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Chapter 24 - Everything


Spike felt the ground shift under his feet as he fought to stay upright.
“Buffy’s unconscious?”

Lindsey nodded. “We were closing her up, and her blood pressure skyrocketed.
We did everything we could to keep her pressure stabilized and try and keep
her awake, but…”

Spike gasped for air as his father kept a firm hold on his arm. “Will she
be okay?”

When Lindsey didn’t answer right away, Spike would have felt the intense
satisfaction of throwing a punch at him.

“She’s not in critical condition,” Lindsey said. “But the sooner she wakes
up, the better.”

“Can I see her?”

“We’re getting her moved to a private room. Once she’s situated, you’ll be
allowed to stay.” Spike nodded as Lindsey continued, “Right now, you should
go spend some time with those babies of yours.”

Spike took a deep breath as he trudged back to the nursery. Giles filled in
everyone else as Spike went to go see his children. Speaking briefly with
the nurse, he wheeled the two small bassinets that his son and daughter
were sleeping in, out into the hallway.

Giles smiled as he picked up his granddaughter. “What’s her name?”

“Lauren,” Spike replied. “Buffy decided to forego any family names and…”

Spike trailed off as he got choked up at the thought of Buffy lying in a
cold room, unable to open her eyes.

“What about him?” Willow asked as she and Anya leaned over the other
bassinet to get a closer look at the little boy.

“Brandon.”

“So no matching names?” Xander asked with a smile.

“Yeah,” Willow said with a smile. “Lauren and Laurence have a nice ring.”

“Or Brandon and Brandi,” Oz spoke up.

Their playful tones brought a smile to Spike’s face. “That was another of
Buffy’s stipulations-no matching or rhyming names.”

The group smiled when Dr. McDonald approached them again. “Spike? You can
take the babies in to see her when you’re ready.”

“She’s awake?” Spike asked with hope in his voice.

Lindsey shook his head. “No, but it’ll be good for her to have the twins
around her. I think sometimes mothers can sense when their babies are
close by, and it comforts them.”

Spike nodded as he wheeled little Brandon after Lindsey, Giles and the gang
following with Lauren. Walking into Buffy’s room, Spike paused as he looked
at her. Lying on the bed with formerly golden skin, now as white as the bed
sheet she was laying on, and dark circles shaded the skin under her closed eyes. She looked peaceful, if not entirely comfortable.

Spike vaguely noticed Giles wheeling Lauren into the room and shutting the
door behind him to give the new family some privacy. Spike slowly
approached the bed, sitting in the chair closest to Buffy, as he lightly took
a hand to trail over her cheek.

“Hey, baby,” he whispered. “You need to wake up. We’ve got two beautiful
babies in here who are waiting to meet their mother.”

Spike broke off as tears sprung to his eyes. He gently took her limp hand in
his, rubbing the pad of his thumb over her skin as he stared at her. “Come
on, Buffy. You told me you’d see me in a few minutes, and I know you don’t
want to break the promise. Open your eyes, luv. Open your eyes, look at
me…look at the twins.”

Spike rested his head on top of her hand as he let his tears fall.

* * * * *

A few hours later, Spike was still sitting at Buffy’s bedside. A nurse had
come to collect the babies a while ago to let them have a bottle, and his
father and friends had left a short time ago.

Spike heard the door open, but didn’t turn around, figuring it was another
doctor or nurse.

“How is she?”

Spike turned, hearing the quiet question uttered from the doorway. He was
surprised when he encountered Angel standing there. He took a deep breath
before replying, “She’s strong. She’ll be fine.”

Angel slowly crossed the room to sit in the chair on the other side of the
bed. “And you?” he asked upon seeing Spike’s bloodshot eyes.

Spike looked down at the hand he was holding as he bit his lip. “I’ll be
okay when she wakes up.”

Angel nodded, looking at the young woman on the bed. “Have you eaten
anything today?”

Spike slowly shook his head.

“Go,” Angel said quietly, motioning toward the door. “I’ll sit with her.”

Spike vehemently shook his head. “I can’t…what if she wakes up?”

“Spike, you’re not going to be any good to her if you’re too weak to stand.
You’ll be gone twenty minutes. Go get something to eat, see your babies,
just take a break for a while.”

Spike looked up and saw the genuine concern on Angel’s face. Contemplating
his decision for a minute, Spike nodded. “Okay…I’ll be back soon.”

Angel watched as the other man leaned forward to leave a tender kiss on
Buffy’s forehead before turning and walking out the door.

* * * * *

Fifteen minutes later, Spike re-entered the room, wheeling one of the
bassinets with his daughter snuggled in her blanket, fast asleep. He looked
at the bed and sighed, wishing desperately that Buffy would wake up.

“No change, then?” he asked Angel.

“No,” Angel replied solemnly as he walked over to look at the beautiful
little girl. “She already has you wrapped around her little finger, doesn’t
she?” he asked Spike with a smile.

“The second I saw her.”

“I guess she’ll be a daddy’s girl.”

“Just as sure as Brandon will have Buffy trained,” Spike said with a smile.

“She’s beautiful,” Angel said, looking at the baby girl.

“She looks like her mommy,” Spike replied.

* * * * *

Spike tried to get some sleep a few hours later, resting uncomfortably in
the hard recliner that was in the hospital room. Hearing a noise, he opened
his eyes and was off the chair in a split second as he saw Buffy’s hand
move.

“Buffy?” he asked quietly. “Buffy!”

Spike watched as her eyelids quivered before slowly opening a sliver.

“Buffy, open your eyes. Look at me, baby.” Spike was aware of the
desperate sound in his voice but didn’t care as he watched her struggle to
wake up. “Come on, luv. Show me those beautiful emerald eyes of yours.”

Spike felt as if he would collapse from the stress of the day as he stared
at Buffy, watching as she slowly opened her eyes.

“Spike,” she whispered in a throaty voice. “What’s going on?”

“Everything’s fine, luv.”

“The babies?”

“They’re fine, too. I’ll have someone bring them in whenever you’re
feeling better.”

“I want to see them, Spike,” Buffy said as she tried to sit up, only to hiss
in pain as an excruciating flood of throbbing soreness began in her lower belly and
seemed to explode through her body.

“Easy, baby,” Spike said in a soothing tone as he helped Buffy lie back
down. “You had a C-section, do you remember?”

Buffy seemed to think for a minute before nodding.

“Okay, you’ll need to move around a bit, and it’ll be sore. But right now, I
don’t want you to do anything until a nurse sees you,” Spike said as he
pushed the call button.

Buffy nodded again as she tried to relax her muscles. Lifting up the
blankets and moving the hospital gown aside, Buffy saw less than a dozen
staples holding her stomach together.

“They stapled me?” Buffy asked with as much indignation as she could muster.

Spike chuckled. “Well, pet, I haven’t inspected it myself, but from what I
hear, they work better than stitches for this kind of procedure.”

“You haven’t been hitting on the nurses, have you?” Buffy asked, hiding a
grin and raising her eyebrow.

“You know it, baby,” Spike said with a chuckle.

They both turned as the door opened, and in walked a nurse who was easily
seventy years old. Buffy looked at Spike, raising both eyebrows in question as he
violently shook his head. She had to suppress a laugh as the nurse came to
check her over, asking her all kinds of questions and taking her
temperature.

Spike slipped out of the room during the procedure, making his way down to
the nursery and asking a nurse to help him take the twins to the room.

Buffy gasped as he wheeled baby Brandon through the door, eagerly stretching
out her arms to hold him. Spike gingerly placed the baby in her arms as the
nurse walked through the door with Lauren.

Spike watched as Buffy’s eyes filled with tears as he picked up the baby
girl and sat on the edge of the bed, careful not to jostle Buffy, as she
gently touched their tiny noses. Buffy giggled when Brandon opened his eyes
and gave his parents a huge yawn. Spike smiled and then looked up to meet
Buffy’s eyes, his smile turned softer. Leaning forward, he met her lips in
a tender kiss, slowly deepening it as her eyelids fluttered shut. Pulling
away after a moment, Spike gently leaned his forehead against hers.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“For what?”

“Everything.”





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