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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you everyone!! :)
Chapter 25


"Why do you feel weird about meeting Tara?" Spike asked as he watched his wife brush her hair and tie it back.

"What do you mean why do I feel weird about it? If you recall, she wasn't
Tara. She was something else entirely. Something we drove out of her
body—"

"You drove out of her body," Spike clarified.

"Whatever. The only thing I really know about Tara is what I learned
from her mother."

"Which were all good things."

"Right. But still. I mean the girl was possessed. She was evil. She was on
top of – so yes, I feel weird," she finished on a mutter.

"On top of me," Spike said quietly.

"She doesn't remember it at all?"

Spike shook his head and sauntered over to Buffy, running his fingers
through her hair gently. "No, she doesn't. She was pretty horrified when
she was told what was done. And I can tell you she's most definitely NOT
into me at ALL."

Buffy smirked, "Oh? Her and Willow making up for lost time?"

"If the kiss they shared when they saw each other for the first time since
the whole mess started, yes."

Buffy studied him, a smile tugging on her lips. "I think if you could blush,
you would be right now."

He grinned boyishly, "Yeah, probably right."

She wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his strong chest.
"Love you."

He ran a hand down her back and nuzzled her neck. "Love you too baby.
You ready to face them?"

"Yup. I think I can face anything with you by my side."

"Remember that."

"I will."



Gripping Spike's hand, he and Buffy made their way out of the room
finally. They were greeted by Willow, Tara and Whistler in the living room.

"Where are Giles and my mom?" Buffy asked immediately. Yes, the threat
might have been over, but the memories were still fresh and panic was
quick to come.

"They're outside. Talking," Whistler smirked knowingly. He jumped up
from his spot in the overstuffed olive chair. "I'm going to uh, poke around.
Excuse me," and off went the sharp dressed demon.

Buffy squeezed Spike's hand and he gave her a squeeze back for assurance.
She faced the lovers and smiled weakly. "Hi. How are you feeling?" she
asked Tara quietly.

Tara stood, smoothed her clothes and stalked over to Buffy. Mindless of
Spike's presence next to her, she hugged Buffy. "Thank you," she said.

Buffy, slow to awaken from her shock, let got of Spike's hand and hugged
Tara. "You're welcome."

Tara pulled away and Buffy noticed the unshed tears in her eyes. "I'm so
sorry about what I did. I didn't know, I—I would never have done that—"

Buffy held up her hand, stopping her. "You're right. You didn't know. The
Darkness had hold of your body, it possessed you. You weren't responsible
for what you did and I don't hold it against you."

"Spike told me what we—Buffy, I like girls," Tara told her red-faced.

Buffy smiled and glanced at Willow who was now standing patiently to the
side, waiting for her opportunity to speak. She smiled gently at Buffy,
letting her know that things were as they should be now.

"I know," Buffy nodded. "How do you feel?"

Tara let out a little nervous laugh. "Uh, not sure. Physically I feel sore and
bruised—"

"I'm sorry I didn't—"

Now Tara held up her hand. "No, please don't apologize. You did what you

had to do. Besides, I hear this Slayer healing I have works wonders. I think
a few of my bruises have already faded."

"Good," Buffy nodded curtly.

"As for the rest of me . . . I feel lost. Like I lost my head somewhere and
now I'm back only to find that I did things I had no knowledge of and things
I would NEVER do." She looked at Spike. "Not that I don't think you're, you

know, good looking, but I just don't swing that way."

Spike nodded and took Buffy's hand again. She squeezed it gently, letting
him know that everything was okay.

Tara turned her full attention back to Buffy, "So yeah, I feel a little
disoriented and I can't stop apologizing, but I don't know what else to do to
make it better."

"There's nothing you personally did that you have to feel responsible for
making better. All you have to do now is focus on being the Slayer and
coming to terms with that. You know what evil is capable of now. You can
use that to your advantage by not letting those evil things take over. The
Darkness is something that always was and always will be and it infests
itself in those things that walk this Earth with the intent to destroy. It's
your job as the Slayer to fight it. And," she took a deep breath, "it's our job,
meaning Spike and I," to help you fight it."

"Buffy—" Spike interrupted, his tone suggesting he didn't like the idea.

Buffy looked up at him. "Honey, it's okay. Immortal remember?"

He didn't look pleased still, but he didn't argue. "AFTER the baby is born,
got it?"

Buffy smiled, "Of course."

That seemed to pacify him at the moment and she turned back to Tara.
"Hopefully your Watcher will make it now too. Spike knows a lot about
Slayers, all I've learned about them, I've learned from him."

Tara's eyes darted back and forth between the two. "If you don't mind my
asking . . . How did you two end up finding each other?"

Buffy smiled, "Got a while?"

"Not that long, pet," Spike said in mock defense.

Buffy chuckled. "Well, see, it all started with Whistler . . . "


Epilogue

"You can all come in now," Spike told the crowded waiting room.

"Is he glowing?" Joyce asked Giles. "I think he very well may be glowing.
Do vampires glow?"

Giles chuckled at his fiancé, entwining her arm through his and pressing a
kiss on her forehead. "Spike is unlike any vampire I've ever known, so I
think he very well may be glowing."

Joyce smiled and rested her head on Giles' shoulder as they followed Tara
and Willow. Whistler trailed behind.

Spike was already at her bedside, still glowing, and gazing at his newborn
baby daughter. Their daughter was completely bald and had Spike's baby blue eyes. Blue eyes that could change as she got older, the nurse told her.
Buffy hoped not. She hoped her daughter had her fathers blue eyes.

"She's so beautiful," Willow breathed.

"She is," Tara cooed.

"What did you name her, sweetie?" Joyce asked, peering at her
granddaughter with tears of happiness in her eyes.

Buffy smiled, "Dawn Hope."

"Beautiful," Joyce breathed.

Spike looked up at Spike who was gazing at her and Dawn adoringly.

"I'm sorry I said I'd never let you touch me again," she whispered to him.

"I don't think you need to whisper, kitten," Spike said jovially. "I think they
all heard you. I think everyone in the hospital heard you."

Buffy blushed profusely and everyone chuckled quietly.

"You ready to hold your daughter?" she asked him and Spike nodded, his
eyes widening.

"I'm afraid to break her," Spike admitted fearfully.

"Do you plan on crushing her?" Buffy giggled. "You won't break her Spike.
You just saw what she went through to get out of me. She's not going to
break."

Spike nodded and held out his hands. Buffy instructed him in how to hold
her and tears of joy slipped from his eyes as he held his daughter.

He looked up at Buffy, "Thank you so much for giving me her."

"Thank you too," she countered.

Whistler stepped forward. "She's a special one," Whistler murmured,
touching her forehead.

Buffy looked up at him. "Isn't she though?"

"Half Light Bringer, half vampire. Part human."

"Are you saying my daughter's a mutt?" Spike hissed warningly.

"Honey, we knew that," Buffy told him gently.

"She'll be a force to be reckoned with when the time comes," Whistler told
them.

"There will be no fighting for this one," Spike cooed at Dawn. "None at all."

Whistler chuckled. "She won't give you much of a choice."

"Whistler, can something be a surprise?" Buffy reprimanded him.

"What uh, sorts of things can she not do?" Joyce asked. "Can I take my
granddaughter to the park? During the day?"

"Yes Joyce, you can," Whistler assured her. "She'll need blood on a regular
basis like her father, and she'll have powers like the both of them. However,
she'll be able to go into the sun and she won't easily be harmed."

"How?" Buffy asked, not wanting to ask something like that about her
newborn.

"Like you, and Spike," Whistler told her.

"Heart," Buffy nodded. "Okay, enough of that! Isn't she beautiful?"

"Gorgeous," Spike murmured, caressing his daughters face.

"I want one," Willow whimpered sappily.

"Maybe one day," Tara assured her.

"Giles? Do you want to hold your granddaughter?" Buffy asked her
surrogate father.

Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them. "Uh, maybe later my dear."

Buffy giggled.

"Well I want to hold her!" Joyce asserted herself and marched up to Spike,
holding out her arms expectantly.

Spike looked up at her as if to ask if he really had to give up his daughter.

"Spike honey, we get to take her home," Buffy assured him.

Reluctantly, Spike handed Dawn over and Joyce cried softly, tears of joy, as
she held her. Spike gathered Buffy in his arms and kissed her forehead. "So,
when I'm allowed to touch you again, we'll make more?"

Buffy grumbled. "We'll talk. Let's give it a couple years okay?"

"You know, if she had been a boy, I was thinking of the name Connor. So,
next time . . . "





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