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Chapter 1
“Aaron, Brooke, play nice.” The blonde yelled
to the two children in the sandbox, who were throwing the sand at each other. She looked over at her sister, rolling her eyes.
“We
have two lovely kids there don’t we Buff?” Dawn Summers smiled.
“The best,” Buffy agreed, “except
when they act up.” Watching as the two toddlers began to fight Buffy and Dawn ran to pull them apart. The two three
year olds giggled. All of a sudden their fight was forgotten as they hugged their mothers. Buffy and Dawn shared a smile as
they walked back over to the bench they had been sitting at and put the kids back in their pushchairs.
“Time
to go home,” Buffy announced.
Things had been hard the past 4 years since Spike left and Buffy had to face
up to being pregnant. At the same time helping her sister through her own pregnancy. Dawn had been almost 4 months further
along than Buffy. So she had been there to hold her sister’s hand when she went into labour, and after 12 hours of labour
she cried with her as they greeted her beautiful baby girl Brooke.
And 2 months later, Dawn was with Buffy as baby
Aaron was brought into the world. And they had stuck together ever since. It was them against the world. There had been hard
times, the hardest being the fact that they didn’t know if the same man had fathered both their children. And it was
also something they didn’t speak about. They didn’t want to destroy the understanding they had found. As far as
they were concerned if they didn’t talk about it then it didn’t matter.
Dawn had moved on from Spike, admitting
it had been a stupid teenage crush. And although she was single, she was happy as she was. She went on dates and she was optimistic
of finding a great guy. Buffy on the other hand, couldn’t move on. She had gone out with a couple of guys in the past
couple of years but she never let them get serious. Because she had finally realised she loved Spike and she had lost him.
She had known at the time that what she was doing was illegal, that she could go to prison and it did scare her. But what
she had realised was that being without him scared her more. But that had happened, and she had learned to live without him.
She had no other choice. But she still thought about him every day. She talked to her son about him in private, showed him
pictures of his daddy. And part of her hoped he would come back one day; even though she knew the chances were small. But
she could always hope.
By the time they arrived home, both children were fast asleep. The two women lifted their children
gently from their pushchairs,
“They’re beat, I’m going to put Aaron to bed for his nap,” Buffy
said, already starting up the stairs. Dawn nodded and went to the living room. Laying Brook on the couch and taking a shawl
from the back of it to lay over her. She leaned down to kiss her forehead and went to the kitchen to pour a drink.
Buffy
joined her about ten minutes later. She sat down on a stool across from Dawn, leaning on the counter.
“Can you
believe Brook will be 4 in just a couple months?” Dawn said.
“I know; it’s weird. And then Aaron
isn’t long after that. They’re getting so big so fast.”
“Yeah, I find it hard to believe that
I’m only 18 and I have a 4 year old daughter. I never would have imagined my life would turn out like that.” Dawn
smiled slightly, thinking of how life rarely turns out the way you think it will.
“Well, it wasn’t exactly
what I had hoped for you either,” Buffy told her, “but I have to admit I wouldn’t be without Brooke now.
I love her to pieces and you are a fantastic mom. You’ve really grown up a lot.”
“You too, but don’t
you ever think about how different things have turned out from what you thought they would?” the younger Summers asked.
“Yeah,”
Buffy nodded, “I never thought I’d have children. Never thought I’d find a guy that would love me completely.
That I would love.” She seemed to become lost in her own little world as she continued rambling on, “And I did,
Spike was an ass at times, and I wanted to kill him once or twice, but he was also loving, and he loved me. And as wrong as
it is I love him too. Except, it’s not wrong anymore.” She finally shut up when she saw the upset look Dawn was
wearing and rushed to apologise, “Dawn, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to bring him up. I just I was thinking
about him, what with Aaron’s birthday being a few months away. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s ok,”
Dawn said. But Buffy could tell it wasn’t.
“Dawn,” she started but Dawn shook her head.
“Look
Buffy, I know you didn’t mean to upset me. I just really don’t want to talk about it. Can we please just drop
it?”
“Ok,” Buffy agreed, “I’m just going to check on Aaron.” Before Dawn could
offer any response Buffy was gone.
Chapter 2
Life was never easy for the Summers sisters was it? Something
always seemed to go wrong or wedge itself between them. Things had been different in the past week since Buffy had brought
up Spike. Looking back, she guessed it was probably her use of the present tense when she was talking about her feelings.
She hadn’t really thought about it until then, but it was true. She did still love him. She couldn’t help it;
he was the father of her son; that was the ultimate bond between two people. They shared a child even if he didn’t know
it. At the end of the day Aaron was his son that would keep her forever bound to him in some way. And that made it a million
times harder to push aside her feelings. So, she may not have said it in the past four years but the truth was that yes, she
was still in love with him. She couldn’t deny that. But she couldn’t understand why that bothered Dawn so much.
Neither
could Dawn. She didn’t love Spike. But something about the fact that Buffy did annoyed her. It was as if it was a territorial
thing. Dawn had him first so Buffy had no right to try and take him. But that was stupid. If Buffy loved him then why was
that a bad thing? It all left her terribly confused. Maybe it was fear. Fear that should Spike ever meet Brooke, he would
reject her in favour of Buffy and Aaron. The idea that he would rather be a happy family with them and push her daughter aside.
The thought of it made her blood boil, her daughter was just as important as Aaron was. Why should there should be any difference
made between them. But at the same time, all of these were what ifs? She doubted any of them would ever see him again, he
would probably never know about Aaron. So why worry about it? Truth be told she didn’t know, it was just a niggling
thought that reused to leave her alone.
Buffy was watching television with Aaron when Dawn came downstairs. Buffy
smiled when Dawn sat next to her on the couch, however she didn’t say anything. Just settled to watch the children’s
show with them. No words passed between them until the show finished, Aaron had fallen asleep near the end. When Buffy went
to lift him to take him for a nap Dawn stood too,
“Want me to do that?” she offered.
“No,
it’s ok.” Buffy answered.
“I don’t mind,” Dawn insisted. “I’ll take him.”
Buffy nodded and moved aside so that Dawn could lift the sleeping child. While Dawn took him upstairs Buffy tidied the living
room a bit, putting some toys away and such. She was startled to hear Dawn speak as she came back in,
“We need
to talk.”
“Yeah,” she agreed. She went over and sat on the couch. “You first.”
Dawn
sat beside her, “look Buffy, I don’t know why but for some reason I still can’t talk about the whole Spike
thing. I don’t love him, I never did. But that doesn’t mean I want to be reminded of what happened. That was one
of the worst times of my life and all I want to do is forget it. That’s why I never bring it up. I don’t want
to talk about it, or even think about it. I just wish you would accept that.”
“Dawn.,” Buffy interrupted,
“I do accept that. I understand it even. But I can’t deny the fact anymore that I do love him. I loved him then
and I love him now. I can’t pretend that I don’t. It does hurt to think about him but that doesn’t mean
I don’t want to. You have to get used to the idea that from time to time I’m going to talk about him. Aaron is
almost 4- years- old. I want him to know about his father, I need to be the one to tell Aaron about him. I don’t want
to hurt you Dawn, but you can’t ask me never to mention him.”
“But why should I have to hear
about him?” Dawn yelled, “That isn’t fair to me.”
“Dawn. Life isn’t fair. This
entire situation isn’t fair. I can’t be expected to never talk about him. I love him. I don’t know if I
will ever see him again, but if I do I won’t hide my feelings so get used to it.”
“No.”
“Well
then we have a problem,” Buffy told her, “because I’m not going to stop talking about him just because you
want me to. I did that for the last 4 years when all I wanted to do was talk about him and that wasn’t fair on me.”
“Fine,
here’s the solution to the problem. I’m moving out,” Dawn announced before storming from the room.
Dawn
sat in her room looking at the bags surrounding her. She knew she had hurt Buffy, that had been her intent but the whole thing
had just gotten to her. She didn’t want to move out. She probably wouldn’t even though she had packed all of her
clothes but she knew that she needed a few days to cool off. And that wouldn’t happen in this house. She had called
Willow and made arrangements for her and Brooke to stay with her for a few days. At least Buffy wouldn’t be as worried
if she knew she was with Willow. So lifting one of the bags she went to collect Brooke from her room.
Buffy walked
out of the living room, her face streaked with tears and saw Dawn come downstairs, Brooke in one arm and a suitcase in the
other.
“Dawn, please don’t do this,” she begged.
“ I have to get away Buffy. I’m
not moving out, not today. But I am going to stay with Willow for a few days. I have to get away. I need some time away from
here to cool down and do some thinking. At least this way you know where I am.”
“Dawn…”
“Don’t
Buffy. I’m going. I’ll see you in a few days.” Those were the last words she spoke before turning and walking
out the front door.
Buffy watched her go, but she didn’t have time to wallow in it because as she closed
the door she heard the small voice on the stairs behind her,
“Mommy.”
Buffy turned and looked at
her son who was rubbing his eyes. He looked so cute standing there, barely awake. He bore a striking resemblance to his father.
Buffy smiled at him and went over and took his hand,
“Hey little man, what say we go and see what you want for
dinner huh?”
He nodded eagerly which made her laugh as she led him into the kitchen. She was upset that Dawn
was gone but she still had her son and life had to continue. Maybe it was for the best.
The car came to a stop by the
side of the road. The driver got out and looked around at their surroundings. Looking at the sign that announce the entrance
to Sunnydale, they smiled wistfully. Before getting back in the car the English accent said softly,
“Home sweet
home.”
Chapter 3
“Dawnie, when are you going to try and sort things
out with Buffy?”
Dawn looked up abruptly at Willow. She had been staying with her for 3 days and hadn’t
said a word about her sister. She had busied herself looking after Brooke so that she didn’t have time to think or talk
about it. Willow had made a few efforts to bring the subject up but somehow Dawn had managed to avoid it thus far. Unluckily
for her though, it was only 7 am and Brooke hadn’t woken up yet so it was quiet and Willow had seized the opportunity
to start the discussion.
“I don’t know, when I’m ready. Can we just not talk about it?”
“No,
Dawn,” Willow said. “Because you have to sort this out. You are more than welcome to stay here until you’re
ready to go home or get a place of your own but you still have to fix things with Buffy. She’s your sister.”
“Yeah,
a sister who couldn’t care less how I feel.”
“That’s not true Dawn,” Willow said in support
of her best friend.
“Yes it is. She completely disregarded my feelings on the whole you know who issue. She doesn’t
care that I want to put it behind me, and how can I do that if she talks about him?”
“But Dawn, you need
to realise that she’s not intentionally trying to hurt you. You want her to think about your feelings but you have to
think about hers too. It’s not fair if you tell her never to talk about him.” Willow was trying to be as gentle
as possible with the younger girl, but she had always been stubborn. A trait she definitely shared with her sister. “Think
about how she’s feeling.” She knew Dawn would need real ‘alone time’ to get her thoughts together
so Willow left her in peace.
Buffy ran around the backyard after Aaron. He was having a great time. It was a lovely
warm day and Buffy had taken him out back to play. They had fun kicking a soft soccer ball around, his swing set was out there
too as well as a few other toys and they had played with them all. And now she was chasing him around, making him giggle as
he tried to escape her. The past couple of days had been the same as this one. Quality time for Buffy and Aaron. It had been
nice, just the two of them. It was different, it had never been just them, Dawn and Brook had always been there, and she would
never want to be without them. But she knew that if Dawn did move out she would manage alone and she didn’t have to
lose her sister completely. Of course, 3 people in the house wouldn’t be a bad thing either. If the third person was
the right person.
She sat down on the back steps after she finished chasing Aaron and watched him play alone for a
while. She enjoyed watching him. He was so innocent and carefree. In the eyes of her little boy, everything was right in the
world. Everything was as it should be. But Buffy couldn’t deny the fact to herself that at least one thing wasn’t
as it should be. She heard the faint sound of a door closing, and the next thing she heard was footsteps behind her. She looked
over her shoulder and saw Dawn there. She motioned for her to sit beside her. When she did, Buffy stayed silent. Neither of
them was sure of what to say to the other. It was the first time in years that they had been in the same place with nothing
to say. And Buffy didn’t like it. That wasn’t how it should be. But it was soon obvious that Dawn wasn’t
going to be the first to say something.
“How’s Brooke?” Buffy asked, as a device to start conversation.
“Fine,”
Dawn answered. “She’s having a blast a Willow’s. She thinks it’s an adventure.”
“That’s
good.” Quiet followed. She looked over at Dawn, “so um, did you want to talk about something?”
“Yeah,”
she paused. “I wanted to tell you that I’m going to move out. But not to hurt you, I just think it’d be
best. I know you don’t want to hurt me Buffy, but Spike is the one issue that’s always going to come between us.
I don’t want us to get torn apart over it. And if I keep living here and don’t let you talk about him, it’ll
only cause problems with us. It’s not fair to either of us. If I move out it means we both have space and maybe that’s
the best thing. But I will come home until I find somewhere.”
Buffy took a moment to let everything sink in,
she nodded her head slowly, “Ok, if that’s what you want to do then I’m fine with it. I think maybe you’re
right. But Dawnie, I just don’t want to fight anymore.”
“Me either,” Dawn replied softly.
“So,
friends?” Buffy smiled.
“Friends,” Dawn leaned over to give her sister a quick hug. It was still
somewhat uncomfortable; things weren’t completely sorted with them. But it would take time before they would be, but
at least they were back on speaking terms. So it was a start.
“I better get back, I don’t want to leave
Willow having to look after Brooke for too long.”
“Ok,” Buffy stood and went over to pick up Aaron
who had curled up in a ball on the grass and fallen asleep. She carried him into the living room and lay him on the couch
before going back to walk Dawn out.
The past two days had been very long. Spike had gotten himself settled
in a small apartment and done all the necessary things that moving involved: getting the place set up, making sure everything
was done. And the whole time he had thought of her. Hell he had been thinking about her every day for the last 4 years. And
now he was back in the town where he first met her. In fact, he was right in front of that all too familiar house. Just outside
the gate. Too afraid to go in and knock on the door. He wanted to see her of course, but he was afraid to find out what her
reaction to his return would be. But he had promised himself 4 years earlier, when he had left Sunnydale through no choice
of his own, that as he could go back he would. And he would go and see her, he wouldn’t waste any time. But now that
the time was here, it wasn’t as easy as he imagined it would be. But he still wanted to see her as much as ever. So
he made himself walk up the front path. He stood on the porch, taking a few calming breaths, and brought his fist up to knock
on the door. Just as he was about to, the door opened.
Chapter 4
Buffy stood shocked in the doorway. Trying to bring
herself out of her daze, she couldn’t believe who was standing at her front door. It was the last person in the world
she expected to see there. But he was real. There before her, in the flesh was the one person she had wanted to see every
day for the past four years. He looked almost exactly the same. He was more muscly now. And taller. He had really grown into
his looks. He was drop dead gorgeous. There was no other way to describe it. Spike was right in front of her and yet she couldn’t
say a word. She knew what she wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t come.
Spike was equally as shocked, she
was more beautiful now than ever. She looked exactly the same, just more mature. Beautiful. His mouth felt dry and the words
he had planned so carefully escaped him.
The only person who was able to form a sentence was the one person that neither
realised was there.
“What are you doing here?” Dawn snapped.
Spike blinked and looked up, finally
noticing the presence of the other Summers sister.
“I, I came to see Buffy,” he said quietly.
“Well
you’ve seen her, so now you can leave.”
“No, I can’t. I need to talk to her.” Spike told
her.
“I don’t care, you’re not wanted here so leave,” Dawn demanded with a shout.
“Dawn,”
Buffy warned, finally finding her voice.
“But Buffy-“
“No, remember what we just spoke about,”
Buffy reminded her.
“Fine,” Dawn shouted, “I’ll leave. I don’t want to be anywhere near
him.” She ran past Spike and headed down the street away from them.
Buffy and Spike resumed their silence.
“So…”
Buffy said after a while.
“Um,”
“You’re back.”
“Yeah,” he agreed.
“When?”
“Two
days ago,” he answered.
“What made you come back?”
“A lot of things,” he said.
“Cool.”
“Mainly
you,” his admission was soft, worry evident in his voice. He had no idea what he reaction would be. He wasn’t
sure if he really wanted to know.
“Oh,” she paused. “So, I guess we need to talk.”
“I
would say so.” He tried a small smile, wanting things to be less awkward.
“Why don’t we talk out
here,” at his nod she moved outside and sat on the porch steps. She left the front door slightly ajar in case Aaron
woke up. Spike sat down beside here.
“How have you been?” he asked.
“Good, things haven’t
always been easy but I got through them. You?”
“Not bad. I wasn’t a huge fan of LA, Angel was always
a complete bastard and that girlfriend of his was the snobbiest cow I ever knew but I could deal with them. I always knew
I wasn’t going to stay there when I was old enough to leave. Always planned on coming back here.” He saw the way
she looked at him, a silent question that he really didn’t want to answer so early in the conversation, so he drew the
topic away from him. “You still working at Burger King?”
“No,” Buffy said with a laugh. “I
gave that job up long ago. I actually work as a counsellor at the high school now. Just part time. I had intended to go back
to school but something changed my plans. And then I got the offer of the counselling job and I thought, why not?”
“That’s
good. Do you like it?”
“I really do,” was her answer. “I feel like I can really help the kids
because I’ve had the same problems not so long a ago. I mean it was less than ten years ago that I was a student at
that school.”
“Yeah, well I’m glad you’re happy.”
“I am, more or less.”
She was hinting at him, she wanted to tell him everything here and now. She didn’t see the point in dragging it out.
She had only just told her sister how much she loved him and now here he was sitting with her on her front porch. There was
no point in putting anything off. But there were a few things she had to suss out too. Did he have a girlfriend for example?
“More
or less?” Spike questioned.
“Some things aren’t how I would like them to be. Not having a man in
my life for instance. What about you, have a girlfriend?”
Spike smirked, “No, luv, no girlfriend.”
Buffy
smiled, “well can’t say I’m complaining about that. But you must have had a load of girls in LA.”
He
laughed, “I dated a few girls but never anything serious. Something always stopped that from happening”
“Really?”
Buffy held her breath.
“Yeah.”
“What was it?” She waited.
“You,”
he answered. He felt better. She knew now, he didn’t have to worry about her not knowing.
“Well you always
held me back too.”
“How so?”
“Because,” she started “I always had you in
my mind. I loved you. I still love you. And maybe telling you this as soon as I see you again is stupid or whatever but I
don’t see any point in you not knowing because that won’t change anything. I only realised after you left that
by keeping my feelings hidden and not telling you or anyone else I was holding myself back. I don’t want to do that
again. Especially not with you. So whether you feel the same or not, I still want you to know that, I do still love you.”
Spike
had to smile; he couldn’t help it. She was so adorable when she babbled. He had always loved it. “Buffy,”
he said gently, “I do still love you. I don’t know what that means for us. But the whole point of my coming back
here was you. I promised the day I left that I would come back. I told myself every day that I would. And as soon as I could,
I started making arrangements to do just that. And now here I am. I got a job as a trainee mechanic. I got an apartment. I
set everything up so that I could come back to you.”
He watched a smile spread across her face as he continued,
“But
I don’t want it to be like it was before.”
Her smile fell,
“I want it to be better. What we
had before hurt both of us. I want a clean slate with you. I want to try and have a proper relationship. A happy one. Maybe
that’s not what you want. But Buffy, I did a lot of growing up these past 4 years. I’m still not perfect, I can
still be a right bastard at times, but I do want to try.”
“Spike,” Buffy interrupted, “I want
to try too.”
They both laughed. “Well that all happened a lot easier and a lot faster than I expected,”
he laughed. “But I guess, like you said, there’s no point wasting time.”
“None at all,”
Buffy smiled, “but we have to do this properly if we’re going to try and we need to take everything slowly. There’s
too much at stake”
She knew he didn’t know about Aaron, and he probably thought she meant their feelings
as he agreed with what she said. But she did have to tell him about Aaron too. And maybe she should do that now, seeing as
everything was going so well. But she decided to wait a while. Because when they had decided what they wanted things became
so much easier and the fell into comfortable conversation. They sat on the porch chatting about Spike’s new job. Buffy
told him more about hers.
Looking at her watch Buffy saw that they had been there for over an hour. She heard the front
door creak.
Spike heard it too but assumed it was just the wind. And Buffy didn’t seem concerned so he kept on
talking. Until someone else sat down between himself and Buffy. A very small someone.
Chapter 5
Spike looked down at the little boy, surprised to see him
sitting there. He couldn’t imagine why there was a child at Buffy’s. Maybe she was babysitting, that was the only
thing that made any sense. He was a very cute little thing. He had dirty blonde hair, and eyes that were kind of aqua in colour.
Like the ocean, a sea clue almost. A mixture of green and blue. For some reason, the child looked familiar, but he couldn’t
put his finger on the reason why. Spike was still mulling it over when the little boy turned to Buffy
“Mommy,”
he said quietly, “Who is that man?”
Spike’s eyes went wide; surely he hadn’t just heard that.
It couldn’t be.
“Why don’t you ask him?”
Turning to Spike, Aaron asked the question
“Who
are you?”
Spike pulled himself together enough to answer the boy’s question,
“I’m Spike.
Who are you?”
“I’m Aaron,” the little boy answered. “You’re voice sounds funny.
Where are you from?”
Spike smiled at the questions, the kid definitely was a nosey little thing
“I’m
from England,” he replied. Aaron turned to look at Buffy; she closed her eyes, knowing what was coming next. Maybe Dawn
was right, maybe it was a bad idea to tell Aaron about Spike after all, but there was nothing she could do to prevent what
was going to happen.
A wide smile spread on Aaron’s face,
“My daddy’s from England,”
he announced, “but I don’t know him. He had to move before I was born.”
Spike felt faint; surely
he had to be imagining this whole thing. It must be another of those dreams, he always dreamt about her. But admittedly, none
of them had ever gone like this. He looked up; Buffy was peeking at him from behind her hands
“What does he mean?”
Spike asked, almost in a whisper.
“He means, that his daddy is an English guy named Spike.” She looked
down, waiting for his reaction.
“My son? I didn’t know I had a son.”
“I’m sorry,”
Buffy told his softly. “I didn’t know where in LA they had taken you, and I didn’t want either of us to
get on any more trouble. I wish I could have told you.”
“I wish you could have told me too. When did you
find out?”
“A few weeks after you moved away, I had been thinking about you a lot. I wasn’t well
but I thought it was stress, but I took a test anyway. Aaron was the result.” She ruffled her son’s hair; he was
oblivious to what was being said because the two adults were speaking so softly.
“I can’t believe this.
What are we going to do about it?”
“That’s up to you. We can tell him now, or we can wait.”
She awaited his answer, she knew what she wanted, but what mattered was what he wanted. This was a lot to take in.
“I
think, we should tell him.”
Buffy nodded, “Ok. She patted her son on the shoulder and he looked up at her,
an inquiring look on his face,
“Aaron,” she started, “you know I told you about your daddy and that
he was English.” The boy nodded. “Well, did you ever want to meet him?”
“Uh- huh,” he
nodded excitedly.
“Ok,” Buffy smiled, “well then, Spike is your daddy.”
“Really?”
Aaron asked excitedly.
She nodded.
“Yay,” the little boy shouted excitedly, “ I always wanted
to meet my daddy.”
It warmed both Buffy and Spike’s hearts. It was nice to see him react so well, of course
the fact that he was so young probably play a part in that. Kids were resilient; they were more accepting of things. Which
had made it easier, and seeing the boy, who had always wanted a daddy looking so happy that he finally had one, was the best
thing ever.
When he calmed down he smiled up at Spike, “Are you really my daddy?”
“Yeah, I
am,” Spike grinned down at him.
“Good, I like you.” Aaron proceeded to launch himself at Spike, cuddling
him tightly. Spike was amazed, he had known he had a son for such a short time, but already he wanted to be his father. Be
there for him all the time. Maybe it was the fact that it was the son he had with Buffy. He still loved her, therefore, how
could sharing a child with her be anything other than fantastic in his eyes? One thing he knew for sure, he wanted to be a
dad, a good dad, to this little boy. He and Buffy had already agreed to make a go of things as a couple now that he knew he
had a son, they could make a go of things as a family. It had been so long since he had felt like part of a family. He wanted
to be part of one again. So he hugged his young son back. Getting used to the idea of being a father. And he had to say, it
was definitely something he could get used to. When he finally let the boy go, Aaron turned to Buffy,
“Mommy,
can I have a drink?”
Buffy nodded, “Sure, let’s get you inside and I’ll get you one.”
She took his small hand and started towards the door, she turned back to Spike,
“Aren’t you coming in?”
He
grinned, “definitely.” He got up from his seat on the porch and joined them inside.
Dawn entered
Willow’s house angrily, she slammed the door behind her. Willow exited the kitchen,
“Dawn what’s
wrong?” She asked.
“He’s back.”
“Who?” Willow was puzzled.
“Spike,”
Dawn answered through gritted teeth.
“Oh,” Willow gasped. “When?”
“About an hour
ago, just when I was leaving Buffy’s. He was there.”
“Did she know?”
“That he
was coming back? I don’t know, and I don’t care. He’s back. And no doubt she couldn’t wait to tell
him all about Aaron, and forget Brooke. Well I mean it Willow, it’s not happening. He will be responsible for her too.”
Willow
sighed, she knew there was more to why Dawn was so resentful, and now she knew. She was jealous of Buffy and Aaron. She was
worried of what Dawn might do. But as she watched her stomp upstairs to see her daughter, she didn’t know if there was
anything to be done about what Dawn might do.
Aaron had gone upstairs to play with his toys, leaving Buffy and
Spike to talk downstairs. It had been awkward at times but most of the time, conversation had flowed easily. They talked about
general things, like music and television. Just getting to know each other again. But eventually Aaron came back downstairs,
restlessly looking around.
“Mommy, when is Brooke coming back?”
“I don’t know, sweetie.”
Spike looked at her funnily.
“Who’s Brooke?”
Buffy forced a smile, this was the part she was
dreading. He seemed to have forgotten and she wished she could but she couldn’t. She had to answer him.
“Dawn’s
daughter.”
Chapter 6
Spike had left Buffy’s an hour after she had told
him about Brooke. That hour had been filled with Buffy giving him details of the first 4 years of the girl’s life. He
didn’t know how to take it all in. He had left Buffy and Aaron to give himself some time to think. He had driven around
for a couple of hours. It didn’t make any sense. He had forgotten all about Dawn being pregnant, not because he didn’t
care at all about her, but because he had been more preoccupied with thinking about her elder sister and figuring out a way
to get back to her. After a while, some things had begun to fade. The knowledge of that pregnancy apparently was one of those
things that faded. And now he had been given the reminder that he might have a daughter. Right after learning that he had
a son. And the scariest part was that their mother’s were sisters. He didn’t know what to do.
Dawn
had spent two days looking for an apartment for herself and Brooke, with no luck. She had only finished school a couple of
months ago and all of her money went on Brooke, so she couldn’t find a place that she could afford. She wouldn’t
go back to live with Buffy though. She couldn’t; she knew that now that Spike was back he wasn’t going to be going
anywhere. Which meant that he would be around and she couldn’t be around him.
But she had also spent the same
two days, thinking of how to make Spike know that he was going to be responsible for Brooke. The way she saw it, he was her
daughter’s father. And if he would take responsibility for Aaron he would take responsibility for Brooke too. But that
would mean she would have to speak to him. But as she looked at an ad for another apartment she couldn’t afford, she
decided she could talk to him to tell him that he had a daughter. And he would have to pay up; he had to support his daughter.
One way or another.
Spike knocked on the door and waited for an answer. He smiled when Buffy answered.
“Hey,”
she greeted.
“Hi,” he walked in and followed her into the kitchen.
“How are you?”
“Not
too bad,” he answered, “still a bit confused about everything but I guess you would expect that.”
She
nodded; she took some glasses from the cupboard and held one up asking a silent question. He nodded in quiet reply. She took
some cans of Coke from the refrigerator a poured their contents into a glass before handing one to him. They seated themselves
across from each other at the breakfast bar.
“It will take time,” she admitted, “it kind of freaks me
out a bit too. But I got used to the idea a long time ago.”
“Sorry,” he said softly.
“For
what?” She furrowed her eyebrow in wonder.
“Sleeping with her. I was a stupid kid Buffy, a bad- ass that
wanted everyone to know who was the coolest. She threw herself at me, and as a typical 14 year- old would, I caught her. Took
what she was offering. And I know you might not want to hear that about your sister, but that’s how it was and I want
you to know that. I don’t want you to think I took advantage of your sister. And I’m not trying to make you think
bad about her either. But-“
“I know,” Buffy cut him off, “I get it. I kinda knew. She changed,
I think I was just always looking for someone to blame and it was easiest to blame you. I’m sorry about that.”
“Nothing
to be sorry about,” he rested a hand over hers and smiled slightly. He looked at her; she was amazing. He found himself
getting out of his seat to lean across the counter, when she looked up at him he kissed her. A soft, sweet kiss. So unlike
all of the others that they shared so long ago. This was the kind of kiss he had always wanted to share with her. And it felt
great to finally get to experience it. However, they broke apart quickly when the back door flew open.
Spike looked
up at the same time as Buffy looked round. Standing in the doorway was a furious Dawn. A little girl at her side.
“Brooke,
go find Aaron and play with him,” the angry teen instructed. The little girl nodded and ran off towards the living room.
“What are you doing her, again?”
“I came to see Buffy,” Spike answered.
“And that
involves making out with her?”
“Dawn,” Buffy yelled.
“What? The guy has been back for
two days and you’re all over him already. For god’s sake Buffy what is the matter with you?”
“I
told you I loved him Dawn. Right before he came back. So, why shouldn’t I kiss him? You don’t want him, what is
the problem?”
“The problem is, I have to leave my own home. I will have to live in some horrid little apartment.
While he lives it up. So what? What are you gonna do Spike? Play happy families with Buffy and Aaron? But what about your
daughter?”
“I can’t be sure I have a daughter,” he spat out.
“How dare you?”
she roared.
“Oh get real Dawn. You know as well as I do, that I wasn’t the only person you were with back
then. There were loads of guys. In case you forget, your sister caught us in a threesome. So, you don’t know for sure
that she is mine.”
Buffy, who had tried to stay out of it until then decided she had to back him up,
“He’s
right Dawn. You admitted to me, that you couldn’t be sure he was the father, you only thought he was.”
“You’re
taking his side? Oh wait, as long as you have your man and your precious Aaron has a daddy, my daughter doesn’t matter.”
Dawn was growing angrier and angrier, all her pent up feelings coming out.
“You know that’s not true,”
Buffy denied vehemently, “I love Brooke, but Spike is right.”
“No, Brooke is his. He will take responsibility
for her.”
“Like hell I will,” he shouted, “until I have proof that she’s mine, I’m
not giving you a thing.”
“And just how do you intend on getting proof?” She asked.
“I
want a paternity test.”
“Fine,” Dawn stomped through the kitchen and to the living room. A moment
later the front door slammed as she left with Brooke.
Aaron wandered into the kitchen, looking between his parents,
anger and hurt evident even to the child,
“Mommy,” he said gently.
Buffy looked over at him, “Oh,
hey baby,” she pretended to be cheerful as she went over and picked him up. Taking him over to Spike, “look who
came to visit. It’s daddy.”
Spike smiled too, and took Aaron from Buffy and sat him on the breakfast bar,
“Hey, little man. What do you say, mommy and I take you to the par?”
When the little boy nodded excitedly
Spike set him back on the floor.
“Shall we then?” he asked Buffy.
“Yeah, maybe it’ll
take our minds off everything for a while. Let me just get my sweater.”
Spike waited patiently with Aaron, and
when she came back, he took one of Aaron’s hands while she took the other. They left the house, a real family. At least,
that's how it seemed.
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