By Heather Martin

Spoilers- Set during and after Smashed. I borrowed a few lines from Wrecked as well. Has spoilers for everything up to that point. Goes AU after that

Summary- B/S T/W A/X Something goes funky with Spike and Buffy after their coupling in the abandoned house. Meanwhile, a demon and a mysterious girl come to Sunnydale from the future.

Chapter Fourteen- Impact

Spike froze, her words not registering in his head. “Repeat that, I don’t think I got it.”

“I’m pregnant,” Buffy repeated. Thinking he needed a little push, she added, “By you.”

“Th-That’s not possible,” he stammered.

“Oh, it is. Those swimmers are . . . well, they’re swimming,” she assured him.

Realization sunk in. His blue eyes widened. Not being able to stand any longer, he collapsed on the other side of the couch.

It couldn’t be. He wasn’t able to . . . The full impact of being human hit him like a bomb. His sudden change wasn’t just lack of freedom and obligations. He had a working body now, complete with functioning organs. ‘All’ organs. The implication of this hadn’t entered his brain when they had coupled. He imagined it hadn’t for Buffy either.

“When?” Spike got out.

“When what?” Buffy asked. “When did I find out? A couple days ago. When did we do this? A little over two months ago.”

“That was when . . .”

“That’s right. The abandoned building. When you became all humanized.”

They sat in silence, both unable to speak. Their thoughts swam, too much for them to sort out. It was Buffy who composed herself first.

“I’ve thought about this and I’ve come to a decision,” the slayer informed.

He shifted his gaze to land on hers. His expression was scared, uncertain as to what she would say.

She went on, unaware of his fears. “I’m willing to let you into my life. I’ve been without a father and I know how awful it is. I don’t want our daughter to go through that.”

“D-Daughter?” Spike choked.

Buffy almost smiled, but not quite. “Yeah. Alexis told me that we are gonna have a little girl.”

Spike fought to control himself. His eyes wanted to spill tears of gratitude.

“So, I want you around.” Buffy took a deep breath. “But I can’t guarantee that things will ever change between us. I can’t tell you that I’ll ever love you. You understand that, right?”

Nodding, his heart squeezed. He had accepted this, but to hear her say it out loud was agonizing. To have her permission to take part in her life was more than he ever hoped for, though.

Buffy got to her feet. “Feel free to come by anytime. You’re welcome.” She headed to the door, but abruptly turned back. “Don’t tell anyone! They’re my friends and I’ll break the news.”’

Spike didn’t reply. He watched as she left, leaving him in conflict whether he wanted to smile like an idiot or cry like a heartbroken fool.

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

Buffy entered the magic shop. Anya was at the counter, setting a pricing gun. A box of merchandize was beside her. She let out a frustrated sound.

“Uh, something wrong?” Buffy questioned.

Anya looked up, startled. “Oh, Buffy, you’re here.”

It wasn’t like Anya not to notice someone entering the store. She was usually alert, awaiting her next customer.

“They sent me the wrong number of candle holders!” the ex-demon complained. “I wanted seven and they sent me only five.”

Buffy shrugged. “That’s the way it goes in the world of retail. Mistakes happen.”

The other woman put down the pricing gun. She turned her attention to Buffy. “Mistakes don’t always happen just in retail.”

The intense look Anya was giving Buffy made her want to shiver. It was as if she knew what mistake Buffy had made. But she couldn’t. There was no way.

Buffy cleared her throat. “Uh, Anya, have you seen Giles? Is he around?”

Anya’s eerie stare turned into Anya’s normal lively smile. “Oh yeah, Giles is back! Good thing too. I needed help lifting this heavy box. I would have asked Spike, but he had to have more time off frolicking with that new girlfriend of his.”

The term girlfriend filled Buffy with anger. It shouldn’t. Just because they were having a baby together didn’t mean he couldn’t have a real relationship with someone else. Still, for some reason she felt she couldn’t allow it. Maybe it was selfish, but she didn’t want their daughter growing up knowing her daddy was with another woman.

“Anya, Giles. Where is he?”

“Oh, right. He’s in the back. He took a few books with him, saying he didn’t want to scare customers away with demonic research. I don’t see why, he was never worried about that before.”

Buffy went into the training room. She found her ex-watcher on the sofa in the corner. A stack of books was near him on the floor. He didn’t lift his head as she came in, involved in the text he was reading.

She stepped in front of him. “What did you find?”

He jumped. “Oh, Buffy, hello.” He reached over and grabbed a notebook. “I managed to find a few references of pregnant slayers.”

“All right. Give me what you got,” Buffy said.

“Well, there were three. Two were able to make it through childbirth.”

“What happened to the third?” She had to know.

Giles shook his head. “Are you certain you want to know?”

“Yes,” she told him, firmly.

“She had a miscarriage, Buffy. She was out fighting and a vampire kicked her in the stomach. Her watcher documented it as a mixture of great loss and relief.”

The horrifying image that played in Buffy mind made her want to vomit. Her hand cupped her stomach protectively.

“The others?” Buffy asked.

Giles scanned his notes. “Their pregnancies were normal. There was nothing mystical or unnatural about them. The girls made it to term and had completely healthy children.”

Buffy sat down beside her mentor. Her hand remained on her stomach, green eyes misting.

“She’s going to be okay?” the slayer whispered.

Giles smiled. “Your baby’s going to be fine as long as you let us patrol for you.”

Six and a half months without fighting. She didn’t know if she could do it. Patrolling was how she let off steam.

A groan escaped Buffy. “This isn’t going to be easy.”

Giles’ smile widened. “You’ll make it through, I assure you.”

“I told him today.”

“Spike? How did that go?”

“I’m not sure,” Buffy confessed. “He was in shock.”

“A natural response for anyone. Especially an ex-vampire.”

“Speaking of ex-vampires, did you come across anything about his change?” Buffy inquired.

“Sorry, no. I found a few spells on bringing back the dead, but nothing about returning the undead to life. I will keep looking.”

“Thank you.”

Giles reached out and squeezed her hand. “I want you to know that I’m always here for you. And your child.”

Her lip quivered.

“I want to help you in any way I can.”

She threw herself at him, embracing him in a hard hug. “I love you, Giles. You know that, right?”

“Y-Yes, Buffy. I love you too. But if you could release me just a tad . . .” he choked, hardly able to breath.

She loosened her hold. “Oh, sorry, Giles.”

“No, quite all right.”

“You’re going to be the best grandpa ever,” Buffy declared.

“Gr. . . Did you say grandpa?”

Buffy simply grinned.

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Sorry it took me so long to get this out. I got a job and it takes up so much of my time. The only day I get off is Sunday. Hopefully I can still squeeze in some writing time.