[Reviews - 111]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 1586 times

- Text Size +




Author's Chapter Notes:
Fluff + a little angst.

Oh, and if anyone would like to make a banner for me I'd really appreciate it since I don't have photoshop or much talent with altering photos. Thanks & enjoy!
Chapter 25 – Settling In

The following weeks passed pretty quickly. They unpacked the moving truck and used it to get Buffy’s things from her apartment in San Francisco. She said goodbye to Fred and gave her the new number at Spike’s so that they could keep in touch. The quiet woman was so good to Buffy and Will over the years and Buffy had grown close enough to her to call her a friend. Buffy talked to her landlord and managed to get out of her lease without much trouble. She just lost her deposit and right now that wasn’t a big deal to her.

Dawn agreed to see a grief counselor and Buffy even went with her to one session. It was good for both of them to be able to communicate with each other again about their grief. Even Buffy didn’t realize that she was holding back. The experience brought Buffy and Dawn closer together which was a very good thing with all that was going on. Buffy got Will and Dawn settled in their respective schools and talked to Wesley after she’d been living with Spike for a week.

She started back at work her second week in LA and was happy to be back in her own little world of fashion. While working on the account that Wesley had put her on she found some time to make a few designs of her own. They were still works in progress but she was feeling happier every day and part of that was because of Spike. He was her rock and she loved him more than she could really put into words.

Every night they sat down to a family dinner and talked about their day. Spike was busy recording a new album with the band. Will was making friends in his new school and Dawn was improving each day too. Her moods were better and she seemed like she was really enjoying LA. The few weekends they’d been there so far they’d taken trips to museums and the park. They even went to the movies one Saturday. Sometimes they just stayed in to watch a movie or play games.

It was about 3 weeks after the move when Dawn first asked to stay at a friend’s house. Buffy agreed but said she’d need to talk to the other mom to settle details. It was amazing that there really hadn’t been any friction in the new living arrangements yet, but for now everyone was still settling in.

Friday night came and Dawn spent the night at her new friend Janice’s house. Buffy had confirmed all the details with Janice’s mom and both moms seemed to feel that the girls would be good influences on one another. Janice’s mom dropped Dawn off before noon on Saturday. Since Spike was practicing with the band for a small gig he had that night in a club, Buffy took Dawn and Will out for lunch.

To Dawn and Will’s surprise Willow and Xander showed up at the restaurant and ate with them. It was a little surprise Buffy had planned for them, knowing how much they all missed each other even just a few weeks after the move. Lunch was great and Willow and Xander even agreed to stay for Spike’s show that night.

The music at Spike’s show was good even if it was a bit loud. Will seemed to enjoy himself too and Spike was thrilled that they were all there. When he had a break he came to find them, taking Will in his arms and kissing the boy. “What do you think of the music?” Spike asked his son.

“I like it!” he said excitedly, hopping in Spike’s arms.

Everyone smiled at how cute Will was. He really was such a good kid. Buffy couldn’t complain about a thing in her life at the moment. Everything was going so perfectly. She was incredibly happy. How could she not be? She was in love with Spike. They had a beautiful little boy. Dawn was living with them and happy about it. They were a family in a way that Buffy had never dreamed of.


On Monday Buffy took her extended lunch break and went to see the doctor. She’d already told Wes she had an appointment and he had said it would be fine. So she hurried to the doctor to make her appointment on time. When she got to the doctor’s office she waited patiently in the waiting room until her name was called.

The appointment had been made about a week ago. Buffy had called her previous doctor in San Francisco to get a recommendation for one in LA and then made the appointment. It was simple enough, but she felt a little nervous. She’d never had to go on birth control before. That was kind of strange to think about. She was 23 years old and she’d never been on the pill. She’d never been having sex regularly enough to need to go on it though. Now that she was living with Spike though she knew she needed to see the doctor. Everything was perfect as it was and she didn’t want to have a slip.

Will was the best thing that had ever happened to her, but he still wasn’t planned. If she and Spike were going to have more kids, she wanted them to be ready. So here she was, sitting in the exam room in one of those ridiculous smocks, waiting for the doctor to come back in to examine her.

The exam went smoothly. There were no surprises and Buffy got the pill without a fuss. She was an adult, so why would there be a fuss? Slipping the pills into her purse and paying her bill, she quickly hurried out of the doctor’s and back to work. The rest of the day ran smoothly and she was looking forward to going home to Spike. That was the best part of her day, the moment she walked in the door and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. Then he’d whisper, “Welcome home.”

Sometimes he was out a little later than her, but one of them was always home when Will got home. Dawn got home a little later than Will did, but she was usually their babysitter if they needed to go back out to work or if they wanted to go out on a date. Dawn didn’t mind if it was a school night, but on the weekends she often liked to go out and hang with her friends. Most weekends Buffy and Spike were happy to hang out with their little guy.

When Buffy got home that Monday after work she realized that Spike wasn’t back yet. Will was just getting off the school bus and Buffy walked inside with him. “Do you want a snack?” she asked.

“Uh huh,” he said with a grin.

“How about peaches?”

“Yes, please,” he replied politely with a grin.

Buffy smiled as she drained a little of the excess juice in the sink so Will wouldn’t make a mess. Then she gave him his cup of peaches and went back to the fridge to pull out a juice box for him. “Here you go sweetie,” she said, giving him a spoon as well.

“Thanks Mama.”

While Will was eating his snack Buffy went upstairs to change out of her work clothes and put her things away. She changed into a simple white tank top and a pair of her favorite jeans before coming back downstairs to find Will washing his hands in the bathroom. He’d already thrown his trash away and even put his spoon in the sink. She pulled him to her in a big bear hug and said, “You’re such a good boy.”

Will just smiled and hugged her back, wrapping his arms around Buffy’s neck lovingly. Then Buffy started tickling him and he was giggling. They were still wrapped up in their tickle party when Spike walked in. Buffy didn’t even hear him when he came in. He just stopped and watched them with a smile. This was his family.

Buffy finally noticed him after he’d been standing there for about 2 or 3 minutes. The moment her eyes met his she smiled at him. There was always a look of complete devotion in her eyes. It quite often took her off guard and scared her. How could someone be so devoted to her? She wasn’t anything special; at least she didn’t think so.

Spike smiled back at her. He watched as she set Will on the ground and whispered something to him that he didn’t catch. Then Will ran into his arms. Spike scooped him up in an instant and held him close. “Welcome home Dad,” Will said as he kissed his father on the cheek.

It was Buffy’s turn to look on and smile. As Spike put Will down and went to sit down with him in the living room to talk about his day Buffy picked up Will’s backpack. She opened it up to see if there was anything his teacher’s had given him. She was pretty sure that she’d already signed all the papers she’d need to sign for his school, but she also knew that teachers put papers in the kids’ bags for the parents to get. A kid Will’s age wasn’t likely to remember to tell Buffy there was something for her in his bag.

She pulled out a few papers. One caught her eye. It had big letters printed up. It was a flier advertising show and tell. Next Friday was the day Will’s class was bringing in their fathers. Suddenly her chest tightened. Was this something that Spike was going to be willing to do? She really didn’t see why not, but nothing like this had come up yet.

For a moment Buffy stood quietly in the kitchen, looking at the paper in her hand as she heard Will and Spike’s voices in the other room. For a moment she flashed back to her own ‘show and tell your dad’ day. She had been 7 at the time. She’d been so excited to have her class meet her dad. He was going to meet her there after lunch just like all the other dad’s. Lunch came and went and she watched and waited for her dad to show up. Everyone else’s dad was there except for hers. He never showed up.

When she got home from school that day she went straight to her room and cried. Her mom found her there later and asked what was wrong. Buffy said, “Nothing.”

“It’s not nothing sweetie,” Joyce replied softly. “Tell me what’s wrong Buffy.” She came to sit on Buffy’s bed with her and rubbed her back soothingly. Buffy just sniffled and Joyce paused for a moment before it sank in. “He didn’t come, did he?”

Buffy shook her head and Joyce held her close for a moment. “Where’s Dawn?” Buffy asked, wiping at her cheeks as her tears stopped.

“She’s down for a nap.”Joyce smiled at Buffy and said, “I’m so sorry he wasn’t there Buffy. You know how busy he gets with work. Something probably came up.” It was no excuse, but what else was Joyce going to tell her daughter.

Buffy never spoke about that event with her dad. Joyce always knew, but that was the first day that Buffy started not to trust her dad. It wasn’t until 6 years later that Buffy learned that her dad had been having an affair with his secretary and that her parents were going to get a divorce. She’d been 13 when they divorced and the one person she leaned on the most was William. He’d been her rock, always. She knew that he wasn’t her father, but she was still worried. Things happened. Things changed, and he was getting so busy with the band these days.

Before anything was decided she needed to talk to him about Will’s show and tell. She didn’t want Will going through what she had. Buffy didn’t trust her father. She didn’t even know where he was now, but over the years he’d taken away her childhood by destroying the trust she put in him. He was never there for her or Dawn, much less their mother and Buffy had had to grow up a little faster to help take care of them. Somehow she’d managed to stay somewhat carefree, or so it appeared to most, but on the inside she was a bit hardened.

After graduation she had hardened a little bit more. It wasn’t intentional, but it had happened. She loved Spike. She loved him so much and she wanted their relationship to work, but she had trust issues, especially with the men in her life. Well, not all the men, because she obviously trusted Lorne and Wesley, but the men that were in her life in a romantic sense or as a part of the family. She’d been through so much with Spike lately and they’d come so far. She knew that she needed to talk to him about this.

“Will, honey, why don’t you watch a show on the TV while your dad and I talk for a few minutes? How does that sounds?”

“Ok Mama.”

Spike met her eyes briefly and felt the familiar constriction in his chest. Something wasn’t right and he was starting to worry before Buffy had even told him what it was. He quietly turned on Noggin and kissed Will on the forehead before coming into the kitchen. Instead of going to Buffy and holding her hand he sat on a stool and met her eyes, waiting for her to speak. Just then Dawn walked in and smiled at them both as she walked to the fridge to get a drink and a snack.

“Can you watch Will for a minute while Spike and I talk?” Buffy asked Dawn.

“Of course, but then I have my counseling meeting in an hour. K?”

“Yep, I’ll take you.” Buffy smiled at Dawn and met Spike’s eyes as she started for their bedroom with the flier from Will’s bag in her hand.

When she was in their bedroom she sat on the edge of the bed with the flier in her hands still.

“What do ya have there?” Spike asked.

“Oh…” She looked up and handed it to Spike. She watched a smile come across his features. “Can you do it?” she asked.

“O’ course I can.”

She stood and eyed him carefully. “Promise me you’ll be there,” she said firmly. “If you say you’re going to be there for him, you have to be there. He’s just a kid Spike, and he won’t understand if you break a promise, but it will hurt him. I don’t want to see that happen to my little boy.”

“Buffy, what’s going on?” His voice was taking on the concern he felt. When she didn’t reply he cupped her cheek, setting the flier aside. “Look, I said I’ll be there. I want to go to this. This is one of those father things that I haven’t missed yet. I want to be there.”

“Ok,” she said quietly.

“No, this isn’t ok. Something’s going through that head of yours and I want to know what it is.”

His tone was serious and she knew he wasn’t going to budge on this. “Ok.” She took his hand in hers and sat down with him on the bed. “Do you remember when my parents got divorced?”

“Yeah,” he said hesitantly. He didn’t see where this was going yet.

“Well, you know how I’ve distrusted my dad for a long time because he cheated on my mom and left us, but I started distrusting him before that.” She saw the look in his eyes telling her that he still didn’t understand and she continued. “I was 7 when I had a day just like this at school. My dad didn’t show up for whatever reason and when I came home I went straight to my room and cried. My mom consoled me, but she was just making excuses for him. From that day on I saw the things my dad did, all the times he wasn’t there for us, and I hated him for it. That was the first day that I started distrusting my own father. I don’t want that to happen to Will.” She held up her hand for a moment. “Look, I know that you love him and that you want to do right by him, but Spike… you love your job and I know it keeps you busy. I don’t want you to make promises to our son that you can’t keep. So, if you think that something is going to come up it’s better to just tell Will that you can’t do it.”

“Buffy…” He cupped her cheek and looked into her eyes. “First of all, call me William. You know that I don’t like it when you of all people call me Spike. Second, I’m going to be there. Family comes first, and I’m not letting anything, even the band, get in the way of my family. So, I’m promising you and I will promise our son that I will be there for the ‘dad’s day.’ Ok?”

“Ok,” she said quietly. Then he leaned in and kissed her. When he pulled away she bit her lip nervously.

“Is there something else?” he asked, quirking his brow.

“Well… I had a doctor’s appointment today.”

“Is everything ok?” he asked, the concern lacing his voice again.

She smiled. “Everything is fine. I’m healthy, and I got the pill.”

“Ah,” he said with a smirk.

“I just want us to be ready, you know, when, and if, we decide to have more kids.”

“I agree,” he said. “And it’s definitely when.” He smirked again and kissed her soundly as he pushed her onto the bed, feeling her squirm beneath him.

“Hey, hey, hey,” she said, pushing at his chest playfully.

“What?” he said in an injured tone.

“It’ll take 3 to 4 weeks for it to take effect. So, until then we still have to use the condoms.”

“Good by me,” he said, leaning in to kiss her again.

She moaned against him for a minute, especially when he started rubbing his erection against her core. She always wanted him. The passion was so easily ignited that she wondered if it would ever fade or die out. ‘Never,’ she thought.

They made out for a few minutes longer before Buffy pushed at him again, this time a little bit more firmly. “I have to take Dawn to the counselor,” she reminded him.

“Oh, right. Well, hurry back,” he said, smacking her on the ass as she got up and walked out of the room, quickly following her. As she and Dawn headed out the door he sat down with Will to talk to him about the upcoming show-and-tell at school.


Chapter End Notes:
Well... tell me what ya think. If I get a few reviews I'll post the last chapter later tonight. :D



You must login (register) to review.