Drink your milk, Melanie."
"I did."
"All of it, please."
Fighting back a smile, William picked up the glass of
milk that Melanie had poured for him. Her slightly off aim
pouring method had left a white ring beneath the glass which
he quickly wiped away with the sleeve of his shirt.
"Drink it all down, pixie," he said. "Want to grow big and
strong, don't you?"
The child instantly picked up her glass and emptied it,
making it obvious to anyone who cared to look that she
did so because HE had requested it.
Buffy just shrugged it off. She was now accustomed to the
way William's opinions and actions governed her daughter's be-
havior, and she wasn't about to interfere. As long as someone
got the milk down the little girl's throat, she didn't really care
who it was.
Melanie pushed her plate away, a signal that she had no
intention of eating one more bite. She climbed down out of
her chair and ran around to the other side of the table where
William was sitting.
He immediately pushed his own chair away from the
table and lifted her into his lap. "You don't have to eat all of
it," she informed him, a phrase picked up from her mother,
he was sure. "Just do your best."
"Thank you," he replied, "but I still have plenty of room left
for the rest of this very nice dinner."
Buffy watched their interaction with great interest. It seemed
so natural to them both, and they looked so 'right' together
that she had to wonder if Melanie's dream hadn't been as
completely far fetched as she'd thought, more of a premonition
than a dream.
She pushed that thought away, labeling it unlikely. There was
no way that Melanie could have known that her mother and
her prospective 'Daddy' would be so attracted to each other. Not
at the time she'd had that dream, anyway.
Still, she couldn't help imagining how things might have played
out had William been Melanie's biological father in place of
Angel.
For one thing, she'd probably still be married, because if Angel
had been one half the father she suspected William would be,
she would never have left him.
As she mused over that possibility, she suddenly remembered
something that William had said earlier; "Worst thing in the world
is to be involved with someone else when the right person comes
along."
Was Angel the right person? Had he ever been, or had she just
wanted him to be so badly that she'd been willing to compromise,
especially after their child's birth?
In other words, had it all been a huge mistake on her part,
one that Melanie had to pay for by being saddled with a
father who didn't possess the emotional wherewithal
needed for the job?
Angel had failed as a husband. He'd failed as a father. But
maybe...in the long run...it was better that way.
Because now...there was William.
On the day her divorce had been final, Buffy had put Melanie
to bed, then sat beside her and watched her sleep, making a
silent promise that somehow...somewhere...she would find
a man who would love her child as much as she did herself,
a man willing to take on an immediate family.
Of course, she'd quickly learned that it wasn't as simple as all
that. The few men she'd casually dated had pretty much been cut
from the same cloth; uninterested in her child, but willing to put up
with her in the belief that as a divorced woman, Buffy was desperate
for sex.
She hadn't been, although she was beginning to feel more and
more that way over the last few days because now...there was
William.
Buffy didn't realize that she'd drifted into a bit of a daze until
William snapped his fingers in front of her.
"What?" She shook her head. "Did I miss something?"
Melanie giggled as William whispered something in her ear. "We
asked...for chocolate cake..." She stopped and looked at him. "I
don't think we have any," she whispered back.
Before he could reply, Buffy jumped up and went into the
pantry, returning with two small packages in her hand. "I've
got something almost as good," she announced, showing them
what she'd brought. "Hostess Cup Cakes."
She handed one package to William. Opening the other one,
she slid one of the little cakes out, then gave the package to
Melanie.
William chuckled. "God, I haven't had one of these since I
was your age," he told Melanie, watching as she licked
chocolate bits from the cardboard. "I think this calls for more
milk."
"Okay." She put down her cupcake and jumped off his lap. "I'll
go and get some."
To Buffy's everlasting amazement, not only did she pour
more milk for William, but for herself as well!
******************************
After the table was cleared and the kitchen put to rights, Buffy
marched Melanie upstairs for her bath. Although normally the
child was quite playful in the tub, it was Wednesday night, and
she was all business. She was bathed, dried off, dressed in
clean pajamas and back downstairs in less than fifteen minutes.
As the theme music began for 'Outpost:Space', she plopped
down on the floor in front of the television, her arms wrapped
around her stuffed lamb.
Buffy was crossing in front of the couch to sit in the
armchair when William's hand darted out and grabbed hers,
pulling her down beside him.
"This feels strange," he murmured in her ear. "I never watch
myself on television."
She was surprised. "Never?"
"Nope." He shook his head shrugged. "It seems...I don't know,
conceited or something? You know...'Hey, look at me, I'm on tele-
vision! Aren't I wonderful!' "
"Oh, that's just silly," she said. "You're definitely not conceited."
"Thank you." He peered at the screen closely. "Do I look fat to you?"
"Fat? Are you..." Turning to look at him, she saw that he was
teasing her and gave him a small shove. "Very funny."
******************************
"Watch this," Buffy whispered, gesturing at Melanie.
At the show's halfway mark, she had climbed up on the couch
and settled herself between her mother and William. Her attention
had never drifted, right up until the credits began to roll. Then, as
though someone had flipped a switch, she fell instantly asleep.
William watched this, grinning hugely.
"She does this every week," Buffy explained as she stood up
without jostling the child. "She's wide awake until exactly that
same point and then out she goes."
Starting to bend over and pick the sleeping girl up, she was
stopped by William. "I've got her," he murmured, rising to his
feet with Melanie in his arms.
Buffy went ahead of him up the stairs, flicking on the night light
in Melanie's room, and turning the covers down.
William held the little girl for just a moment more, then lowered
her into bed. Buffy purposely held back, letting him pull the
blankets back up. Watching him lean down and kiss Melanie's
cheek as he whispered, "Sweet dreams, pixie," made her
heart turn over in her chest.
When she joined him in the hallway, he was leaning against
the wall. "I liked that," he said simply. "Putting her to bed."
"Me, too," she nodded. "It's a special time of day. Very
peaceful."
He reached for her hand and took her back downstairs.
******************************
She made coffee and brought it into the living room. Instead of
finding William on the sofa, she saw him sitting on the chair in front
of her desk. His head was slightly tilted, and Buffy knew exactly
what he was looking at.
The stack of papers next to her computer, the 'Outpost: Space'
stories she'd been printing for Melanie.
Her entire body became one heated blush. It swept from her
hairline to her toes, making her hand jerk and spill a few drops
of coffee.
William glanced up at her, then did a double take when he
noticed her agitation. "What?"
Forcing herself to concentrate on the task at hand, she set
both mugs down on the coffee table. "Nothing," she replied,
trying to sound convincing.
He didn't look at all convinced, but he didn't pursue it. "Got
these off the Internet, right?" Picking up the stack of papers,
he flipped through them.
She wiped her suddenly clammy hands on her skirt. "Well, yes,
but they're...I mean they're not...for me...I just...I thought, you
know...for Melanie. That's...that's who they're for," she finally
choked out, seemingly unable to stop babbling nervously. "Not
me."
"Oh," he said casually, then, "Did you read them?"
Moving towards in baby steps, she attempted to make a
response that was the truth, but not the whole truth.
"I've...I've skimmed over them." She swallowed hard, then
lobbed the ball back into his court. "Have YOU ever read them?"
"No." He shook his head. "I keep meaning to. I know there's
a lot of it out there, but I wouldn't even know where to begin."
Looking as though a light bulb had just popped on over his head,
he said, "Maybe you could..."
**Don't ask me what I KNOW you're about to ask me!**
she yelped frantically in her head.
"...help me out by..."
**Don't say it! Do NOT say it!**
"...showing me where I can find..."
**I don't WANT to!**
"...some of them."
Trapped, she could hardly refuse. "I can do that."
He smiled at her, the smile that always made her blood
course rapidly through her body. They traded places, and he
leaned against the desk...watching as she found the
fan fiction archive she'd been visiting recently.
Scanning the opening page, he looked impressed and
leaned over, one hand on the back of her chair and the
other one on the desk.
Buffy clicked on 'fan fiction' and waited.
"Whoa," he murmured, looking over the long list of
titles. "There must be five hundred stories here."
She scrolled quickly down the page, barely letting him
see what the titles were and searching for the 'G' rated
ones.
William leaned even closer. "Wait a second," he said,
stopping her. "Go back a little."
Resigning herself to the inevitability of it, she scrolled
back up to the 'adult' section. "Where?"
"Right there." He pointed at the screen.
The titles by themselves were enough to make her blush!
She hesitated. "I...I don't think this is a very good idea."
"I do." He smiled his wicked smile again, but she had her
head turned and didn't see it.
******************************
William didn't have to see her face to know what was going
through her mind. The heat she was giving off was enough
to melt the polar ice caps.
Although he felt sorry for her obvious embarrassment, it
was too good an opportunity to miss. Placing his hand over
hers on the mouse, he chose a title at random and clicked
on it: 'Above And Beyond The Call'
Written by: Starlover, who doesn't own a
speck of 'Outpost: Space', though she'd be
willing to settle for owning Captain Amara.
Rating: Adults only! Keep an eye on your kids.
Summary: PWP (Do you really need to know
more?)
As he read the story, Buffy sat rigidly still, not allowing
herself to squirm in discomfort, and feeling rather foolish for
wanting to.
**You're being ridiculous," she scolded herself. **You're a
grown woman, with a child., and you've been around the
block before...so, stop it!**
Her common sense told her off, but she still wasn't about to
sit there and read along with him. Turning her face up, she
observed his reaction and was charmed to see him just
barely moving his lips as he read.
"Hmm." He straightened up and folded his arms across his
chest.
Buffy had to ask. "How does it make you feel to read that? To
have people write about you..." She couldn't make the words
'having sex' come out of her mouth. "...that way?"
He shrugged. "Honestly? Suddenly inadequate."
"What?" She was truthfully perplexed by his con-
fession. "Why inadequate? In what way?"
Unlike Buffy, William had no problem making certain words
come out of HIS mouth. "Well, it's damn flattering, but I
should probably warn you before we get involved that I can't
possibly ejaculate five times in fifteen minutes."
It was such an amusing, unexpected comment that
she forgot to be embarrassed and just laughed. "Not even
for me?"
"As beautiful and sexy as you are...no can do, honey. I'm
good, but I'm not THAT good." Nudging her over a bit, he
sat next to her on the chair.
"What a disappointment," she sighed.
"You're telling ME!" He pulled her onto his lap, wrapping
both arms around her waist. "And," he added, "when I
DO ejaculate, I don't produce puddles."
Another spurt of laughter burst out of her. Delighted by her
reaction, he continued provoking it by comparing himself to
the author's version. He informed her that he didn't walk
around with a 24 hour a day erection; that he wasn't
possessed of an 'endowment' that had its own zip code; and
that he had most definitely never...and he stressed 'never'..even
ATTENDED an orgy, much less STARTED one.
When her giggling was finally under control, Buffy tilted her
head back to look at him. He returned her silent gaze for a
moment, then glanced back at the computer screen.
"Do you know how much I want you," he read out loud
from the text. "That I've always wanted you?"
He paused, gesturing for her to take up her part.
Buffy looked at the screen. "Those words trip easily off
your tongue, Amara. You must have spoken them many
times."
"Don't think to distract me, princess. I want you...and I
WILL have you." He whispered the words in her ear, his
breath warm on her skin.
Flustered by his actions, she lost her place for a moment.
"Where's...oh, here. Um...why are you so set upon me, when
there are women at every station who would give you anything
you asked of them?"
"But everyone knows that the daughter of Selkira is the most
beautiful and exiting woman in the farthest reaches of occupied
space."
"You have a quick and...and facile tongue, Earth-man."
"Let me show you what I can do with it." More words delivered
right into her receptive ear, making her feel soft and pliable in
his arms.
William turned her on his lap and captured her mouth beneath
his. Their lips parted and their tongues caressed, playing and
probing.
His arms tightened around her as the kiss deepened. There
was passion and hunger, barely restrained, and neither had
the will...or the desire...to stop.
Buffy was the first to break away. She stared into his dark eyes,
a little dazed. "Would you...like to come upstairs?" she asked,
shocking herself right out of her shoes. "To my...bedroom?"
He nodded slowly. "Very much."
TBC....
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