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Part 3




Ordinarily, Buffy would have been instantly suspicious
and on high alert at the sight of a relative stranger
approaching her child and engaging her in conversation.

Both she and the public school system had spent a
great deal of time and energy hammering home the lesson
'Don't talk to people that you don't know and do NOT...under
ANY circumstances...go anywhere with them!'

Secretly, she had always harbored a deep fear that
Melanie's crippling shyness would derail whatever lessons
she had assimilated, preventing her from causing a scene
should anyone try anything. It was one of the many worries
that went hand-in-hand with raising a child in an increasingly
dangerous world, a world that seemed to prey on them in
a brutal fashion.

These troublesome thoughts, along with the other day
to day fears, were the monsters in her closet that sometimes
prevented her from sleeping.

She worried about everything; whether Melanie was
getting proper nutrition...or if she was getting enough
rest. Was she being teased in school? And what about
her teeth? Were they going to come in straight, or might
she need braces someday?

Was she too warm? Too cold? Sleeping too much? Not
sleeping enough? Whenever she caught a cold, Buffy
fretted that it might turn into something worse.

Childhood disease was very high on her anxiety scale,
even though she knew that the odds of Melanie developing
one were in her favor. Logically, she knew it...but in the
middle of the night, the time when all her worst fears began
to run through her agitated mind on an endless loop...she
still feared it.

She worried about leukemia, juvenile diabetes, multiple
sclerosis, encephalitis, meningitis, undetected heart disease,
immune system deficiencies, influenza, hepatitis, fatal allergic
reactions, tetanus, epilepsy, and every virus known to man.

Even the lesser evils...such as chicken pox...scared her.

Since she couldn't bear the thought of anything happening
to her baby, she was afraid that she sometimes overcompen-
sated for it with her extreme protectiveness, leaving her with
a guilt trip a mile wide over the notion that it had perhaps
contributed to Melanie's compulsive shyness.

Buffy also worried about fires and earthquakes, about
killer bees and tainted food, about car crashes and stray
dogs. She felt perfectly justified in that last one because
Melanie...who was sometimes shy to the point of tears with
people...had no qualms whatsoever about animals. She
would fearlessly approach any that she came across, confident
that every four legged creature in the world was as gentle as
she was.

And, ironically, she worried about whether she worried too
much.

Of course, she HAD to do all the worrying...since Angel
did none of it.

******************************


"Why are you all by yourself here?" William asked.

"I'm not. Mommy's getting lunch. See?" She pointed
over his shoulder.

He turned around to look, and sure enough, Melanie's
mother was standing at the cash register paying for
her purchases. No father around at all, it looked like.

Sticking his hands in his front pockets, he leaned
against the table. "So...did your Daddy come along with
you today?" he asked casually.

Melanie shook her head solemnly. "No."

She was frustratingly brief in her reply. If he wanted
more information, he'd have to dig for it.

He definitely did.

"He stayed home, then?"

"I guess so," the little girl shrugged. "I'm not sure.
Maybe."

Not helpful at all.

He was trying to come up with another way of finding
out her mother's marital status when Melanie solved the
problem for him by herself.

"My daddy lives somewheres else," she informed him.

"Oh. I get it." Although he was happy to hear that
Melanie's mommy might be available, he felt a pang of
guilt for being pleased that this beautiful child's home was
broken. But he comforted himself with the thought that
anyone stupid enough to leave this little girl and her mother
really didn't deserve them in the first place, and surely they
were better off without him.

He decided to change the subject. "Are you having fun
today?"

"Oh, yes," she said, giving him a smile that melted his
heart. "I liked talking to you."

William returned her smile. "Well, I like talking to you, too,"
he said sincerely. "Are you going to be staying for the
party tonight?"

She nibbled her lower lip for a moment. "What time is it at?"

"I think it starts at 9:30."

Melanie shook her head, making her curls bounce. "I have
to go to bed at 8:00," she informed him.

"Even on Saturday?" he asked.

"Uh-huh. I can only stay up late on Wednesday."

He felt another tug at his heart. "Mommy lets you stay up for
the show?"

"Yes."

"Does she like it, too?"

Melanie crossed her arms in front of her on the table, and
laid her cheek against them. "She's only ever watched it
once," she said, yawning. "She says mostly TV isn't very
good anyway."

William chuckled. "Well, she's right about that," he said.

"Sometimes she watches movies with me."

"Oh, yeah? What's your favorite movie?"

She thought about it for a moment. "The Little Mermaid."
she said. "What's yours?"

He imitated her thoughtful look. "Promise you won't laugh?"

Melanie nodded.

"The Wizard of Oz," he stage whispered.

"Oh, I like that, too!"


******************************

Buffy took a tighter grip on the tray in her hands, heading
for the table where her daughter sat.

As she got closer, she saw that Melanie seemed to be
completely at ease with William St. James. She wasn't
displaying any of the telltale signs of shyness. There was
no ducking of her head, or turning her face in the other
direction. She wasn't fidgeting or twisting her little fingers
together, and her voice was fairly audible, even from a
distance.

Wondering just what kind of magic tricks this guy was
capable of, she sailed up to the table and set the lunch
tray down.

"Hi." He straightened up and smiled right at her.

"Hello," she murmured, trying not to conjure up any memories
of those X-rated fairy tales she'd read the other night.

"I hope you don't mind...I saw Melanie sitting here and..."

"No," she said quickly. "I don't mind...if Melanie doesn't"

Melanie sat up. "I don't mind, either," she said, examining
the food on the tray.

There was a moment of silence, then William said, "Well,
what are you having for lunch?"

Melanie pulled the top slice of bread from the sandwich
and studied the ingredients. "Tuna fish," she said, wrinkling
her little nose up. "Yuck."

Buffy stared at her daughter. "What do you mean, yuck?" she
asked. "You love tuna fish."

The child regarded her with a steady look. "Fish are
friends," she intoned, "not food."

"Oh, for..." Buffy rolled her eyes. "Melanie...stop quoting
'Finding Nemo' and eat your lunch," she said firmly. Opening
a carton of chocolate milk, she poured it into a paper cup and
placed it in front of her daughter. "Come on, now. Take a big
bite."

Anything but resigned to her fate, Melanie sighed. "It's got
things in it, Mommy," she complained.

Buffy sat down wearily. "Things? What things?"

William was having a difficult time keeping his mirth under
control as he listened to the conversation, and was already
sure in his mind who would prevail.

"What's this?" Melanie held out her little palm, showing
her mother a piece of something covered in mayonnaise.

Buffy looked. "It's a little piece of celery."

"I don't like celery," the girl said promptly.

"Melanie..."

"But, I don't!"

Deciding it was time to wade in before
the little one talked herself into trouble, William finally spoke
up.

"It may be none of my business," he said to Buffy, "and feel
free to tell me to butt out...but I'd be happy to get her something
else to eat. If you wouldn't mind, that is."

By this point, Buffy was too tired to protest. "You're sure it's
no trouble?"

"Not for me, it isn't," he said, letting his eyes linger a bit
on her pretty face. He pulled a cell phone out of his jacket
pocket and punched a number.

Buffy was the first to drop her eyes.

"Jen..it's me," William said to whoever had answered his
call. "Can you have...wait a minute..." He looked at Melanie
and smiled. "What do you want, pixie? You name it and it's
yours."

Melanie didn't hesitate. "Peanut butter and jelly?"

He nodded. "Jen, I want a peanut butter and jelly sand-
wich...yeah...uh, grape?...okay...have them bring it to the
buffet area...no, I'm not kidding...good...thanks." He stuck
the phone back in his pocket. "Just a couple of minutes,"
he promised.

******************************

Buffy sat back, watching as he continued to engage Melanie
in conversation, asking her about school and answering her
questions about 'Outpost:Space'.

Ten minutes after a member of the kitchen staff arrived
with Melanie's sandwich, William glanced at his watch and
sighed.

"I hate to say it, but I have to go. Got to attend the photo
op and sign some autographs."

It was officially the last thing he felt like doing at the moment.
Normally, he didn't mind in the slightest, figuring it was the
least he could do for all the people who were nice enough
to support the show, but today he had other things on his
mind....a sweetheart of a little girl, and her beautiful mother.

"I'm going to do that!" Melanie said cheerily.

All of a sudden, things were looking up! "Great!" he
said, staring at Buffy. "I'll be looking for you...."

"Buffy" Melanie supplied.

Unable to stop himself, he smiled at Melanie and brushed
her curls back from her face. "See you later, pixie," he
said, forcing his feet to start moving.

"Okay."

******************************

"Mommy....can I have some more chocolate milk?"

Buffy dragged her eyes off of William's retreating back and
onto her daughter's face. "Sure, baby...here you go."

"Thank you." She took a swallow, leaving a chocolate
mustache on her upper lip. "He's really nice," she said,
wiping her mouth on the back of her hand.

Her mother took over the job with a napkin. "Yes, he is." She
sat back and looked into Melanie's eyes. "You like him
very much...don't you?"

"Uh-huh. Don't you?"

Buffy smiled and nodded. "Uh-huh."


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