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Title: Acting The Part
Author: Pattyanne
snapkik@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: None of the BtVS
characters belong to me.
Feedback: Love some, thanks.
Rating: Up to NC-17
Summary: AU. William St. James is
an actor in a hit television show. While
appearing at a fan convention, he meets
Buffy and her six year old daughter, Melanie.



Part five....


Looking back at Melanie, William made an "Uh-oh" face
and winked at her, making the little girl giggle. He slipped
the photograph of himself out from under her fingertips and
uncapped a shiny gold marker. When he began to write,
Melanie watched the glittery letters appear and her eyes
rounded in amazement.

"Ooh...that's pretty," she said, smiling. "My markers don't
do that."

Signing his name with a flourish, he held out the pen to
her along with the picture. "You take this one. I have lots more."

With an irritable huff of air, the woman beside him opened
a zipped up portfolio full of 8X 10 color photographs and located
another gold marker. She placed it in front of William and gave
Melanie a look that clearly said "Your time is up!"

Melanie handed both the photo and and the pen to her mother
for safe keeping. Placing both her small hands on either side
of her mouth so no one else could see, she whispered, "Thank
you very much."

William copied her gesture. "You're very welcome."

"Melanie?" Buffy said quietly from the sidelines. "It's time to say
goodbye, now."

Slipping her hand into her mothers, Melanie gave William one
last smile. "Bye."

He sat watching them for a moment, then jumped to his feet.

"What are you doing?" Dru hissed, grabbing at his sleeve.

He ignored her and turned to the person waiting for his signature. "Can
you wait just one moment?" he asked, as politely as he could considering
his urgency to leave. "I forgot something...uh, it's...personal. Promise I'll
be right back."

Permission was granted by a starry eyed smile, and William shook
off Dru's hand and went after Buffy and Melanie.


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


She had gotten about fifteen feet away, pulling along her reluctant
little girl who was definitely dragging her heels, when she felt a light
touch on her shoulder.

Buffy was so surprised that she nearly gasped out loud. He had
people waiting for his attention. Why was he chasing after them?

"Is something wrong?" she asked. Maybe he needed his pen back.

"No. Well, yes." William said, then knelt beside Melanie. "Hey...you
know that business about no hugging?" When the child nodded, he
shrugged. "Well...I'd really like one anyway. D'ya think maybe I could
have one of yours?"

Melanie looked up at her mother, who imitated William's shrug and
released her hand.

Buffy watched carefully to see how Melanie was going to deal with
this. She wasn't a 'throw herself into someone's arms and hang on
tightly' type of child, except with her mother and her grandmother. She'd
tried that with her father when she'd been younger, and had been put
off too many times in consideration of a new suit or a freshly pressed
dress shirt, to continue the practice. Now, if an embrace was appropriate,
she would place her arms gently around the person's neck and wait
until THEY pulled HER close.

Melanie did it just that way, then surprised her mother all over again
by tightening her little arms and pressing her cheek against William's.

A few seconds later, he pulled back and dropped a kiss on that same
soft cheek. "I'm very glad you came today," he said.

"Me, too," Melanie replied in the same quiet tone.

Buffy chose that moment to glance back over at the autograph
table. The fan waiting there looked content enough, but the dark
haired woman William had referred to as 'Dru' seemed anything
but pleased. If looks were capable of doing harm, she and Melanie
would be in a pickle right about now.

Funny, how she didn't much care.

Forcing down a childish impulse to set a thoroughly bad example
for her daughter by sticking out her tongue, Buffy just smiled. This
seemed to piss the woman off even more, making Buffy wonder
just who she was...a possessive business manager keeping an
eye on her client, or a jealous girlfriend?

The woman's eyes narrowed as William stood up and took
hold of Buffy's arm. "Can I talk to you?" he asked, leading her
a few feet away from Melanie, who was surprisingly content to
let it happen.

"Uh...I...yeah, okay," she said uncertainly, stumbling along
behind him. "What?"

He stood silently for a moment, seemingly gathering his
thoughts. "I don't want to sound like I'm feeding you a line," he
began hesitantly, "but...I'd really like to see you again. Both of
you."

It was literally the last thing she'd expected to hear. A little
bemused by his words, she looked up at him with a slight smile
tugging at her lips. "You would?"

"Yeah." He stepped in front of her, cutting her off from Dru's
increasingly nasty glare. "I don't suppose you'd consider staying
for the party tonight?"

She automatically shook her head. "I didn't..."

"I know," he cut her off. "You didn't sign up for it. I don't care.
Won't you just stay as my...guest?"

It was a tempting offer. She hadn't attended an evening function
of any kind since she couldn't remember when. Nowadays, her
party life was pretty much confined to the sort of galas that were
thrown at Chuck E. Cheese. Even those were few and far between
due to Melanie's shyness and hesitance in making friends.

But taking a look at her daughter changed her mind. Melanie was
sitting in a chair next to the door, and her eyes were getting sleepier
and sleepier. She'd been up at the break of dawn, after a restless
night spent in anticipation of the days festivities. There was no way
she would make it through any kind of after hours party, a party that
probably wasn't really suitable for her anyway.

"We really can't" she demurred. "Melanie's exhausted and I'm kind
of wiped out, too. But thank you for the offer."

Expecting it, he didn't try to persuade her. "Can I call you?"

Wondering if she was doing the right thing, Buffy nodded. "Sure."
She groped around in her bag until she found a small card case.
Flipping it open, she handed him a business card. "That's my work
and home phone," she explained.

William examined the card. It was pale pink with scalloped edges,
and in dark pink lettering were the words, "Melanie's Garden"

He read the words out loud, then gave her a curious look. "What's
this?"

"I own a children's boutique in the mall. Melanie and I painted the
front windows with a little picket fence and flowers," Buffy explained,
then shrugged. "Melanie's Garden."

William smiled, delighted. "It's perfect," he said softly. "It suits both of
you. I can't wait to see it."

Dru cleared her throat noisily, making him frown. "I have to...." He
glanced back at the table.

"I know," Buffy said. "I have to..." She nodded at Melanie, who smiled
when she saw William and Buffy looking at her. Her small hands were
folded in her lap, and she was trying hard to keep her eyes open.

"So, I'll call you?" he murmured.

"Okay." She nearly leapt out of her skin when his hand ran
down her arm and found hers, then gave it a firm squeeze.

He hesitated one more time. "Buffy?"

"Hmm?"

Leaning close, he whispered in her ear, "I'm not gonna try it, but I
want you to know that I've never wanted to kiss a woman as badly
as I want to kiss you right now."

Then, with that statement clearly designed to upset her equilibrium,
he squeezed her hand once more and went to say goodbye to
Melanie.

Buffy slowly opened her hand and looked at the small piece of
paper he'd pressed into it. Written in a messy scrawl was his name
and....a telephone number.


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


Buffy's heels clacked on the concrete floor of the parking
garage. She was weighed down with all the bags and a small
bundle who couldn't walk another step.

When she set the child down next to the car to search for her
keys, Melanie stared down at the autographed picture she'd
refused to hand over. "Mommy," she asked. "What does it say?"

Buffy twisted the key in the lock, hoping it wouldn't stick and
refuse to turn. "His name, baby," she replied absently, turning
the key again with a harder motion.

"No....this part." Melanie held out the picture as Buffy finally
got the door to unlock. Buffy took it and examined it,
surprised to see that he'd indeed written more than just his name
on it: To Melanie....a bright, particular star. With love, William St.
James.


"What does it mean?" her daughter asked after hearing the
message read.

"It's from a play by William Shakespeare." Buffy scooped the child
up and deposited her in the booster restraint, then secured the buckles.
"And it means he likes you...and he thinks you're a very special little
girl."

Melanie was silent for a moment, then said, "He likes you, too."

Buffy smiled. "Oh, really? And just how do you know that?"

Her daughter shrugged and yawned. "Because you're nicer than
the rules lady."


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


She was in the kitchen boiling spaghetti when the phone
rang.

Melanie was sitting at the kitchen table, coloring in the
correct responses on the homework her teacher had
assigned.

All day Sunday and Monday, Buffy's heart had thumped
wildly in her chest when the telephone rang. William St.
James hadn't called, and she wasn't sure whether she was
disappointed or relieved.

She grabbed the phone, holding it between her shoulder
and her ear as she stirred spaghetti sauce. "Hello?"

"Mrs. Conner? This is Jean Ashton...Melanie's teacher."

"Oh, hi," Buffy stepped around the partition that separated the
dining area from the kitchen. "It's Summers," she said softly. "I'm
divorced."

The teacher apologized, then explained the purpose of the
call. "I wanted to let you know that something unusual happened
in class today."

"What's that?"

"Melanie participated in share time. In fact, she volunteered."

Buffy was almost speechless. Neither Melanie's kindergarden
teacher or Miss Ashton had ever been able to get the child to
participate in 'Share Time', a modern equivalent of what Buffy had
known as 'Show and Tell'. In fact, when her kindergarden teacher
had all but insisted on it, the child had burst into tears and Buffy
had been called to come and get her.

A brief conversation with the equally upset teacher had resulted
in Melanie's never being made to have 'Share Time' again. The
message had been passed along to her first grade teacher as well,
and so far there'd been no problems.

"Are you sure you're calling the right house?" Buffy asked.

Although she'd been quite serious, Miss Ashton laughed. "I was
shocked, too," she said. "Melanie stood up in front of the class
and told them that she had been to some sort of fan convention for
'Outpost: Space' over the weekend?"

"That's right," Buffy affirmed, mentally blessing William St. James
all over again. Even if the man never called, she'd always be grateful
to him for his kind attention to her daughter, which was still obviously
affecting her.

"And she said she'd met the show's star? And had her picture
taken with him?"

Buffy confirmed all this happily.

Then the other shoe dropped.

"I didn't become concerned about what she was saying until the
end when she told us...."

Buffy's nerves tightened. "Told you what?"

"Well...to be truthful, Ms. Summers...Melanie told the entire class
that William St. James was going to be her new...daddy."




TBC......
Feedback would be grand!





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