“Love withers with predictability; its very essence is surprise and amazement. To make love a prisoner of the mundane is to take its passion and lose it forever.”
~ Leo F. Buscaglia
The week flew by. They went to see Rent on Broadway on Tuesday and everyone had a great time. Dawn bought the soundtrack and had been blaring it throughout the house.
On Wednesday, the baby furniture arrived and the day was spent arranging furniture, playing in the garden and having a water fight. Spike had made lasagna for dinner with Buffy’s help and ice cream was for dessert while they watched a few movies.
Thursday came and the big day of the party had come. Giles had flown in as a surprise and brought an even bigger surprise. He had brought a new girlfriend with him. They had spent the day with Willow and Oz. Anya and Xander returned but spent the day back at the hotel they got married in doing who knows what. Spike had given money to Connor to take Dawn out to see a movie at the movie theater to give Buffy and him time to decorate for the party.
While Dawn was out with Connor, the gang came over and Anya blew up balloons while Xander climbed around putting them where she requested. Willow and Oz hung up streamers around the living room and dinning room area and Spike baked a birthday cake while Buffy attempted to decorate it. Giles wrapped the gifts that were not yet wrapped with Sarah and set up the table for eating. The two hours they were gone was definitely put to good use and the house looked splendid.
Connor had been told to page Spike using his new cell phone. When Spike had gotten him and Buffy a cell phone and removed Buffy from Faith’s plan, he had added Dawn and Connor onto the plan as well. Spike heard the page and yelled to everyone, “Places! It’s time.”
Buffy laughed with a slight shake of her head, “The Pizza guy left just in time!”
Buffy and Spike hide behind the one couch along with Willow and Oz. Giles climbed behind the love seat with Anya and Xander and waited until they heard the door open. They waited a few more seconds more and then the lights were thrown on and everyone jumped out yelling “Surprise!”
Dawn laughed as she danced around the room happily admiring each and every decoration, “For me? But my birthday isn’t until next Wednesday.”
Spike grinned, “No one will be around next Wednesday so we decided to do it today!”
Dawn beamed a happy smile and gave hugs to everyone in the room including Spike and Buffy. She seemed so excited she even turned around and gave Connor a big hug. Dawn asked with a grin on her face, “Is that pizza I smell?”
She bounced into the kitchen to find five big pizzas on the counter. She grinned and grabbed a plate and filled it up with a piece of pepperoni, cheese, and a loaded, “Pizza is served guys!”
She went into the dining room and took a seat and started to dig in. The others quickly filled their plates and joined Dawn who was happily talking away to anyone who would listen.
Buffy smiled watching her sister so happy. She was thankful that they had gotten to this point in their lives. She glanced over at Connor who was busy watching Dawn with these amazing eyes that looked so hooked. She giggled knowing Dawn had found someone really dedicated to her. She nibbled on her pizza as she placed a hand on her stomach and felt Spike do the same. She gave a look towards Oz and Willow who were sitting side-by-side eating off each other’s plates. She eyed Xander and Anya who were sharing stories about their honeymoon and how happy they were. She stole a look in Giles’ direction who was holding hands with Sarah under the table and let out a gentle sigh. She lifted her eyes to admire Spike who was looking at her with the same eyes only more powerful with love. She smiled at him and made a decision. She knew he was meant for her and she wanted to give him something back for everything he had given to him.
Dawn loved her gifts. She put on Connor’s necklace right away and smiled at the pictures inside of it. She loved the new books that Giles had given her and Sarah had given her some new bookmarks. Dawn always needed them so it was a great gift. Willow gave Dawn a magical trinket that would protect Dawn’s blood. It was a temporary solution until she could talk to the Coven. Oz gave Dawn some CDs of his band as well as autographs and some candid photos that were one of a kind.
She was excited. Anya gave her little bells from every country they visited and Xander gave her a homemade wooden desk for her apartment. The desk she had now was broken and he had noticed that when they visited her. He had spent some time on their honeymoon working on it. Anya didn’t mind so much because she had declared that watching Xander working on something that caused his muscles to move was a huge turn on and made for ‘sex with many orgasms.’
The night was a total success. Dawn ate tons of cake and ice cream and bounced off the walls during the movies that had been chosen. She talked nonstop after the movies until she finally curled up next to Connor on the couch and fell asleep. Connor carried her up the stairs thankful for his extra strength and put her to bed. Buffy was so glad the party had made her so happy.
She grinned at Spike tossing her head her towards the back door, “Can we take a walk because I want to talk to you about something?”
Spike nodded and they walked hand-in-hand until they reached a cemetery. They each sat on a tombstone and Buffy kicked her feet wondering how to tell him what she had decided earlier in the night. Finally she looked up at him and asked hesitantly, “Have you ever mated with anyone?”
Spike was in shock and his head jerked up and he looked at her with one head cocked to the side as he demanded, “What the hell kind of bloody sick question is that Buffy? You don’t just throw that kind of question out into the wind with no explanation. What do you mean have I ever mated with anyone? I’m here with you. Mating for a vampire is forever and there’s no way to break it.” He stood up and kicked the tombstone hard, “So to answer your bloody stupid question, No I have never mated with anyone.”
Buffy was determined to get the answers she desired, “Have you ever thought about it?”
Spike frowned and glanced around dying to do some damage to something but the cemetery appeared to be deserted tonight so he sighed and threw a punch into the empty air, “Yeah, I’ve thought about. I thought about it really hard with Dru for 50 years. I even tried once and was flat out rejected. I’m glad now but then I wasn’t. I got the shit beat out of me for it by Angel. I figured once Angel was out of the picture she would accept but she never did. So I stopped thinking about it. Have I ever thought about it besides with Dru? Yes. I’ve thought about it with you off and on but I respect you enough to never do anything like that with you without you asking.”
He dropped down to his knees in front of her taking her hands to ensure she was listening to him, “It’s forever. There is nothing powerful enough to destroy it other than death. Since we are immortal, that kind of puts a damper to my idea of, ‘let’s do it and you can always dust me if you decide you don’t want me anymore’ because we can’t die.” He sighed studying her face for her feelings.
She looked at Spike and spoke gently as her heart was full of emotion, “I think I want to be claimed by you.”
Spike stood up brushing her off as he turned around to face the empty cemetery upset by how she wasn’t taking this seriously, “This isn’t a thinking thing. What part of ‘it’s forever’ did you not understand? It’s permanent. Nothing can break it. From what little I was able to learn from reading, if you even try to get in a relationship with someone else, it will rip your insides apart and probably kill you eventually. This isn’t a game or a whim or a let’s try it and see if it works. This is serious Buffy.”
He dropped down on his knees again and looked up at her face, “Do you really want to look at my face everyday for the rest of your life and only make love to me forever. Do you really wish to spend the rest of your days until God knows when with me? I’m nothing special. I’ll take care of you but I’m just a vampire. I’m not even human. Do you want to live the rest of your days out with a monster?”
Buffy punched him in the nose angry, “You are not a monster damn it. You are the one I love and I’ll punch you again if you say you’re a monster. I’m tired of watching you beat yourself up. If you want to be beat up, I’ll beat you up. If Angel were still alive I’d say I’d send you to him because he seems to do a great job of beating you up. Spike you’re a good man. Sure you’re a vampire but as you said, ‘I need a little demon in my man.’ I think you were right about that and I know you’re just what I want. I’m not sure how it works but I want it. I want to share every part of myself with you and you every part with me. Does it hurt? Is it just a normal bite? How come when you bit me we weren’t claimed? Do humans notice it too or is it just demons and how can they tell?”