Title: Unexpected Blessings
Author: Pattyanne
snapkik@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Not mine
Rating: Varies from chapter to chapter
Feedback: Yes, please.
Summary: Buffy and Spike have
a baby.
~~~~~
The Ninth Month
~~~~~
The evening sun had finally set, and Spike was
stretched out on the sofa with a cold glass
of beer and a novel he'd been looking forward
to reading.
Ever since Buffy's pregnancy, he had rediscovered
his love of the printed word, something he had lost
right about the same time he lost his mortality.
But after reading up on every baby advice manual
he could lay his hands on, he had found himself
missing the pleasure of just sitting quietly with an
interesting book and losing yourself in the words.
So, he had tagged along with his wife to the
Sunnydale Public Library one night, and walked
out with a card of his own, and a stack of books
he'd heard about over the years, but never bothered
with.
Taking a sip of beer, he set the glass down on the
coffee table and propped his feet up, then opened
the book.
He hadn't gotten halfway through the third page
when Buffy's voice interrupted him. "Honey, please!
I just polished that table a little while ago."
He looked over the top of his book, and saw his
wife standing over him. She looked absolutely
adorable in a pair of denim overalls that almost
completely disguised her "nearly ready to pop"
tummy, and she had her hair in two long braids.
In her hand, she held a bucket stuffed full of
cleaning solutions and sponges, paper towels
and dust cloths.
"Oh...I'm sorry, love." He removed his feet and
placed them on the floor, then glanced up for
her approval...but didn't see any. "Something
else?" he asked.
"The glass. Please..use a coaster," she asked
sweetly, whipping one out of her pocket and
handing it to him.
"Sure, love...anything you...." His voice disappeared
when he picked up the glass and saw the very
large ring of moisture on the table. "Oh, I'm really
sorry...I just...I didn't know...I wasn't thinking..."
She shook her head like a country school marm,
then extracted a clean cloth and re-polished the
coffee table. He made sure the coaster was under
the glass, which earned him a "thank you, sweetie"
and a brief kiss brushed across his forehead, before
she went on her way.
Keeping his feet on the floor, he sat back again and
re-opened his book. A page and a half later, he was
startled out of his seat at the sudden roar of the
Hoover a few feet away from him.
"Lift your feet!" Buffy shouted over the clamor of
the engine. He levitated them a few feet in the air
as she pushed the vacuum back and forth many more
times than she actually needed to.
"Sweetheart.." he yelled. "The carpet isn't exactly covered
in filth! I think that's enough! "
"What?!" she yelled back.
"Can you turn that off, darling?!"
She nodded. "I'm almost done in here!"
He waited, as patiently as he could, until she toddled
out of the room, heading down the hallway. The hum of
the motor faded a little, and he went back to his book.
The story was just beginning to really peak his interest
when he heard a loud thump from the stairs, and looked
up in time to see Buffy hauling the heavy vaccum cleaner
from one step up to the next, intending to lift the thing
all the way up the staircase.
"Stop that!" he yelped, tossing the book aside and
leaping to his feet.
"What? I'm fine!" she insisted, one hand on the machine
and the other on her hip.
"Buffy, please call me when you want something heavy
lifted," he begged for what felt like the hundredth time. "I
know you're the slayer and all...but you're pregnant, love.
I don't want anything to happen to you or the little one."
There was really only one argument that worked with
her when it came to this issue, and he wasn't above
using it. "Baby, please...you know I like doing these
things for you. Please let me." Those words, along with
the most earnest and pleading look he could summon
up, usually got him his way.
He hauled the Hoover upstairs and waited for her
to join him. "Will you let me do this for you?"
"No, honey...go read your book. I can push the
vaccum, it's not hard to push. And I'll be careful,"
she promised.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"I'm positive...go. Read. Relax," she pushed him
out the door.
When he was back on the sofa, he picked up his
book and waited for a moment, listening to the
even back and forth motions of the vaccum.
It was a soothing sort of sound, something called
"white noise" if he remembered his earlier baby
info correctly.
The peaceful back and forth swish was suddenly
accompanied by a distinct thud that could only mean
one thing...she was lifting furniture.
"Damn it!" he shouted, flinging the book down with
a splat! He took the stairs three at a time, and found
Buffy on her hands and knees in the nursery, dragging
the heavy rocking chair back into place. The crib was
completely pulled away from the wall, and the solid oak
changing table was slightly out of place.
"Buffy!"
She jumped, whirling around with a guilty flush on her
face. "There was so much dust down there...you wouldn't
believe it," she began, but he cut her off by grabbing
her hand and tugging her out of the room.
"That's it!" he said loudly. "No more cleaning..no more
nesting..consider yourself nested until this baby is
born."
He dragged her downstairs and forced her to sit
on the sofa next to him. Picking up the book, he
turned it back to page one and began to read out
loud.
It wasn't long before she was curled up next
to him like a kitten, listening intently as he read. Her
attention spurred him on to make the story more
enjoyable for her, and he employed his entire vocal
range to entertain her.
After taking a break for her to go to the bathroom,
he brought her a glass of milk and a bag
of chocolate chip cookies. She sat peacefully beside
him, only stopping him once to tell him that being
"nested" was a lot more fun than working to get
there.
Five chapters into the book, he closed it up for the
night, resisting her pleas for him to continue.
"No. Time for you to have a bath and get some
sleep." He was firm on the subject, and he knew
by how easily she let herself be persuaded, that
she must be tired out.
She undressed in the bedroom as he ran a
tub of luke warm water for her. He helped her
step in to the tub and sit down, then he lathered
up a soft sponge with bath gel and ran it over
the wet silk of her skin, working up a creamy,
fragrant lather.
He stripped and climbed into the tub behind her,
making her lean back against him as he plied the
soapy sponge over and over the hard drum of her
pregnant belly. The baby moved beneath his
touch, seeming to want to play with her daddy
already as she kicked and rolled, making her
mommy gasp and request that she settle herself
down.
"See, she's not gonna do that, love," he informed
Buffy with a cocky grin. "That's my little girl in
there, and she knows her own mind."
Buffy smiled, cupping his cheek in her wet
hand. "I think you're right," she said. "She sure
isn't listening to me. In fact," she oomphed after
a hearty kick in the ribs, "I was hoping maybe you
could have...a talk with..her."
Obligingly, he placed both his hands on her tummy
and stroked it gently. "All right now, little girl," he
murmured softly. "Mummy wants a little rest now. Be
my Princess and settle down for Daddy, hmm? You'll
be here with us soon, baby, and I promise you we'll
have wonderful adventures together, the three of us.
That's my good girl...you sleep now, and Daddy and
Mummy will make everything ready for you."
Miraculously, the baby stopped her incessant flip-
flopping about and settled into one position, with
just an occasional little tap of one tiny foot to let
her parents know she was still around.
"You're amazing," Buffy sighed. "The things you can
do with your voice..."
He chuckled. "Just don't ask me to sing."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC....
(You know what comes next!)
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