Chapter 28
“Morning, Dawnie,” Buffy said with a tired smile, as she flipped over a pancake on the stove.
“You cook now?”
“Not well,” Buffy laughed. “But I’m trying. You hungry?”
“I’ll get something on the way to school.”
“It’s Saturday.”
“Oh, right. Sorry, jet lag.”
“No problem. How’d you sleep last night?”
“Not bad. The couch is pretty comfortable.”
“Sorry about the cramped space.”
“Hey, I’m the one that didn’t tell you I was coming.”
“Still, I should always have room for my little sister.”
“It’s no big deal. Really!”
“The babies didn’t keep you up?”
“Surprisingly, no. Of course, I’m downstairs, and you’re all upstairs, and, best part? I have head phones.”
“Good call,” Buffy laughed, moving over to the sink and making up a few bottles for the day.
“Look at you. Buffy the Mom Slayer.” Dawn crinkled her nose. “Wait. That’s not right. But look at you, all in mommy mode. Mom would be proud.” Buffy turned to smile at her sister a bit sadly.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be as good a mom as our mom was. She always knew exactly what we needed without us having to tell her.”
“Well, when we were older, sure, but probably not when we were babies.”
“No, mom knew just what to do with you,” Buffy replied with a smile. “But I always wanted to help.”
“Yeah,” Dawn said quietly. “Well, I’m here to help you and Spike, so just tell me what to do.” Buffy thought for a moment, not wanting to ruin the sisterly moment but not being able to resist. “Want to learn how to change a diaper?” Dawn made a face. “What? You said you want to help.”
“Right. Okay.” Dawn grimaced and followed her sister up the stairs.
***
Willow and Dawn were seated in the living room, each one holding a baby in their arms. Both Buffy and Spike stood up before them, as if they were the parents about to tell their kids something very big.
“What’s going on?” Dawn asked. “It’s not bad, is it?”
“No, Dawnie. It’s not bad,” Buffy replied quietly.
“We have to tell ‘em sooner or later, luv. It’s not like they won’t find out.”
“You’re not pregnant again, are you?” Dawn asked.
“God no,” Buffy laughed. “I’m so not even thinking about more babies right now.” She looked at Spike, and he nodded to her. Buffy ran her hand against her upper thigh, feeling the ring in her pocket. She reached in, slipping the ring onto her finger, something she’d been aching to do since she woke up. But, they had wanted to break the news to them without them seeing the ring first, just so there wouldn’t be a rush of questions early in the morning, which functioning was almost impossible to do after barely any sleep.
“Oh my God,” Dawn gasped.
“Spike and I are getting married,” Buffy said with a nod.
“Oh my God!” Dawn exclaimed now, practically ready to burst out of her seat. But she held Bella in her arms, and the little one was half asleep. “Since when?!”
“Since two nights ago,” Buffy laughed.
“Wow,” Willow said softly. “Um, congratulations! Both of you.”
“Thanks, Red,” Spike said with a nod.
“When are you getting married? And what will your last name be?”
“We haven’t gotten all the legal stuff out of the way yet,” Buffy pointed out, “but I’m keeping my last name…well, hyphenating it, I guess. But the twins have Spike’s last name.”
“Spike has a last name?” Dawn asked.
“Well, I did when I was a lad, before I met Dru and everything.”
“Pratt,” Willow said slowly. “It’s Pratt, isn’t it? I think I remember reading…”
“Bex and Bella Pratt,” Buffy said with a quick nod. “Wil, Dawnie, I want both of you to be my maids of honor. I don’t care about tradition. Obviously. I mean, I’m marrying an ex-vampire.”
“Is that supposed to be an insult, pet?”
“No,” Buffy replied with a shrug. “But it’s true. I mean, you were a vampire.”
“Sure,” Spike replied, but you don’t have to keep bringing it up.”
“Spike, you were a vampire longer than you were a human. I think it’s worth bringing up.”
“To everyone?”
“To everyone who already knew.”
“We’d be honored, right, Willow?” Dawn asked, as Buffy looked at her best friend expectantly. Willow smiled, nodding.
“Of course, Buffy. Congratulations, again. I’m happy that you’re happy.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Willow smiled, and she handed Bex to his mother. “When’s the big day?”
“We were thinking soon,” Buffy said nervously.
“As in next week,” Spike pointed out. Both Dawn and Willow tensed up, looking at Buffy and Spike as if they were crazy.
“We don’t want to have some big, anticipated wedding like Xander and Anya. We all know how great that turned out.”
“Right,” Dawn said with a slow nod. “Next week it is.” She looked at Willow. “It looks like we have a wedding to plan.”
***
He listened to the audio from the bug that had been planted behind a flower pot in the new Summers-Pratt home. The sound of how happy she was, how thrilled she was to be marrying that…that thing, sickened him.
Pushing a button, he cleared his throat.
“Thomas, please come in here.”
“Yes, Sir.” Within a moment, the man came walking stiffly into the room. “What is it, Sir?”
“We’ll make our move in a week. She’s planning on marrying him.”
“We’re going to stop them?”
“No. We’ll make our move during the vows. She’s made her mind up, and there’s no way to convince her against marrying him. But we can do what we’ve come to do. All we need is a witch.”
“A witch, Sir?”
“A good one. Considering she’s got the best there is at her side, we’re going to have to settle for second best.”
“Do you know where to find her?”
“I’ll make some calls.”
“Yes, Sir. And what do you need me to do?” He looked down as a book was held out to him.
“Protect this with your life, and don’t let anyone see it.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Thank you, Thomas. You’re dismissed.”
***
A week had come and gone, and Buffy stood before a floor length mirror in her and Spike’s bedroom, looking at her flowing, white dress that clung to her and then flared out past the hips. It was simple but elegant, and her hair was done up simply, with a ringlet dangling down against her pale cheek.
“Oh my God, Buffy, Spike’s going to flip when he sees you.”
“You think?” Buffy asked, turning around, feeling very girly all of a sudden. Willow came in pushing the twin stroller, both babies curled up together, sleeping peacefully. Bex was decked out in a teeny tiny suit to match his daddy’s much larger one, and Bella wore a light blue dress to match Dawn and Willow’s.
It was going to be a very private ceremony. Of course, Giles, Xander, Faith, and the rest of the gang had been invited, but considering it was such short notice, nobody expected any of them to be there.
“You look amazing, Buffy.” Willow had to dab at her eyes a little. “And just so you know, Spike looks great in the suit you picked out.”
“How’s his hair? Slicked back or curly?”
“Slicked back, but I heard him putting up a fuss with himself over it,” Willow laughed.
“Great, my groom is talking to himself.”
“He looks great, and I think he’s over his nerves.”
“Good,” Buffy said, taking in a deep breath.
“How are your nerves, Buffy?” Dawn asked slowly, putting her hand on her sister’s shoulder.
“Just about shot. But this is a good day. A happy day. Nothing’s going to ruin it. Right?” There was silence. “Right?! This is where you’re supposed to reassure me, here, maids of honor!”
“Oh! Right,” Willow chirped.
“Right. Everything’s going to be fine,” Dawn said with a smile and a nod in confidence. Buffy turned to look at herself in the mirror, and she closed her eyes.
“I’m getting married today. I’m marrying Spike. I’m marrying the one man I thought I was going to hate for the rest of my life. And I’ve never felt more right about anything else.”
***
The ceremony seemed to fly by. The babies slept quietly through the simple service. Rings were exchanged, and after the vows, the preacher pronounced them husband and wife. All noises outside seemed to stop as they leaned in for their first kiss as husband and wife. Buffy smiled against his lips, bringing her arms around his shoulders, pulling him close, kissing him, giving him the best memory she could of this perfect afternoon.
“I love you, Mrs. Spike,” he whispered, his lips a breath apart from hers.
“I love you too…Mr. . . .Buffy?” Spike chuckled at Buffy’s quirky sense of humor, and he kissed her again. When they finally parted, they had to deal with the legal things, such as the marriage certificate. Luckily, they’d worked out the legalities, such as Spike’s name, and why he hadn’t been in the system before, but it was all taken care of, and with a few swipes of a pen across paper, it was official. They were married. Two one-time natural enemies, now both human, both going into a new life, ready to die for each other, but hoping they wouldn’t have to so they could spend many more years like this. As corny as it sounded, it was exactly what each of them wanted.
When the ceremony was over, Spike picked up Bex, and Buffy picked up Bella, and Willow and Dawn crowded in, as the preacher took a photo of the family. The babies slept through it all, and when they were placed back in the stroller, they both only briefly opened their eyes and then fell back into a deep sleep.
While Spike took the preacher aside and paid him, Buffy, Willow, and Dawn talked quietly, but when Buffy looked out of the corner of her eye, she saw, standing on her back porch, the figure of someone she’d thought she would never see again. Her eyes widened, and she ran over to him, despite their differences, and threw her arms around him in a happy hug.
“Xander!”
“Hey Buff,” he said with a half-smile, hugging her tight, lingering a little long, but not too long. In a few moments, the preacher was walking past them, going through the house, and heading out to officiate at another wedding. The rest of the group gathered around.
“Didn’t think I’d miss my best friend’s wedding, did you?”
“Well, to be honest,” Buffy said, “I did.” Xander nodded in understanding, and he looked over at Spike, seeing him for the first time as a human being.
“Gotta say, you don’t look any different.”
“No fangs. No bumps,” Spike said with a shrug.
“Ah, well, I can see you’re still keeping the peroxide company in business.”
“Xander,” Willow groaned.
“It’s alright, Red,” Spike chuckled. “Um, you want to help me with that…uh, thing?”
“Huh?” Spike raised his eyebrows.
“Oh! Um, yeah.” There was no thing, but she, like Spike, understood that Buffy and Xander needed some time. So, they headed out toward the back of the yard, where the wedding had taken place, and Dawn took control of the stroller.
“I’m gonna take them upstairs and put them to bed. Okay?”
“Thanks, Dawnie. Thanks for everything.” Buffy hugged her sister. Dawn smiled, quickly hugged Xander, and then headed into the house.
Xander held Buffy out at arm’s length to look at her, much like a father would look at his daughter right before her first prom.
“I can’t believe you came. You’re really…you’re really here.”
“Where else would I be? Besides, I needed a break from the bot, and from the screaming teenage girls who don’t quite know how to control their slayer powers. Let me just say, that myth about synchronized…well, you know.” He shuddered. “It’s true, anyway. Imagine thirty girls, all demanding chocolate…it’s not pretty, Buffy. Luckily, your wedding fell on the exact week I needed to get out of there.” Buffy laughed.
“I’m glad I could help you out.”
“You look beautiful, Buffy. And are you sure you had twins?”
“I’m sure,” she laughed. “You’ll have to meet them later. I’d have introduced you now, but, as you could see, they were sleeping.”
“They look just like you.”
“Nah,” Buffy replied. “They look like Spike.”
“Guess it’s still too early to tell, huh? Plus, you know, I’m only judging based on one eye.” He pointed toward his patch. Buffy hugged him again.
“Thanks for coming. I know it probably wasn’t easy.”
“Not really. But hey, you weren’t exactly Anya’s biggest fan, and you were there. Stayed the whole day. I owed you one.”
“That’s not the only reason you came, is it?” Xander shook his head, looking down.
“Of course not. I missed you, Buff. I miss hanging out. With everything so crazy, and all of us being scattered all over the place, it’s nice to get together again.”
“Yeah. It is.”
“So you’re a married woman now. A wife.”
“By day. Still beating the crap out of demons at night.”
“What do you say…tonight, you, me, Wil…we go patrolling just like old times.”
“Xander, it’s my wedding night.”
“Right.”
“Spike’ll come too.”
“You sure have strange ideas about romance, Buff,” Xander said with a goofy smile. Buffy laughed and nodded her head, glancing over at Spike.
“He might not be a vampire anymore, but he still likes a good night of patrolling. I’ll see if Dawnie minds babysitting, and…” A scream came from inside the house, and everyone turned toward the sound. “Dawn!”
Spike came running from the back of the yard, and he and Buffy were the first ones through the door. Rushing up the stairs, their worst fears played through their thoughts, until they found Dawn lying unconscious in the middle of the floor with an empty stroller. That was the moment their worst fears became real.
[Reviews - 93]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 2989 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +