Chapter Four
Buffy began attending school when the fall classes started. She knew that she would never get a job any place else than the Double Meat Palace if did not have more than a high school education and a year in college. She was aware that she would have to take time off once the baby was born, but that was something she was counting on. Willow and Tara were in a couple of her classes, and other than that, she was making new acquaintances. She was enjoying life.
Dawn was turning sixteen in just a month, and had started her sophomore year at the same time as Buffy began college. Buffy was having a hard time keeping up with her baby sister. There was a stream of teens always coming there, eating dinner and sleeping over.
"Buffy, can I Lisa come over tonight?" was a standard question, one to which Dawn knew the answer. "Buffy, Denver is having a party, can I go?" was another question, but one which Buffy was not as sure of what to tell her sister. She usually debated with herself for a couple of minutes, while Dawn stood and looked pleadingly at her, and finally, she would shrug and let her go. Then Dawn would jump in excitement and say a huge amount of thank you-s, before leaving and coming back at twelve at night. Always in a taxi. Buffy had forbidden her sister to walk home alone at night by herself.
Parenting was a hard thing. And Dawn was not even her daughter – she was just her sister. Soon, in only seven months, Buffy would have a baby that was her own to take care of.
Of course, Spike would be there. At night, when Dawn was out or in her room, Buffy would cuddle up in Spike's arms, and he would hold her. Or he would lay in her lap, listening to hers and the baby's heartbeat.
They had discovered after weeks of Spike being human that he still had most of his vampiric abilities in him. For several weeks right after he had turned human, he had had nothing; he had been even weaker than a normal human, and the lowest he had gotten was when he had gotten so sick. But once he had pulled through that, they discovered he had only gotten stronger, until now when he was back to his full vampire strength.
She still had not told him. She had not said to him that she loved him yet, although by now, she was sure of it. She was head over heels in love with this man. His sweet way of taking care of her, his gentleness, the way he would talk to Dawn, the way he would fight for her, the way he loved her. He surrounded her and she did not mind it one bit. She knew he was hurting because she refused to say the L-word, but she had promised herself that soon, soon she would tell him.
"What are you thinking love?"
They were sitting together on the couch, Buffy leaning on him, his arm around her, her head on his chest.
"I was thinking of how good this feels," Buffy replied. He placed his finger under her chin and turned her head towards him so that he could place a soft kiss on her lips.
"It does feel good, doesn't it," he said. "But you are getting heavy, you know."
"Hey, you should be nice. That wasn't nice." After a moment, she added, "Besides, it's your fault that soon, none of my clothes will fit me anymore."
"Oh, it is my fault now is it?" he asked playfully. "I thought it took two to tango…" He lost himself in her lips again. She moved her arms around him, placing herself on his lap. She began fiddling with his shirt, and soon it was off. He was kissing her neck and cupping her breasts in his hands, before getting rid of her shirt as well. Soon, her skirt followed and Buffy was lost in him.
They had made their way up the stairs so that they were now sleeping in their room. Buffy and Spike had moved into Joyce's old room, the master bedroom, soon after their announcement to the Scoobies that Buffy was pregnant and that the two were together.
Buffy was lying, watching her lover sleep. Dawn had come home a half an hour earlier, making her way quietly through the house. Now everything was quiet and Buffy assumed her sister was asleep. It was not late though, and Buffy was not tired. She had been lying there, watching Spike sleep for over an hour, she guessed. She loved to watch him sleep. His features became so peaceful, so soft.
But tonight, it was not enough.
Quietly, Buffy got out of bed. She collected some clothes – the few ones she now had to choose between since she got pregnant – and left the room. Patrolling was always good when she could not sleep, and the sweep she and Spike had done on the way back from dropping Dawn of at a friend's house had not been long. So, she made her way to one of Sunnydale's many cemeteries.
"Oho, nasties, where are you? Vampires? No vampires?" Her voice rang out in the quiet cemetery. Her senses were on as she walked through the dark.
Suddenly, a vampire charged her. He jumped at her from behind, but having sensed him, she got out of the way and he missed horribly, landing on the ground and hitting his head on a nearby tomb. The dizzy vampire got up, and charged again at the Slayer. He threw kicks and punches at her, all of which she blocked with ease.
Spike woke up with a startle. He was slightly confused when he could not feel Buffy's presence around him – a presence that he had gotten used to the past weeks, and immediately woke up when he realized she was not in the bed.
The pants and the shirt that had been hanging on one of the chairs were gone and he knew she was not in the house. If his senses told him the right thing, she had gotten the bright idea of going out on patrol by herself.
"Bloody Slayer," he growled to himself. He got himself dressed. Normally, he did not mind her going out on patrol. He was not going to be like Captain Cardboard and be all over protective, but something about tonight was off.
He checked on the Nibblet, and she was snoring in her room. He would not have to worry about her.
He ran outside and wondered which way she had gone. Finally, after realizing he had no clue, he closed his eyes and let his senses for her take over.
Buffy was breathing hard. After dusting the first vampire, there had come another, and another, and now there were six of them surrounding her. They had gotten in a few good kicks at her, and pain was searing through her body. She was beginning to realize that maybe, just maybe, going out on patrol alone had not been a very good idea.
"You'll be a feast, Slayer," one vampire snarled. "And that little baby inside of you…" He pointed at her swelling belly, which was hiding under a sweatshirt but still was showing, "We'll eat that too…"
They advanced, all at once, and began throwing kicks and blows at her. She blocked, ducked and dusted two vampires quickly, but the other four were getting to her. One punched the side of her face, and she could feel the blood taste in her mouth.
A vampire charged and kicked her in her stomach, figuring it was the most sensitive place to hit the Slayer at the moment. A searing pain went through Buffy's body, and she screamed as she fell to the ground. More kicks followed and tears fell down Buffy's cheeks, all the while she was screaming. A blow was directed to her head and then she knew no more.
He heard her scream and ran faster than he ever thought possible. She was on the ground, and vampires were surrounding her. He had two stakes with him, and one of them had penetrated a vamp before he knew what hit him. Then Spike threw the remaining three off of Buffy, who was lying motionless on the ground.
He charged furiously, kicking and punching and staking the vampires in just minutes.
"Never, ever touch her again," he screamed and kicked the last vampire with every word, before staking him.
Tears glistering in his eyes, he bent down to her.
"Buffy? Love, can you hear me?" he asked touching her bleeding face. As carefully as he could, he got an arm around her back and one underneath her legs, and he lifted her up. She moaned and opened her eyes.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, crying and clutching her stomach. "I'm so sorry."
"No, it's okay, love, it's all right, everything is okay, you hear me?" He began walking as fast as he could without hurting her more.
"I'm sorry, Spike, I'm sorry…" She was slipping back into unconsciousness. "I love you…" she whispered finally, before quieting down.
He heard her words and almost stopped right then and there, but came to his senses and continued.
"You are not giving up on me Buffy, after all we've been through, you are not giving up on me…"
He reached the destination, and as he entered the hospital, he yelled to the personnel for help. Buffy was put on a stretcher and doctors surrounded her. A nurse gave Spike a bunch of papers to fill out, about insurance and information on Buffy. Spike filled in everything he knew before walking over to a telephone booth, where he put a few coins in and dialed Giles' number.
"Rupert Giles speaking," he heard the tired voice on the other end.
"Watcher, it's Spike," Spike hurried, not knowing how long the coins would give him.
"Spike, it's two in the morning!" Giles sighed.
"I know that, Watcher. But I'm at the hospital. Buffy's here, and she's hurt and they are checking her right now, and I don't have a bleeding clue of what is going on!" Spike could hear himself start rambling – something he under normal circumstances would never do, but these were not normal circumstances.
"I'm on my way," Giles said.
"Will you pick up Nibblet on your way over here? I don't want her to wake up to find us gone."
It surprised Giles how thoughtful Spike could be sometimes, and this was one of them. "I'll get her and come to the hospital as soon as possible," Giles said to Spike. The two hung up and Spike began pacing up and down the hospital waiting room.
It was half an hour later when Dawn came running into the waiting room with Giles close in tow. The younger of the Summers sisters threw herself around Spike and he hugged her.
"How is she?" Dawn asked. "Giles didn't know anything."
"I-I don't know," Spike said, walking over to the couches in the waiting area. At two thirty in the morning, there weren't that many people and the three could talk without disturbance. "They are not telling me anything. That sodden nurse over there refuses to say a thing."
Giles stood sat down in a chair facing Spike's, while Dawn had seated herself next to Spike, leaning on him. They sat in silence, Giles and Spike both deep in thoughts involving the Slayer, and Dawn who soon fell asleep in Spikes lap. Distractedly, Spike stroke Dawn's hair the way Buffy always did. It was something that neither Dawn or Spike really noticed, but Giles did. He had noticed everything the former vampire had done; every new habit he had acquired and the whole new lifestyle he had adapted.
It was not until the clock on the white wall hit six that a doctor came up to them, a tired look on his face.
"Mr. Walthrop?" she asked and Spike nodded.
"This is Buffy's sister, Dawn, and her friend Giles," Spike introduced the other two present after the doctor sent them a questioning look. "How is she?"
"She has a concussion, and the side of her face was beaten pretty badly, but she'll live."
"And the baby?"
Dawn had never seen Spike more serious or scared ever in her whole life. His teeth were pressed together, making his face's features hard, but his blue eyes seemed to plead with everything there was that his child was still alive. Dawn was not sure he was breathing.
"Through some miracle, the baby is still alive. But," she added at Spike's relieved look. "We don't know if it has been hurt. There is still a chance of loosing it."
Dawn squeezed Spikes hand, not knowing any other way to try to comfort him at the moment.
"Can I see her?" he asked, his teeth clenched. Dawn knew he was holding back tears.
The doctor nodded an agreement. "She has been asking for you, the few times she has been conscious. But please, if she wakes up, don't tire her out."
"I won't."
The doctor called on a nurse and she came up to them. "Will you take Mr. Walthrop to Ms. Summers' room, please?" she asked and the nurse nodded. "Follow me."
It was white bed, the walls were white, the sheets covering her was white and the bandage on the side of her head was white. Buffy's face was deadly pale and her eyes were closed as Spike slowly walked into the room.
"Buffy?" he whispered to her still form, and her eyelids fluttered. He sat down by her side, and held her hand in his. "Love?"
Her mouth parted and a raspy, "Spike?" came out. She opened her right eye, the left one being swollen shut.
"Shh, don't talk, you just rest," he shushed her, stroking her hair and the side of her face that was not swollen and bandaged.
She lifted her hand weakly, and placed it on her stomach. "Is it…?" she mumbled.
"Our baby's still alive, Buffy, don't worry," he whispered. "Everything will be okay."
Exhausted, Buffy shut her eyes, and with her hand gripping Spike's she fell back asleep. Spike just sat there, watching her.
"You guys really didn't have to come here," Buffy said the next day, when all of the Scoobies were gathered around the Slayer's bed. "The nurses will throw a fit when they see how many people there are in here." She giggled a little, but then laid back down, too tired really to be talking and active.
"How could we not come?" Willow asked. "I mean, check this place out. All white and, uh, cool to be in."
"Yeah, the lovely interior and we thought we'd come over and make you feel all better," Xander said. He was hand in hand with Anya, with whom he had gotten back after several weeks of persuading in form of flowers, chocolate and cards. He had told her he had accepted Spike, just as he had accepted Anya since they began getting to know each other.
"It's really sweet of you guys. Thank you."
Spike sat on the side of the bed, content and quiet with one arm around Buffy. Giles sat in the corner of the room in a chair, watching the two on the bed and everyone around, just as content. Dawn, Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya were either sitting on various sorts of furniture or just plain standing. On the table by the bed were a big teddy bear and a card, signed by all of the Scooby Gang.
A nurse entered the room just moments later and just as Buffy had thought, she threw a fit.
"There is not supposed to be ten people in this room!" she screeched. "One! Or two, if they are family, at the time!" And with that, she promptly threw everyone but Spike and Dawn out.
Later in the afternoon, Spike was the only one left in the room. The others had left after a while since the mean nurse was not about to let them in. Giles had taken Dawn home after Spike had promised he had be home before dark.
"How are you feeling?" he asked Buffy, as she made herself comfortable on his by-now asleep arm.
"Better. Still only about fifty percent, but that's better than yesterday's minus ten… And you know who I look like?"
"No, love, I don't."
"I look like you after your run-in with Glory. Your face was all swelled up and purple and red like this too."
"But then you left me on a cold slab of cement. No one took me to the hospital."
"No, it's kinda hard to have a vampire in the hospital since the nurses have this tendency to check your pulse and vampires kinda don't have one."
"You're so funny, Slayer."
"Actually, we were horrible to you back then. I should have taken you home, or at least given you some first aid. Instead, I just kissed you…"
"And I didn't really object as I remember."
"Nah, you didn't. On the other hand, you thought I was the robot." He looked ashamed at the mention of the BuffyBot. He hated the thing with passion, and when they had had to revive it to fight Glory, he had felt like throwing up. Red had not been able to un-program the loving-Spike-deal, and the robot had come onto him several times. And, being a programmed robot, it had not understood what it meant to be rejected.
"I'm sorry about the robot, Buffy."
"I know you are. Don't worry about it, it's in the past now. Just like I hope my stupidity is."
"You know it is," he said and then decided to change the subject slightly. "Buffy, yesterday, when I was carrying you here… You told me…"
"I told you I love you," Buffy said, first looking down at her hands, then meeting his gaze. She saw the worried look, and behind that the saddened look and she knew he was expecting her to tell him that she had not meant it. She looked down at her hands.
"I meant it."
She heard him grasp in surprise. "Spike," she continued, this time looking at him the whole time. "I do love you. I've been meaning to tell you for weeks, but I haven't dared. I'm so scared, you know that. I'm scared of this –" she motioned at her stomach "– and I'm scared of us."
He smiled and cupped her non-swollen chin in his hand. "I'm scared too. But believe one thing, pet. I won't ever leave you."
She cuddled closer to him and let him kiss her forehead.
"Thank you," she mumbled.
Buffy was released from the hospital two days later. Her wounds had healed quickly due to the Slayer healing, and once the doctor had run a couple of tests on the baby in her belly, and had concluded that it seemed perfectly all right, she was given an okay on going home. Spike and Dawn picked her up on the afternoon three and a half days after she was brought in. The two had just come from Dawn's high school, where Spike had picked her up for once.
"So, there is this guy, Richie, and he's really, really cute, and Lisa says he's into me. Isn't that so cool? Sabrina says he's gonna ask me out."
"Well, I don't know Nibblet, boys that age can be bad. They're just thinking about one thing," Spike replied as he carried Buffy's little bag of necessities in one hand and held Buffy's hand in the other, on the way out to the car.
"Whereas you two never think about sex, or what?" Dawn said, raising her eyebrow. "I can really see that," she muttered, shooting a look at Buffy's growing belly.
"I'm just saying, don't get in over your head, all right?" Spike asked.
"Yeah, yeah, we would only be going to the Bronze anyway, what's the big deal? It's not like he's taking me to some lone hilltop or anything."
"No," Buffy said, "Cause I wouldn't allow you to go in that case."
"I know."
Dawn got into the backseat, Spike in the driver's seat and Buffy next to him.
"Shouldn't you go buy like baby stuff soon? Clothes and carriages and things, you know?" Dawn asked as Spike drove the car out of the parking lot.
"In a while," Buffy replied, yawning.
"Tired, pet?"
Buffy nodded. "Don't know why. Haven't really done anything but slept for the last few days, now have I?"
"It's understandable. Your body went through some trauma; you should be tired. The doctor was surprised at how fast you recovered though."
"You see, Slayer healing is a handy thing to have."
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