Emma was crying, and Spike couldn't stand it. He had faced a lot of horrible things in his life, he had fight demons, a Hellgod. He had also done a lot of them, raising havoc for a hundred years all over the world.

But hearing his little Midget crying, that was too much too ask. A single tear from the little girl was generally turning the once feared Big Bad Vampire into a pile of mush.

"What's going on?" he asked, entering Buffy's previous room and casting a rapid glance at the scene.

His whole little family was there. Buffy was holding baby Tommy in her arms, obviously she was busy changing him. She had an annoyed face.

Emma was standing in front of her, sobbing like she had to wear all the misery of the world on her little shoulders.

Spike cast an interrogative look at Buffy who answered with a 'I don't know what to do anymore' one.

He kneeled down in front of Emma. "Why are you crying, Midget?"

"Mommy." sob "Doesn't love me." sob "Anymore!" More sobs. "She only loves the new baby!"

And to that another rush of tears appeared on her pink, smooth cheeks.

"Honey, you know it isn't true," Buffy said with a pleading look towards Spike. "I love you very very much. As much as Daddy and Tommy."

Still holding the baby, she tried to reach for Emma but the little girl took refuge in Spike's arms. He lifted her and held her tightly. She was drenching his shirt with her sobs, but he didn't care. If his precious girl needed comfort, he would be there for her.

"I'll take care of it," he said calmly to Buffy, before leaning towards her and giving her a tender kiss on her lips, as well as one on Tommy's forehead.

He took Emma downstairs, sat in the couch and installed the little girl comfortably in his lap.

Since she was securely locked in her father's arms, Emma's sobs started to slow down and turned into little hiccups and sniffs. Spike reached out for a Kleenex and wiped out her face tenderly.

"Now, Midget, what makes you think mommy doesn't love you anymore?"

"She didn't want to play with me," Emma answered, taking he Kleenex and starting to shred it into little pieces. "She said she had to take care of Tommy and she didn't have time."

Spike pulled a strand of hair that was still stuck to her face.

"Sweetheart, you know that Tommy is still a baby. He's not all grown-up like you. So Mommy has to take care of him all the time. That doesn't mean she doesn't love you. Mommy and I will always love you."

Emma nodded and Spike could feel she was calming down. He kissed the top of her head.

"Do you want to hear the story on how you were born?" he asked her. She nodded again, smiling this time. That smile that made him look at her like she was some miracle. Which she was, in fact.

"Ok. Once upon a time."

Her eyes grew wide.

"Like in a fairy tale?"

Right, he thought. With all the soddin' fairytale monsters, including me.

"Exactly, Midget. So there was that beautiful blonde princess living in a very charming town."

"That would be Mommy," the child guessed.

"What? The charming town is Mommy?" he teased her.

She laughed.

"No! Mommy is the beautiful princess!"

"Right. Which town would it be then?"

She frowned in concentration. She remembered the teacher talking about their town at the Kindergarten.

"Sunnydale!" she said suddenly, her face brightening.

"Very good, Sweetheart. Now, the blonde princess had a younger sister."

"Auntie Dawn!"

".and her best friend was a nice witch."

"Auntie Willow, Auntie Willow is the witch!"

".as well as a loyal mule."

Emma looked at him, confused. "Ok," he said, lowering his tone, "That would be Uncle Xander. But don't tell Mommy I said that, ok?"

Emma chuckled.

There was a time when Buffy could threaten to stake him when she was mad. Now that he was human, she was simply banishing him from the bedroom, which was ten times worse. Fortunately, Spike knew better than to piss her off.most of the time.

"Ok then. One evening, the blonde princess met a dark, handsome knight."

"That would be you, Daddy," giggled the little girl, all of her previous misery forgotten.

"Yes. So, at the beginning, the princess and the knight didn't like each other. They were fighting all the time."

Emma acquiesced.

"Like me and Bryan Latimer."

"Like Bryan Latimer and me," corrected Spike automatically. "Who's Bryan Latimer?"

"A boy in my class. He's always trying to steal my fluffy squirrel," she complained, showing the plush she was holding and that had absolutely no shape anymore. "He's so annoying. The other day, I had to punch him. His nose was bleeding," she added, very proud of herself.

Spike stayed stunned for a moment.

"Oh God. Emma.alright, let's save this conversation for later."

Let's save this conversation for Buffy, he thought.

"Yes. Go on with the fairytale, Daddy."

"Well, one day the princess and the knight realized that if they were fighting so much it was because they loved each other. At first the blonde princess was too bloody stubborn to." "The B-word, Daddy!"

"Sorry."

Damn. She wasn't letting anything slip. He cleared his throat.

"So, after a lot of fighting and saving the world, they decided to get married. And they were very happy. But someone was missing."

"That would be me!" she said, clapping in her hands.

He smiled.

"There were those powerful warlocks that had once shown the future to the princess and the knight, and they knew they would be blessed one day with a beautiful little girl named Emma. So, you see, we were very impatient to have you. And we already loved you even before you were born. And we'll never stop loving you, ever."

She nodded, wearing a serious face now. She put her head on the crook of his shoulder.

Cuddling time, he thought. One of his favorite moments. He caressed her hair, kissed her forehead.

"Are you feeling better now, Midget?"

She nodded again, but didn't move from the security and comfort provided by her daddy's arms. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

That night, Spike was holding his other girl tightly against him, putting soft kisses on her neck and shoulders.

"That was a cute story you told Emma," she whispered.

"You were listening? Well, that was our story, pet. In a fairytale kind of way."

" I just listened to the end. She's our little fairy."

"A little fairy that punch boy's nose to the point of bleeding." Buffy turned to face him.

"What?"

"Didn't you hear that part? She told me that boy, Bryan.something, had tried to steal her squirrel. She punched him in the nose. I bet the soddin' little git deserved it."

"But how come her teacher didn't tell us anything?"

"She probably doesn't know. And I doubt the boy has been bragging about it."

"Emma must have punching him hard."

"Like mother like daughter," he said in a teasing tone.

She tapped slightly on his forearm.

"Don't joke about that. She's only five. We can't let her running around and punching people. Do you think.do you think she could have inherit our strength?"

"Why not? You're not the Slayer anymore, but your strength is still intact. And when the Powers made me human they left me my capacities as well. So it's possible that some of it was transmitted to her. Then again, I don't think it's a strength problem, Buffy. If she punched a five year old boy in the nose, I guess it's pretty normal he was bleeding."

Buffy sighed.

"Yeah, you're right. I guess we'll just have to keep an eye on her."

"And in the meantime," Spike said pulling her to him, I'd rather have an eye on you."

She put her arms around his neck and they started to kiss, first slowly and tenderly, then more and more passionately. Buffy's leg encircled Spike's waist, pressing herself against him and moving suggestively.

Spike broke the kiss and asked in a hoarse voice,

"Didn't the doctor said something about 6 weeks?" "Well, the doctor doesn't know about Slayer healing. Like you said, I may not be the Slayer anymore, but I kept all the advantages. And right now I want my lovely husband to show me how much he loves me," she added in a seductive tone.

Spike didn't need to be asked twice.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Spike woke up and it took him some time to realize that it was Emma 's little body snuggled against his that had cause the disturbance in his sleep. He slightly kissed the top of her head, putting a protective arm around her. She was sucking her thumb and holding her squirrel, the one that evil Bryan tried to stole from her. Very uncharitably, Spike hoped the boy's nose was still hurting.

Next to Emma, little Tommy was sleeping as well. One of Buffy's hands was lying on his stomach. She probably had woken up a little earlier and taken them both into their bed, like she did sometimes when one of them had had a nightmare.

Buffy opened her eyes and met his. They smiled to each other. Their hand joined on the pillow above the two precious little head.

They both drifted peacefully back to sleep.

FIN


Part 4 coming soon...





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