~Chapter Five~
AN: LoL, Just wait til the Angel part of the challenge comes into play, muahahahaha. I got an LJ, wooooo. Liz_a_Summers Oh, and hey, my adoring public *wink wink* feel free to vote for the name you want them to name their baby:
-Melody
-Isabella
-Gabriella
-Jocelyn
The next night, Spike dragged Buffy through the cemetery to do some patrolling like Aislinn had told them to do. Buffy was dragging her feet and glancing around uneasily. Every time Spike looked away, she tried to duck and flee, so now he had a firm hold on her arm just to make sure she didn't try to make another run for it.
"But, they'll find out I've been turned and then word'll spread. All the demons and vamps and other baddies'll start coming out of the woodworks to take advantage of it to get rid of me. Don't you even care?" She looked up at him and tried to bat her eyes at him. She stuck out her lower lip and asked sweetly, "You're my Sire... aren't you s'posed to be protecting me from the bad people trying to hurt me?"
"It's also my job t' make sure you're well fed." He rolled his eyes at her and tried to ignore the lure of her beautiful upturned face with the adorable pout. "Now, pet, I don' mind lettin' ya feed off me all you want, but if worse comes t' worse an' somethin' were t' happen... you need t' be able t' take care of yourself. Wouldn' be doin my duty by you... jus' like a parent with their child... gotta teach them t' be self sufficient." He nodded solemnly.
She pouted for real and kicked at a rock. "Still don' see how patrolling's supposed to help any..."
"We'll jus' see. Give it a chance." He chuckled. "An' 'sides... not takin' you t' get your hair done an' do your shoppin' until you feed."
"Well we've been out here for awhile and so far we haven't seen a-"
She was cut off as a couple fledges came out from behind a crypt they passed and rushed them. She rolled her eyes at the irony and ducked as one lunged at her, bringing her elbow up into his gut then tossing him aside. He hit a tombstone and tumbled over it. She leaped over the stone with her stake and vamped out as she pinned the fledge to the ground. He struggled with her and she tried to stake him, accomplishing opening a big gash in his shoulder.
At the smell of the blood, her nose twitched and she stilled, pinning him to the ground by his upper arms roughly. The motion caused the gash to tear more and blood flowed even faster. Her eyes were transfixed by the sight of it pouring down his shoulder and onto her hand. She bent her head dazed and licked at her hand, then with a growl latched her mouth onto the gash in his shoulder. She drank deeply, making little nummy sounds unknowingly.
Spike staked the other fledge and then turned, brows furrowing at the sight of Buffy on top of the other fledge. Feeding. His lip curled in disgust. She was feeding from the fledge and obviously enjoying it. He watched with interest as it became obvious to him why Aislinn had tipped them off to taking her on patrol.
Buffy fed deeply to the point that the fledge beneath her turned to dust and she fell forward with a mouth full of vamp dust. She spat it out and wiped at her mouth, glancing up towards Spike. Her nose wrinkled as she came back to herself and thought about what she had just done.
"Turned slayers drink vamp blood," he stated the obvious softly as he helped her to her feet. "An' the human blood I tried t' give you made ya sick..."
"I guess it makes sense... sorta..." She brushed herself off and straightened her clothes before looking up at him again. "I mean, slayers protect humans and hunt vampires. It makes sense that the Powers would make it that we would continue our mission even being turned, not letting a little thing like death stop us. The whole being less vulnerable to certain things and the soul helps to that end as well, don't you think?"
He nodded slowly. "I guess... yeah, it does..." He played with an unlit cigarette, not really liking the idea that they could still use his Childe like a puppet. But, they had proved they could when they did the near impossible and made her pregnant. All this paled in comparison to that. Not that he wasn't secretly pleased at the idea of having a daughter, especially after giving up on that idea once he became a vampire. The idea that it was with Buffy... that was still a bit tricky... "Still hungry, luv, or you want t' get on out of here?"
"I'm good and I'm eager to go get on with my new vamp make-over," she nodded with a big smile and started bouncing towards the entrance to the cemetery. "Then we can go check out that place that your friend found for us. Still not sure about the trusting your friends thing... but hey... as long as the place is cozy... and not booby trapped..."
He laughed and followed after her. "Oy, not all my friends are baddies out t' destroy the world. Clem happens t' be quite a nice guy. You'll like him once ya meet him..."
"Maybe... but not holding my breath there..." she chuckled and he swatted at her backside. She looked at him, pretending that his light swat had hurt bad. "Watch it, mother of your child here!"
"Which reminds me... somewhere in all that, we gotta get you somethin' real t' eat for the lil poppet," his arm slid around her as they walked, hand stroking her stomach lightly. "Gonna think of her name soon or we jus' gonna keep callin' the child 'her' an' 'it'?"
"Lets name her Dru," she wrinkled her nose at him playfully then dodged away when he went to swat at her backside again, "Just kidding!" She smiled up at him and shrugged, "And anyways, we have time... no need to do it the day after we find out I'm pregnant. We have time to see if any names grow on us."
He nodded. "Of course, pet. There's other things we need t' think of, anyways. An' baby stuff t' buy..."
She made a face. "Lots of stuff to do and get straight for a baby..." She sighed and then frowned. "Like how to get it out without it hurting." She nodded and rubbed her stomach. "Oh oh... and morning sickness... vampire puke? Gawd, I don't wanna experience vampire puke..." She shook her head vehemently.
"I'm sure if you talk t' Red and Glinda they'll be able t' cook up some potion stuff t' help with the morning sickness and later the pain."
"Maybe... but til then... the whole getting my hair done and shopping will make me feel better." She gave him a small smile and nodded before heading into the beauty salon. She stood by the front desk and turned back to him to tease lightly, "Maybe they can do something about your hair..."
"I'll leave you here slayer..." he grumbled his threat and twirled a cigarette between his fingers. Gawd, he was going to miss lighting up... but even before they found out she was pregnant one of her many rules had been no lighting up near her. He had balked, but now with the baby he was more than okay with the rule for the sake of his little daughter.
"That's okay... then it'd be peaceful for a bit," she teased some more and waved when one of the ladies started to lead her to the back to begin. "Hey, Spike, what do you think of me getting you name tattooed on my butt?" She wiggled it at him before disappearing around the corner with a giggle.
He groaned. Bloody annoying bint would be the end of him... it was any wonder why he cared for her so much. He was becoming a big plonker over her... He sighed and flopped into one of the chairs in the waiting room, slouching low and huddling in his duster. It was only going to get worse, he knew. What with her being pregnant with his child and him vowing to take care of her. Oh, the softy he was going to become over his daughter! Probably let her get away with murder and have him wrapped around her little pinky. He continued to mutter to himself under his breath the whole time Buffy was in the back getting her hair done.
"Oh, Wiiiiilliaaaaam," came a flirtatious call from the back a good while later.
He glanced towards the direction of the call and quickly stood up as Buffy stepped into view. A goofy grin spread over his face as he saw her posing to show off her new hairstyle with a grin. It was cut just above her shoulders and a bit lighter with a few red streaks to it. It had been curled out in a bouncy way and just begged for his fingers to bury themselves in it.
"Do you like it or does that grin mean you think I look funny?" She stopped and tilted her head, looking up at him with brows lifted in question.
He walked over until she was pressed back against the wall and looked down at her for a moment before giving in to the urge to bury his hand in her hair, catching it to tilt her head back. He kissed her hard for a moment before releasing her. "Absolutely gorgeous."
*****
Spike stepped into the apartment first and turned on the lights before moving aside so Buffy could enter as well. He took the bags of clothes from her hand and set them down beside the door, then set the take-out bag down on the table. The apartment was fully furnished already with dark, semi-posh furniture. He took her hand, closing the door behind her before leading her deeper into the apartment.
"It's got three bedrooms an' a good sized bathroom. One bedroom for us, one for the wee poppet, an' the other can prob'ly be used for trainin' if you don' think its too small." He pulled her towards the double doors at the back of the living room. "Got a balcony an' out here's a hot tub that'd be nice for your sore muscles after trainin' or patrollin'. Prob'ly be nice as you get on with the pregnancy... though might be best not t' turn it too hot then."
She nodded and looked up at him with a small smile. "Looks really nice." She tilted her head and chuckled, "I apologize for teasing about your friend giving us questionable leads. He did good and you can send him my thanks." She walked around the apartment, sticking her head in each room briefly before meeting him back in the kitchen. She hopped onto the counter. "I give my final approval." She grinned. "And we can get Willow and Tara over here to do a cleansing... maybe put a nice protection spell on the place, especially the nursery..." She shrugged.
"Right then," he nodded with a small smile. He grabbed her bags and went to toss them into the bedroom closet. "We've got a home for us an' the poppet, so that's one major t'-do checked off our list." He came back and braced his arms on either side of her lap, leaning forward to kiss her. "Redecorate it any way you like, pet. Know you birds like t' do that... 'specially pregnant bints... nestin' or some such nonsense."
"Wow, you're such a suave talker..." she made a face up at him with a chuckle. "And anyways, looks just fine to me... though, decorating the nursery is gonna be so much fun." She smiled widely and bounced slightly. "We can use Disney princess stuff and make it all cute and adorable."
"Long as we tell NO ONE," he waved his hands in front of her. "Got a reputation as the Big Bad t' protect an' all..." He crossed his arms and pouted slightly.
She laughed. "Riiiight.... and the Big Bad is gonna be wrapped around the finger of a little blonde haired girl."
"You don' got me wrapped around your bloody finger!" He said indignantly and paced away, not going to admit that maybe she did a little. Not like he'd ever admit it to anyone.
"I meant the baby," she rolled her eyes and slid back off the counter. She walked over to him and went around to stand in front of him. "You think you're all big and bad and tough... but I know that the moment that she looks up at you with her big innocent eyes you're going to melt and go all mushy over her. Probably gonna spoil her rotten."
He looked away with a scowl. Bloody annoyin' bint... "Am not." Then he looked back at her with a frown. "Look, shut your gob, slayer, or we can go back t' livin' in my crypt an' the poppet can be raised like a sewer rat." He turned and stomped off towards the balcony to escape the knowing emerald gaze.
Buffy chuckled and shook her head as she turned to get out the burger he had bought her. He would be a big softy over the child and he knew it, but was in denial as far as she was concerned. Oh well, soon enough he'd be cooing over her rounded stomach he won't be able to deny it any more. She nodded to herself and sat down to munch on the burger.
*****
Buffy was glad for the excuse to escape the house full of fawning friends. Her mom was back from the hospital and the others had been there to throw a small welcome home party for her. While they had everyone together, Buffy had dropped the news about her being pregnant. To say they were shocked about a pregnant vampire was an understatement. Giles repeatedly made mention of lots of research to be done about this thing, even after Buffy told him it had been the Powers That Be and they had told her what she needed to know for the most part. If research helped him deal with it, though... Oh, then had been the double shock of it being Spike's kid. Xander had stomped out of the room angrily and Willow had went to talk to him with the hopes of calming him down before he did something rash. But, after that had been the fawning of the soon to be grandmother. That had seemed to the small ice breaker for the others to actually start cooing over the thought of the first Scoobie baby. She had breathed a big sigh of relief as they started to talk about baby showers and such.
She touched her hair and sighed. All the excitement had apparently distracted them from the new vamp Buffy make-over she had given herself with the somewhat shorter locks with the red streaks. As well as her new outfits, though one of the tame ones because this was with her mother and friends, not just Spike. She had on her black leather skirt with a dark red halter top and knee high boots. She had thrown on her long leather jacket over it. She figured with the whole pregnancy thing she had a limited time to be wearing the super sexy for awhile.
Thankfully, no one had asked about the whole unwed mother thing, but she figured because they could only handle her having a baby with Spike at the moment and weren't ready for her being all mushy in love and marrying him. She couldn't even remember if she mentioned she was living with the guy. Oh well, if she didn't it was good because Xander would have fainted and if she did, it was good that he didn't faint.
Heck, Buffy was sure she wasn't ready for that sort of thing. She only recently moved on from hating him to passably liking him with boinking privileges. Gawd, she was such a slut... She ran her hands over her face as she headed towards the cemetery for her usual nighttime feeding. Ugh, necking fledges... she made a face at the thought.
It didn't take her that long that night to find a couple fledges to feed on. She was just finishing off the second one when she sensed someone approaching. Another fledge apparently. Ohhh... she was too full to feed on this one... would just do the old fashioned staking. She got up and turned around to face him, but stopped and blinked wide-eyed.
"Riley..." She swallowed and started to back away. "They said you died." Well duh, that's why she sensed vampire. Oh god, they turned him, too. She back up into a headstone and stumbled. "This isn't right..."
"And you dry humping and necking vamps in a graveyard is?" He looked at her with lip curled in disgust.
"I... I was feeding... I have to do it that way... human blood makes me sick and obviously a turned slayer feeds on vampires..." She swallowed again and tried to calm her frazzled nerves. She had gotten all the shocks to her system she could take lately and this was not helping.
"You always did prefer the press of a dead body," he said darkly and started walking towards her. He spread his arms wide. "Am I good enough for you now? I'm not just some powerless human you have to protect and I got the fangs you lust after."
She looked up at him with wide eyes, trying to remind herself that he was now a soulless vampire. He wasn't a slayer and didn't get to keep his soul. The things he was saying... it was the demon talking. She just needed to keep reminding herself that it was the demon talking. She still felt tears stinging the back of her eyes. She chalked it up to pregnant hormones or something...
"No. No, you're not because I don't love you..." she shook her head slowly.
"You love Spike?" He arched a brow and scowled at her. "His stink is all over you." Then he tilted his head, "And there is something else I can sense... but just faintly..."
She put her hands over her stomach and kept backing away from him. Her mouth opened and closed, not completely sure how to answer his question. "I... I don't know... I..." She sighed and shook her head. "I don't owe you any answers. That's mine and his business..."
"I take that as a no?" He smirked and started advancing on her again. "I feel sorry for the child, to be brought up by parents that can't stand each other." He made a face of mock-pity as he came closer and closer.
Her back hit the crypt behind her and she scowled up at him. "Hey! It's not like that! I said my feelings for him were none of your business... and just because I'm not sure if I totally love him, doesn't mean I HATE him! I... I-I care for him! I do! I'm just still working out how much I care..." She glanced down at her stomach briefly and then back up at him. "And you leave my little girl out of this! Just because you're all jealous crazy because of Spike you won't take it out on her, she's innocent! And she will be raised by loving parents! And my friends will be there, too... even if they don't care for Spike, they're still happy for the baby!"
She glared up at him, but yelped when his hand shot out and caught her throat. He lifted her off her feet and snarled. She kicked and struggled as he lifted her higher, but now they were both pretty much on equal footing power wise. Both fledge vampires. He had advantage in size now, though. She cursed to herself as she kept trying to fight him off. It was the demon, not Riley. It was the demon.
"Buffy Buffy... how you've slipped... becoming the whore of some mass murdering vampire... letting yourself believe you two have feeling for each other... and baring his demon spawn..." He reached out with his free hand, drawing his nail over her stomach and leaving a bleeding line in it's wake. "I can't let that thing growing inside you continue... who knows what kind of apocalypses these sort of things bring on... the child of vampires..."
"NO! Leave her alone!" She shrieked and started clawing at his arm frantically. "Riley, stop!"
He started to pull his arm back to punch her or who knows what, and her eyes widened even further if that was possible. But then he was gone as some blur of black flew at him as she fell to the ground gasping for unneeded air and rubbing at her neck. She swallowed and looked over to find Angel on top of Riley, pummeling him then reaching for a stake that Buffy had dropped. She quickly scrambled over on hands and knees to grab Angel's arm.
"No, don't," she croaked.
"But he attacked you and tried to harm you, he's turned and not the same guy. The guy you knew is gone." He looked over at her with annoyance. "Buffy, you better than anyone know that your friend died the moment they drained him and it's only a shell that a demon took over when their sire turned them."
"But Spike doesn't have a soul... and he's not like he once was..." her voice shook and she turned to look at Riley, but blinked when she saw he was gone. "Dammit..."
"You know he's just going to come after you again." He helped her up with a sigh. "Spike... well... that's different. He's taken over a hundred years and that chip... Riley is gone. Face facts, Buffy." He brushed himself off and motioned towards the entrance to the cemetery then started to walk that way.
She followed and shook her head. "I guess... if he does come back and try to attack me again, I'll... I'll try and stake him, or Spike'll probably do it for just looking at me the wrong way... actually, once I tell him he's probably going to just go out hunting Riley right away." She put a hand over her bleeding stomach and glanced up at Angel. "I'm all with the thankfulness for you saving me, but what're you doing back in Sunnydale again?"
"Heard about a turned slayer in the area... figured it wasn't Faith so it had to be you and came to check it out." He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a handkerchief, handing it to her to hold over the cut. "Guess the rumors are true. So, what happened?" He was avoiding the whole Spike issue for the time being, not having missed the way she had talked about him.
"Well, short edited version, Dracula came to town and set his sights on a slayer conquest... was doing his best to work his thrally stuff on me while making Xander a Renfield... had Xander kidnap me... held us both captive and he turned me... Giles, Riley, and Spike came to save me... Spike was s'posed to distract Drac while they found me. He got a surprise when I was with Drac and killed Drac to get me out of there, while the brides apparently found the others. They killed Riley. Giles got Xander out of there as soon as the brides ran off when they sensed Drac's death." She let out a breath. "Yup, that was the short, edited version."
"I'd hate to hear the long, detailed version then." He ran a hand through his hair. "Spike saved you... why?" He arched a quizzical brow in her direction.
"Would you rather him have left me there to be Drac's latest bride and fuck toy?" Her eyes flashed blue with irritation, not ready for Angel to get all broody over her being with Spike. And, she knew she was going to have to just tell him. No getting around it. He needed to get the message that she was with Spike and there would be no Angel coming in for a short visit to mess with her emotions.
"No, of course not. I just... it doesn't seem like Spike." He vehemence in defending his Grand-Childe confirmed it for him.
"Maybe the Spike you knew... but not the way he is now. Like I said, he's not the same Spike. Heck, maybe part of it has to do with the chip... but that only keeps him from harming humans... it doesn't make him actually HELP them like he's been doing." She stopped and turned towards Angel near the gates to the cemetery. "Look, you saw the rumors are true for yourself and thank you for saving me from Riley... but if maybe it'll be best if you leave. I don't want you starting trouble with Spike."
"You and him... you're together, aren't you?"
"Well... yeah, we sorta are. I'm living with him and I guess we're dating or whatever."
He ran his hand through his hair again and looked at her with a pained expression. "Buffy..."
"Wait. That's not the only thing... I... I'm pregnant... and it's his." She winced when he cried out in surprise. "It was the Powers... something about it being a mystical key... they sent me a messenger to tell me." She held up her hands. "Now don't start... please... I'm happy, I really am. All my friends and my mom are being understanding as best as they can."
"Even Xander?" His brows shot up.
"Well... he's trying... he's stopped running from the room angrily... for the most part... he just gets that 'I'm either gonna faint or be sick' look that Giles used to get." She nodded and then smiled. "Yeah, and Giles is okay with it for the most part... though he's trying to bury himself in research to deal with everything that's happened since Drac..." She shrugged.
He let out a slow breath and ran a hand through his hair yet again. She idly wondered if she was going to go bald from that and blinked, coming out of it when he spoke. "Well, if they can try, so can I... at least, not cause any more problems for you. You have enough at the moment. In fact, I think I'll stay around a bit... try to help some."
She bit her lip. "Thank you."
"Now, tell me more about this mystical key business."
They both left the cemetery, heading towards town discussing what Buffy knew and catching each other up on what had happened in each other's lives recently. Across the street, there was a low growl emanating from the shadows of an alley. Spike watched the two ex-lovers come out of the cemetery together, acting chummy again. He pulled out a cigarette and started puffing away angrily. He had come to check on Buffy and found her with his Grand-Sire. The big poof better not have designs on his woman and Buffy better not have ideas for trading up. He flicked the cigarette and turned to stomp off.
tbc...
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