Chapter Seven 

Buffy had been a Slayer, since she was called at fifteen, and she didn’t know how to do anything else.  She had gotten married, got out a mortgage. Having a child was the next logical step.  It took her a while to warm up to the idea of having children.  She always figured she would someday.  It was when she started walking over the local playground to look at the children playing, she finally faced up to the fact she was broody.  Spike had always been good with kids unlike her and she knew he would be delighted.  He never pressed the issue, but every once in a while brought up the subject.  Spike had changed a lot in recent years.  He had mellowed a lot and she wasn’t sure whether it was the fact he was human or that he was truly content.  She figured it was probably the latter, as she had softened over the years too.  With that in mind, she resolved to head home and break the good news to him.  She called his name as she walked in the door but there was no response.  For a moment she thought he had gone out until she spotted his leather jacket tossed on the sofa.  She really wished he wasn’t such a slob.  Becoming human hadn’t taught him to put towels in the laundry basket or put his clothes away nice and tidy.  She rolled her eyes and picked up his coat and hung it on the coat rack where it belonged.  She wondered where he was hiding out.  She went out back and found him in the garage, puffing a sneaky cigarette.  He instinctively made to hide it.

“Hi, love,” he said, the cigarette behind his back.

“For goodness sake,” Buffy said, exasperated.  “I know you’ve been smoking again.  The smell’s giving you away.”

Spike relaxed with a sheepish grin.  “A bloke’s gotta have a vice.”

She sighed, leaning against the wall.  “I wish you had a vice that didn’t end in premature death.”

His lips quirked into a grin.  “I’ve always lived dangerously, baby.”

She punched him hard in the chest.  Spike’s big mouth was another thing that hadn’t changed.  Sometimes, she thought it would be better if he couldn’t talk, but she had to admit she would miss his innuendo and the things that man could do with his tongue.

“I’ve got some great news,” Spike said.

Buffy raised a brow.  “Me too and I’m betting mine is going to better than yours.”

Spike motioned for her to follow him into the back. 

“Is this some blatant attempt to seduce me?” she asked.  “Cos I got to say it’s not working.   I think I prefer our bed to getting splinters in private places and besides no kissy face till you brush your teeth, ashtray breath.”

With a sigh, she followed him into the jumbled mess that was the shed.

“Must be losing my touch, eh?  Maybe this will help.”  Spike revealed a decrepit looking motorcycle.

She gave the piece of junk a disparaging glance.  “A motorcycle, really?”

He didn’t seem to notice her lack of enthusiasm.  “Yeah – she’s beautiful, isn’t she?”  He ran his hand up and down the machine.  He continued, “I going to fix her up good, add a lick of paint and she’ll be as good as new.”

Buffy shook her head.  “Is this a mid-life crisis?”

Spike started at the remark.  “Oi!  I’m not middle aged.”

“Explain to me then why you think you can fix that pile of crap.”

“’Cos I’m good with my hands,” Spike retorted.  “And you should know.”

He grabbed her by ass and pulled her towards him, before leaning in for a kiss.  Despite her earlier vow not to kiss him, she reciprocated.

“Now, what were you saying?” he asked in a husky whisper as he pulled away.

“I was saying you’re insane and there’s no way you can fix that up,” she answered with a smirk.

“I’ll prove you wrong, love,” he said.  “Now, tell me your big news?”

Buffy smiled, “How would you feel about trying for a baby?”

Spike did a perfect imitation of a fish.  “You want to have a little nipper running around?”

“I think it would be kinda nice to have a little mini us.”

Spike was looking at her in a mixture of awe and love.  “Wow,” he managed to say.

Buffy put her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest.  “What were you like as a kid?”

Spike sniggered.  “A Mama’s boy, trailed after her all day.  How about you?  A right handful, I bet.”

“You got that right.”  Buffy laughed.  “And I bet any kid with our blood running through its veins would be the exact same.”

“Imagine us looking after a little person,” Spike said.

“It seems right somehow.”

Spike may not be perfect and neither was she.  Still, she knew he was one she wanted to have children with.  They would probably make a lot of mistakes, but there was no one else she would rather have at her side in this new adventure.

Her eyes twinkled mischievously.  “So, did my surprise beat yours?”

“Hands down, love.”

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

It was a lot harder to get pregnant than Buffy and Spike imagined it would be.  There were months of failed attempts and very unromantic sex.  Buffy was wary when she realised her period was late.  She didn’t want to get their hopes up but at the same time she had a feeling that this time it had worked.  She broke the news to Spike and they went out and bought a pregnancy test.  They were sitting in the living room trying to work the courage up to do the test.   She picked up the pregnancy test and took a deep breath. 

“Go on, love,” Spike encouraged her.  “Do what you have to.  I’ll be right here.”

She went into the bathroom and peed on the stick.  She put down the test in the sink and walked out of the room to wait the couple of minutes for the answer.  Spike was pacing the room outside and she looked at him nervously. 

“So are we having a rugrat?” he asked when she walked in.

“I don’t know, yet,” she replied.  “It takes a couple of minutes to show.”

When Buffy couldn’t bear it any longer and took him by the hand as they walked into the bathroom.   She peered into the sink and at the test.

She gasped when she saw the positive sign.

“There’s a plus sign on that.  Does that mean we’re going to be parents?”

“Yes,” Buffy said. 

******************** 

Buffy was both excited and terrified at the thought of the pregnancy.  The both of them had been given something they never thought they would ever get to have and they were determined to be the best parents they could be.  They read all the books they could find but none of it could have really prepared them for the reality.  The labour pains came on her quite unexpectedly when she was doing some light housework.  She gritted her teeth against the pain and called for her husband, who came running.

“The baby’s coming,” she said.  “Make sure we have everything ready to go.  We have plenty of time before we have to be at the hospital.”

Buffy surprised herself at being so calm.  It was just as well considering Spike was running around like a headless chicken.

“Are you okay?” he asked her. 

“No – Spike I’m getting reading to push a baby out of my vagina,” she responded sarcastically.   Maybe she wasn’t so calm after all?  Oh God!  The baby was coming. 

Buffy looked at Spike, who was looking a little green.  He had no right to be squeamish about this when he had been blood sucking fiend for a century.  You would think childbirth wouldn’t faze him.

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

Several hours later, their baby came into the world.  Despite his initial fear Spike had proven himself equal to task of birthing partner in the end.  Buffy suspected he had partaken of some Dutch courage possibly from Dawn’s magic handbag that had also provided Buffy with some much needed chocolate.  She had been afraid she might break Spike’s hand at one point, but he put his hand on hers and squeezed it instead.  Buffy lay on the table exhausted but relieved to hear the hearty cry as the nurses bustled around the baby. 

“Is it a boy or girl?” she whispered at Spike, who was craning his neck.

The nurse pressed the baby into his arms.  “Congratulations you have a son.”

Spike was trembling slightly as he took his first look at his little son. 

Tears of joy ran down his face and looked at awe at his wife.  “Look what we made.  He’s beautiful.  You’re amazing, love.”

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

A sleeping Buffy awoke to hear Spike and Dawn talking at her bedside in hushed tones.  “I’d do anything Buffy asked me to do right now,” Spike said.

Dawn was the first to notice her open eyes.  “Buffy, you know if you asked Spike for that threesome with Angel, I reckon he would say yes.”

Buffy grinned and Spike snorted.

“You better not ask me that?” he sneered.

Buffy let out a laugh. “How’s the baby?”

“Sleeping like – well- a baby,” Dawn replied.

Spike shook his head in amusement.  “I’m surrounded by idiotic bints.”  He peered inside the crib and gazed fondly down at his son.  “Welcome to the mad house, lad.”

Buffy sat up in the bed and gazed over at her little family. 

Dawn coughed suddenly.  “I’m going to get back to Xander.  We’ll pop by tomorrow during visiting hours.”

Buffy knew Dawn was trying to give them some privacy and she appreciated the gesture.  Her sister kissed all three of them on the cheek and left them alone.

“So Mommy,” Spike said playfully.  “How about a name for our little tyke?”

Buffy smiled. “We settled on Thomas for a boy.  You still ok with that?”

He nodded.  “Yeah.  I like that.  Our Tommy.”

“Thomas, not Tommy,” she corrected him. 

“You’ll be calling him Tommy too, mark my words.”

She bit her lip.  “I was thinking Thomas Alexander Pratt.”

He looked at her incredulously.  “Alexander after Harris?”

“He’s been a good friend to me,” she said defensively.

To her shock he just shrugged.  “Alright.  Little Tommy Alexander Pratt.”

Dawn had been right about him agreeing to anything right now.  The Big Bad was the Big Softie.  She didn’t say anything, glad not having to fight her corner to get her way.  Thomas left out a little cry from the crib and Spike picked him quickly and put him into her arms.  Buffy looked down at his tiny face and marvelled at his existence.  Never in a million years would she ever have imagined their life would come to this.  They created this little person and brought him into the world.  She knew their life was going to alter significantly once more.  This tiny baby needed them. 

 “Let’s make a promise,” Buffy said.  “This baby needs to come first before anyone else and no matter what.  If one of us is out on a dangerous mission then the other has to stay at home.”

Spike nodded his head.  She budged up on the small bed and made room for him sit next to her.  She leaned against him and he brought his arm around her.