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Dinner had gone rather well, with the conversation mostly concerning a beautiful set of twins. Eric felt the pull on his heartstrings, seeing pictures of his grandchildren for the first time. He would ask Giles tomorrow if he was carrying any pictures of Abigail.

It was wonderful seeing his son looking so happy and carefree, for the first time since that dreadful time thirteen months ago. His guilt over not taking better care of his boy had hurt more then he ever let anyone know. The time he spent with William, as the young man worked out his issues and rehabbed his hand, brought an understanding how special his boy really was.

Eric knew it was now or never as he approached William. Wesley had encouraged him that telling the young man tonight that he could be his father, would be for the best. It could possibly be what Will needed before facing what tomorrow might bring.

"Will, can I talk to you in private for a moment?" Eric asked, hoping he was not making a mistake.

William felt nervous all of a sudden, as he nodded yes. He followed his mentor thinking, what in the world, the music legend, wanted to talk to him about alone. Eric was the only one aware that two men shared a worried look.

Both men entered Eric's suite, feeling anxious and unsure of the other. One man prayed he didn't lose this young man after his confession. The other man hoped his mentor was not breaking his ties with him.

"Will, please have a seat." Eric said while waving the young man over to one of the chairs. "Please bear with me."

William felt his heart race as he asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

Eric felt a sudden jolt of anger, as he thought about the damage Ethan and Fred had done to this man. He quickly reassured him by saying, "No! You've done nothing wrong. In fact I'm very proud of what you've accomplished with your life."

William's face became flushed, embarrassed at the man's praise as he replied, "It's because of my family and friends, like you, believing in me."

Eric smiled as he decided to just come out and say what needed to be said. "William, I'm not sure how you will take this, but I can't keep it to myself any more. The moment I saw you I knew. You have your mother's eyes."

"You knew my mother?" Spike asked, totally surprised at what he was hearing.

"Yes, I knew her very well. But I let my life get out of control. The drugs, drinking, women, and the God complex people thrust upon me pushed me over the edge. I realize now I handled things poorly, but I got so caught up in the madness, I lost my perspective. I lost your mother, and maybe the chance to raise my firstborn."

William's eyes grew large as the explanation took hold, asking, "Are you saying you could be my father?"

"Yes, I could be your father, in fact I believe in my heart that you are my son."

"Would you want me to be your son?" William's voice soft and insecure.

"God! William! It would be a pleasure, a dream come true, if you indeed are my son." Eric said, with a look of intense longing on his face.

"So, you've thought about this, have you?' William asked, unable to keep the suspicious tone out of his voice.

"Yes, I had to get past my fear you wouldn't want anything to do with me. Blame me, like I blame myself, for not being there for you or your mother." Eric explained, hoping the young man would see the truth of what he was saying to him.

"Or were you waiting to see if I was good enough to be called your son?"

Eric moved quickly, taking William's face between his hands, tears in his eyes as he said, "You don't know how much I wanted to crawl into that hospital bed. Pull you in my arms, and take all the pain away. I almost fell again myself, but knowing I had to be strong for you stopped me."

"Why now?" William asked as he made no attempt to pull away. The touch was the only thing making him believe this was really happening.

"I vowed that I would do everything I could to help you. I made Liliah contact Wesley. I trust that man with my life. I stayed close, thinking it would be best to be your friend. Just recently, I felt strong enough to chance losing you by telling you the truth. Your possible rejection of me from your life scared the Hell out of me."

"Does anyone else know?"

"Just Wesley, Linda, and Giles confronted me about it today."

"How does Linda feel about this?" William asked, preparing for the rejection.

Eric chuckled as he replied, "You’re too skinny and she needs to fatten you up."

William laughed as he leaned his head against Eric's shoulder, his possible father. It lessened a bit of the darkness away from what Ethan had done, just a little. At least if it was true, and Eric was his father, it wasn't his actual father that violated him so.

Eric felt encouraged as he wrapped his arms around his son, pulling him closer to him. He didn't need any test to tell him what his heart already knew.

"Welcome home, son." Eric's voice raspy from the emotions he was trying to hold back.

William started to cry as he returned the hug and whispered, "Thanks, Eric. But don't you think we should find out first for sure."

"If you want too, we can. But I know what my heart tells me. My blood flows through your veins. You are my son. The greatest gift your mother could give me that was lost but now found." Eric reassured him, as his arms tightened around the special someone his Annie left him.

"Is this just our little secret or do we tell anyone?" William asked as he let his father pull him closer.

"We start by telling everyone you want to know. I have a tentative meeting set up this coming Tuesday, with Wolfram and Hart's New York office to discuss our options. I want to claim you as my son, if that is okay with you." Eric shared his plan as he felt William pull out of his embrace and step back.

"They will ask for testing to confirm, I’m sure of it." William said as he thought, of all what it would mean, and the things they might ask.

"William, they can test if they want the DNA, but that's all. I know in my heart you're mine. Even Giles sees the resemblance."

"What about my last name?" William asked, feeling the excitement grow the more he came to realize that the man standing before him was his father.

"Would you mind changing it to Stewart? Eric asked and then teased by saying, "And don't forget you get two younger brothers, and a very over protective step-mother in this all inclusive package."

"Will you tell me about your relationship with my mother?" William asked, wondering how different his mother would have been with Eric then with Ethan.

"Everything you would want to know."

"Can I call you Da?" Will asked, noticing the excited look come over his father's face.

"As long as I can call you son," Eric reassured him, "We are now family, and it looks like its grown leaps and bounds. You have given me grandchildren, and the Giles family will be considered family as well."

"God this is real, you really are going to accept me as your son."

"There is no accepting about it, you are. I can feel it here, to be true." Eric explained as he placed his right hand over his heart.

"I felt a something too; I just thought it was hero worship."

Eric chuckled and replied, "Well, don't most son's worship their father."

William laughed as he let it sink in, Eric, not Ethan was his father. The knowledge that his father had not molested him lifted a large weight off his chest. The realization that he would never be like the man that hurt him, made it easier for him to believe he would be a great father to his kids.

"God, I'm free of him. I feel he has no power to hurt me anymore, he's not my father." William said without thinking, forgetting this man didn't know about his abuse at the hands of Ethan Rayne. "Oh, Lord, that wasn't supposed to come out."

Eric quickly reassured him, "William, what he did was wrong and you didn't ask for or deserve it. He was a sick bastard and I'm so sorry I wasn't there to protect you."

"You know?"

"Remember, I said I was there and wanted to crawl in and hold you, to make all the monsters go away. I love you, faults and all, just like I hope you will come to love me, including all my faults." Eric said, as he cupped the side of his son's face gently with his hand. "You make me proud and I would be honored to call you my son." He would never stop telling this brave young man how proud he was of him.

"He threatened me right before the gig in LA. Told me he had pictures of us, he was going to put on the internet, if I didn't pay him ten thousand dollars a month." William sighed, "Maybe this would not be a good thing coming out about us being father and son. Might push the man over the edge and he will release them for all to see."

"Will, Ethan is dead. We weren't going to tell you until after tomorrow. He can no longer hurt you." Eric reassured him.

"He's dead? How long ago?"

"Six months ago, was found beaten in Vegas." Eric explained.

"Oh, God! What if someone has the pictures?"
"We would have heard something by now. I don't believe there were any pictures, and if there are, we'll deal with them then." Eric again reassured him, truly believing Ethan was lying about having any pictures. "I don't think Ethan would've been so stupid to have taken pictures of abusing a young boy. He wouldn't want that kind of evidence around."

William relaxed, realizing what Eric said made sense. He then looked at his father and asked, "Would you be with me tomorrow while I let Wesley hypnotize me?"

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I'm here for better or worse, my Son." Eric answered and was pleasantly shocked when William smiled and said, "Thanks, Da. It means a lot to me that you'll be there."

Eric put his arm around his son's shoulders and said, "I think someone is anxiously waiting to see if his boy is okay."

William felt warm all over; enjoying the contact, he always envied Angel and Giles their camaraderie. "Then I guess we had better let Giles know everything is okay."

"Yes, we should." Eric squeezed him closer before dropping his arm.


*******

Dinner at the Finn's was quiet and tense. Neither knew how to get back to their easy relationship, with all that had happened over the last couple of days. After dinner, they followed their same routine that they did every night. Feed, burp, bath, and put the twins to bed, hopefully for the night.

Buffy waited for when the best time would be for them to talk. She needed to let her husband know she needed some time to think. Not knowing how he was going to react to what she was going to ask of him, made her more nervous.

Riley realized now would be a good time to see if Buffy was ready to talk. They walked into the living room, after putting the babies to bed. He wanted so bad to know how the day with William went. She had offered up no information, and he hadn’t asked, until now.

"So how did it go today?" He asked, seeing how she smiled and looked up toward the twin's room.

"It went rather well, he's really good with them and they are good for him." Her reply so soft and wishful.

"Buffy, can we talk?" he asked, noticing her shoulders tense up and her back grow straighter.

"I guess it's time we did."

"Yeah, I do too."

"I guess we should make ourselves comfortable then." She offered as she took a seat on the loveseat.

Riley sat down on the couch across from her, "Buffy first I want to say I don't regret the time we've spent together."

Buffy smiled sadly as she also said, "Me neither, I don't think I would've made it without your support."

"What do you want, Buffy?"

"God, that is a question I've been asking myself for sometime now." Buffy sighed, "What I want to do now is take my time and think everything through. I don't want to make any more mistakes that could hurt the people I care about if I can help it. I see it now that we didn't really think it all out, and see where it landed us."

"I know, but I want you to know I will not hold you to your vows if you decide William is the one you want to be with. I know you care about me, and all I want is for you to be happy. If he is what makes you happy then you should do everything in your power to make it right between the two of you." Riley felt like his heart was breaking, but his soul felt freer for taking Graham's advice. He was offering her, her freedom.

"Riley, what about you?" Buffy asked, seeing the sincerity in his words and expression.

"I have to believe that my special someone is out there waiting for me. My world will not end, if you don't choose me. Yes my heart will have a few cracks, but nothing that will not heal with time." Riley reassured her, finding it easier to say this to her then he'd thought it would be.

He couldn't help but think that maybe Graham was right, could it be he did love Buffy, but was not in love with Buffy after all. Would it be this easy to let someone you're in love with go? He was sure it shouldn't be so easy, and it gave him hope. Hope that one day he'd find the one he was meant to be with.

"Riley, I do care about you, I really believe I love you, but more like a friend." Buffy explained, hoping he understood what she was about to ask. "I hope we can still be friends, you have come to mean a great deal to me, and I would hate to lose touch with you."

Riley felt happy she still wanted to be friends, as he replied, "I would be disappointed if you didn't want to keep in touch. I would be happy to be a part of the twin's lives if I could."

"You will always be special to me. I just think I need to take my time and see if being with William is what I want, or if I want to be on my own first and find out who Buffy Summers is and what she wants out of life." Buffy sighed, realizing she did need to find out who she was, before she could be an equal partner to William or anyone else.

"I will help you any way I can, you know that don't you?" He asked.

"Yeah, I know that, but right now all I need if for you to be my friend. We will learn how we can be friends as we go." Buffy smiled, feeling like she could breathe for the first time since William came back into her life.

"Sounds like a plan Summers, I will talk with Graham tomorrow and see what are best option would for us."

"Riley."

"Yeah."

"Thank you for being you."

Riley smiled, "You’re welcome, and thank you for letting me share the unforgettable experience of a lifetime, Ryan and Molly's birth will always be the best thing that ever happened to me."

"I hope you remain a part of our lives." Buffy sniffled; thinking one day a woman was going to be very lucky when she married this man.

"I will."

"So, how do we handle this?"

"Like friends would, support each other and keep in mind it's not the end of the world." Riley smiled, as he stood up to leave. "I'll move into the guest room for now. I will call Graham tomorrow and see if he can make time for us. I don't see the need for two lawyers do you?"

"No, I believe we can work it out together with Graham's help."

"I agree." He signed, "Goodnight, Buffy. Sleep well."

"You too, Riley, and I will see you in the morning." Buffy replied as she watched him leave the room.

She sat down and realized she and William had a long ways to go before being together, together. So much they needed to work out, so much she needed to work out. There were still major mother and drug issues she needed finally deal with. She knew she'd forgiven William, but could she forget what happened and accept him back in her life so deeply again.

"Yes, I can. I love him and he loves me. Together we can make a difference in our lives for the better." She said as she laid down on the couch and relived her day with the man she loved more then ever, and who gave her the most perfect gifts in the world.





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