Chapter 2
Buffy was taken aback by what the gorgeous man said. “Excuse me? My name’s Buffy, I’m here to apply for the nanny position. Has it already been filled?”
Spike was still in shock at the woman that stood before him. She looked exactly like his Elizabeth, but he knew that just wasn’t possible. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. “No, it hasn’t. I’m sorry, please come in.”
She nodded and entered the house.
He shut the door and led her over to the living room, where they both sat down.
They were silent, until Spike decided to break the ice.
“I’m sorry again; you just look so much like someone I knew.”
Buffy graced him with a soft smile. “That’s okay; I probably just have one of those faces.”
Spike didn’t really believe that, but he said nothing else about it. “I’m William Pratt, but I prefer to be called Spike now. It’s my daughter that you would be caring for. She’s almost seven months. Is the age a problem for you?”
Buffy shook her head. “No, I love babies. Not that I think I could handle having any of my own right now, but I’m usually good around someone else’s kid. I also tend to babble when I’m nervous, so I’ll just be shutting up now and let you continue asking the questions.”
He smiled at her. She seemed so much like Elizabeth, and yet completely different. “That’s all right, love. Do you have a lot of experience taking care of children?”
“Does babysitting when I was a teenager count? I know I’m a little out of practice, but I’m a pretty fast learner. I’ve been away in Boston for a while. I just decided to move back here to my hometown and I really need a job. Not that I’m trying to guilt you into hiring me or anything. Okay, that would be me babbling again.” She looked away, a blush tinting her cheeks.
Spike had to admit that the girl was charming. The blush alone was bloody adorable, but he wouldn’t allow himself to think such thoughts. “How old are you, pet?” he wondered instead.
“I’m twenty-six, it didn’t say in the ad if you were looking for any specific age.”
Spike shook his head. “No, the age is fine. I’m sorry; I didn’t get your last name.”
Buffy felt embarrassed again, realizing that he would probably need more than just a first name. “It’s Buffy Summers; I probably should have said that at the door. I guess I was just surprised and didn’t think of it.” Her voice trailed off when she noticed the look on his face. It was as if he saw a ghost. “Are you okay?”
“Did you say Summers?”
She nodded and wondered why that would cause him to look even paler than he already was.
“Bloody hell, it can’t be.”
Buffy realized that she lost him again and snapped her fingers to get his attention. “Is there something I should know about?”
Spike tried to calm his emotions when he asked the next part. “Did you know Elizabeth Summers?”
She was once again shocked to hear that name. “Okay, you’ve managed to confuse me twice in one day. How did you know Elizabeth?”
He took a deep breath. “She was my wife. You look so much like her.”
Buffy’s jaw almost dropped at that revelation. He was her husband? Elizabeth was married? Apparently, there was a lot that she missed out on. “Well, there’s a reason for that. I was her twin sister.”
Spike felt like all the breath was knocked out of him. His wife had a twin sister? He knew of a sister that she had a falling out with for reasons that are unknown to him, but he had no idea about them being twins.
Buffy took his silence as her cue and stood up. “I’m sensing this whole thing is pretty weird for you. It’s kind of weird for me, too. So, I don’t think it would be right for me to take the job. I’ll just see myself out.” She was about to head to the front door, but he suddenly got up and placed a hand on her arm to stop her.
“I don’t want you to leave, Buffy. I want you to take the job.”
She was clearly not expecting that and shook her head. “I don’t know if I can, Mr. Pratt. I wouldn’t feel right about it.”
Spike didn’t know why he didn’t just let her go. She wasn’t Elizabeth and just seeing a reminder of his wife every day would surely be painful, but he couldn’t seem to let her walk away. “Please, at least consider it. You’re Emma’s aunt; it might help if she had more family around.”
Buffy smiled. “I have a niece?” she wondered, just realizing that fact.
He had to smile in return. “Would you like to see her?”
Buffy didn’t hesitate before nodding. She then followed Spike upstairs and into the nursery.
Spike picked up the child, who was now sitting up in her crib. He held her up for Buffy to see. “This is Emma, your niece.”
Buffy felt tears prick her eyes as she gazed at the baby. “She’s so beautiful.”
Spike agreed. “She looks so much like her mother. Would you like to hold her?”
She nodded again after a few seconds.
He handed the baby over to her.
Buffy took Emma from him and gently rocked her back and forth, relieved to see that she was starting to fall back to sleep. It meant that the baby was already comfortable with her. “I had no idea,” she spoke after a moment of silence. “I didn’t know that Lizzie was pregnant, or even married. God, I’ve missed so much. My mom just left me a cryptic message telling me that she passed away. I didn’t even know how. I couldn’t even bother to find out at the time, or go to the funeral. I should have come back here sooner, but I was too stubborn. I was too wrapped in my so-called perfect life in Boston, which was so far from perfect. I guess I just wanted to pretend.”
Spike took the baby back from her when he noticed her eyes start to close. He placed her back into the crib. “You couldn’t have known what was going to happen. Elizabeth was fine until the labor. No one saw this coming, especially not me.”
She glanced up at him and realized what he lost. “I’m so sorry.”
Spike shrugged and didn’t know what to say to that, so he decided to change the subject. “Will you consider taking the job now? I think it could be good for both of us.”
Buffy thought about it and wondered what Elizabeth would do, but she likely wouldn’t be in this situation if her sister was still around. She let out a sigh and looked at the somewhat pleading expression on his face. It was obvious what her answer would be. “All right, you have yourself a new nanny.”