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Chapter 21 – Christmas Surprises


Christmas finally arrived and, miraculously, Buffy and Spike passed their
English project.

Buffy hadn’t heard anything from her father, and she didn’t know whether to
be worried or relieved. She had taken an after school job at the Sun Cinema
to save some money for Christmas presents. The previous night, she and
Spike went to visit Gunn and Fred, who were now dating, and Buffy could not have
been happier for them. They were her family when she had no one, and she was
relieved that they finally realized how much they needed each other. Much
like her and Spike.

Spike had stayed true to his word, and although they did spend every night
together, they hadn’t made love in weeks. Some nights were harder than
others, but slowing down had done wonders for their relationship, bringing
them closer together.

It was now Christmas Eve, and all four members of the household were living
the cliché- watching “It’s a Wonderful Life”.

Everyone looked up as a loud knock sounded on the door.

“Who could that be?” Giles asked, almost to himself, as he got up to answer
it.

No one could see the front door from their positions in the living room, but
everyone froze when they heard Giles speak. “Hello, Officer, how can I help
you?”

“Sorry, to bother you, Sir, but is Buffy Summers living here?”

Spike’s arms tightened around Buffy’s waist as she sat up a little bit
straighter.

“Buffy,” Giles said from the entranceway. “Could you come here for a
moment?”

Spike and Jenny followed closely behind, both worried about the young girl.

Buffy stepped forward, shaking the officer’s hand before wrapping her arms
around her body.

“Miss Summers, my name is Robin Wood, I’m with the Sunnydale PD. Could I
speak to you in private?”

“It’s okay, Officer,” Buffy said with a nod. “These people are my family,
you can talk to me in front of them.”

She felt Spike’s hand reach for hers and give it a light squeeze.

“Alright then,” Officer Wood continued. “I’m sorry to bother you on
Christmas Eve, but it’s about your father.”

Buffy’s body tensed as she waited.

“He’s been arrested.”

Buffy felt her shoulders sag. She wasn’t sure what her feelings were as she
stared at the floor. A part of her had been scared that her only living
relative was gone. Another part felt that Hank was going to use the police
to get her to come back to the mansion without too much of a fight. Hearing
he was arrested was almost a relief.

“Why?” Buffy asked softly, raising her eyes to the policeman’s.

“Numerous charges,” Officer Wood replied. “Tax evasion, fraud…statutory
rape.”

Buffy’s eyes widened as her mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?”

“Your father was in a relationship with a seventeen year old. He claims he
didn’t know her true age, but her parents found out and are now pressing
charges. We’ve been watching him for a while, and when her parents came
forth, we decided it was time to bring up the charges we already had.”

Buffy concentrated on her breathing as the man began to back to the door.
“I’m sorry, again. But since you’re his daughter, we thought you should know.
Normally, we’d send someone from social services since you’re a minor, but these are…unique
circumstances. Your father said you’ve been staying with friends for a few
months.”

“Buffy’s more than welcome to stay here indefinitely,” Giles spoke up,
deciding to not offer the information that this was already the arrangement.

“I’m almost eighteen,” Buffy said with a hopeful expression. “I’ll be
willing to talk to someone, but they won’t…try and take me away, will they?”

“No,” Wood said with a friendly smile. “You obviously have friends who care
about you a great deal and want to take care of you, so as long as you’re in
a safe place, they’ll probably just do a routine interview.”

“Thank you, Officer,” Jenny said as she and Giles walked him to the door.

“Merry Christmas,” he said with a smile.

“Merry Christmas to you, as well,” Giles replied.

Buffy stood still as Spike gently tugged on her hand. “Do you want to go
get some sleep, luv?” he asked quietly.

Buffy nodded, saying goodnight to Jenny and Giles before slowly walking up
the stairs. Spike followed closely behind her, keeping their hands locked
together as she led him to his room, not even questioning where she was
going anymore.

“Are you going to be okay?” Spike asked, closing the door behind them
before turning to face Buffy as she sat down on the bed.

“I’ll be fine,” Buffy said in a soft voice. “For a second, I…I thought…”

“That something bad had happened?”

Buffy nodded, looking at the floor as Spike moved to sit next to her. “Did
it remind you of your mom?” he asked quietly, watching as Buffy’s eyes
snapped up to his.

“What do you mean?” Buffy asked nervously.

“Well…a cop shows up at your door…I’m just assuming that’s how it happened. Am I wrong?”

“Yeah,” Buffy said softly. “It didn’t exactly happen that way.”

“Do you want to tell me?” he asked quietly.

Buffy took a deep breath, tears shimmering in her eyes. “I was driving,”
she said in a barely audible whisper.

Spike stayed quiet, tilting his head to watch her as she continued. “Mom,
she…she had a headache and wanted me to drive. I never...”

Buffy trailed off with a sob as Spike wrapped his arms around her.

“I never saw the other car,” she said in a choked voice.

“Buffy, it wasn’t your fault,” Spike whispered.

“How do you know that?” Buffy asked, pulling away to look into Spike’s eyes.

“Was it?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Buffy closed her eyes as she shook her head. “It was a drunk driver, but
if…if I had only done something better. If I had just gone around that
curve ten seconds earlier…she would still be here.”

Spike felt the different emotions coursing through him and chose his next
words carefully.

“Buffy…I hate that you had to go through that…that you’re still having to go
through it. But you got one good thing out of it.”

Buffy looked at him as he gave her a lazy smile. “What’s that?”

“Me,” he said, his smile broadening.

Buffy felt her own smile escape as Spike reached over to wipe her tears away.
Still smiling, she looked into his cobalt eyes and felt herself falling even
more in love with him. “Thank you,” she whispered.

* * * * *

Spike pressed his lips to Buffy’s, swallowing her scream as he thrust into
her, letting her muscles contract around him as he fell over the edge with
her.

The two had been talking for hours before Buffy had moved to straddle his
lap, not giving him a chance to protest before he’d been inside of her.

Spike gasped for air as he rolled away, pulling Buffy with him. “I thought
we were going to wait,” he said breathlessly.

“Yeah,” Buffy said, trying to catch her own breath. “It was just too much
tonight. I just had to have you…sorry.”

Holding her close as she ran her hand over his chest, Spike let his own hand
trail along her arm. “Don’t ever apologize after you do that,” Spike said
with a smile, kissing the top of her head. “Feel free to pounce on me any
time you want.”



A/N Only the epilogue, so please read it tomorrow! Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, I am so grateful for each one!





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