock you over.”
She smiled in return, relieved that he didn’t seem to be mad about her getting in his way. “It’s okay; you shouldn’t have to take all of the blame.”
He held his hand out to her. “I’m William Pratt; it’s nice to meet you.”
She took his hand after a moment. “Elizabeth Summers, the pleasure’s all mine.”