~Chapter Six~
AN: Thank you to the people who voted for a name.
There was no sign of Spike when Buffy returned to the apartment later. She tossed her jacket over the back of the couch and headed for the bathroom to tend to her gash. She shucked her dirty clothes then took a long scalding shower before getting out and throwing on a pair of shorts and a camisole. She bandaged her stomach and then headed out of the bedroom. In the living room was the baby names book she had been reading. She picked it up and flopped onto the couch to read, totally clueless of the trouble that was brewing.
She didn't look up when she heard the door open, knowing it had to be Spike even before his scent confirmed it. She just wondered why he was just then getting back since she was the one who had gotten sidetracked. Had he ran into trouble as well? Had Riley went after him after Angel scared him off? She dropped the name book in worry and got to her feet quickly, looking him over to assess if he seemed to be hurt.
"Spike..." she said softly with a slightly questioning tone.
"So where is he?" He walked forward to look down at her darkly. He registered the smell of blood and his eyes briefly left her face to search for the cause. He couldn't see anything and knew it wasn't just feminine causes since she was now a vampire. His attention returned to her face as she answered and left that question for later.
"Where's who?" she blinked at him. "And what took you so long... you weren't attacked as well, were you?" Her eyes roamed over him in much the same fashion he had and she tried sniffing for blood.
For a brief second, he was amused as he watched her nose working like a bunny. She was trying to scent him and working a little too hard for it. Kind of like when her nose wrinkled when she tried to think really hard on something. He waved it away and told himself to stop acting like a sodding ponce. There were things to suss out.
"The magnificent poofter... saw you an' him, I did." He nodded firmly. "Thought you'd be able t' keep it from me with a little shower t' get his scent off ya?" He leaned in close with his jaw working. "You're mine, got it? Won' have you goin' 'round flip-floppin' between us, leadin' us both along like good little puppies lappin' up the attention you toss our way."
She thumped his chest angrily. "Knock it off!" Her lips pressed for a moment then she put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. "I wasn't going to keep him from you at all! You just got in the door and laid right in to me, not giving me a chance to tell you what a hell MY night was. No, you jump to conclusions and come in here being a bastard to me!" She pushed him back away from her. "Jackass! If you'll shut up I'll tell you what happened to me!" She rolled her eyes, unbelieving that seconds ago she had been worried about this... this... she was too angry to even come up with a good word for him.
"Fine. You got my attention, Slayer. What happened t' you an' how does Angel play int' it?" His face softened fractionally and he leaned his hip against the chair with his hands shoved in the pockets of his duster. "Have somethin' t' do with the blood I smell?"
"Yeah. Riley's not dead," she began, raising a brow slightly as she gauged his reaction. Yet another Ex for him to possibly get pissy about. When he didn't fly off the handle, she continued. "Well, DEAD, but not gone dead. The brides apparently turned him back at the castle. He... was less than thrilled when I told him to buzz off cause I was with you. Even LESS thrilled when that included the news that I was pregnant with your child. He attacked me and well," she lifted her shirt to show the wound, "was going for the baby. Started raving about it being signs of the apocalypse or something. I think he's gone crazy or something after his ordeal."
His hands went out to span her abdomen, careful of the slash. "Pet... I'm sorry I wasn' there..." His azure eyes lifted to hers apologetically, all anger gone so quickly. "Is it bad?"
"Might've need a few stitches if I were still human, but the fact I'm full on blood and with the vampire healing and stuff... I'll be fine," she moved his hands away gently so that she could lower her shirt again, almost pouting at the loss of contact even if she had been the one to break it. "It could probably have been worse. Our child and I might've been dead if it hadn't been for Angel. He came along and scared Riley off."
He growled softly, hating that he was indebted to the poofter for saving his mate. "Not that I'm not glad he saved you, but what the hell is he doin' back in Sunnyhell?"
She sighed and sat back down, picking the book up again. "Apparently word travels fast. He heard of a turned slayer, and considering the very few options for who it could be he came to make sure I was all right." She tilted her head and looked up at Spike, saying gently, "He was concerned, okay? For all he knew, I was a soulless undead going around munching on my former friends."
"Well now he knows better an' he can go back t' wherever he came from," he slid down onto the couch beside her, pulling her close to cradle between his legs with her back to his chest. His hand stroked her stomach idly, feeling their child only the faintest much at this stage.
"But don't you think we could use his help with dealing with Riley? I doubt he's just going to decide he's not crazy anymore and leave us alone." She sighed. "Not to mention the, hello, hellgod that's after our baby? I'm pretty sure we're going to need all the help we can get on something like that. I've never faced a god before... and I know you're going to be as overprotective of her as I am. So, the more help protecting her, the better, right?"
"Right, can' be too careful with itty-bitty's welfare," he sighed. "Sure, we'll use his help if he wants t' stay t' help with the hellgod. But, I hope he understands that you're my mate an' if he tries anythin' he's liable t' get staked." He growled slightly and tightened his hold on her.
She rolled her eyes at his possessiveness. "Yes, I explained that to him. Please have some faith in me at least. Even if he did try to make some sort of advance, it would be completely shot down."
She turned her head to look at him and feathered a kiss at the corner of his mouth. She felt him hardening against her back at that brief kiss and smiled, pleased that she affected him so much.
He relaxed now that he felt the matter was settled. "Going t' stake Captain Cardboard when I see him for what he tried t' do t' you an' itty bitty." His hand snaked around her to take the book from her hand and hold it up where he could see. "An' what is my little goldilocks readin' that's been so interestin' lately?"
"Eh... a book with baby names... I know its early still, but I was curious about at least starting to find some I like... take sometime to see how they sat with me instead of deciding the name that's going to be with this child their entire life on the spur of the moment like some people." She chewed on her bottom lip and took the book back.
"So, anythin' strike your fancy yet for our little bit, luv?"
"Mmm hmm, a few names. I'll mark them and see if they still sound good later. You never know with the whole pregnant mood swing thing. I also got one of those books that tell you just about everything you need to know about being pregnant and having a baby." She nodded proudly. "Studying even though I'm not in school anymore.. One year of college has ruined me." She chuckled and waved a hand. "Always have my mom to discuss things with if I need to... she has been through this before you know."
He smirked in amusement and nodded. "Fancy readin' that as well. Want t' be able t' take care of my girls properly." His hand stroked her stomach with affection. "An' do I got any say on the name here? Mine as well."
"I'll run it by you... but do you really think I'd end up naming my child something silly?"
"I don' know... Buffy... who knows what your hormones may lead you t' think is a good name for her."
"What's wrong with Buffy, Spike? And I doubt my hormones would get so bad I'd want to name her after a fruit or something." She pouted and flipped through the book.
"Now, don' be like that, pet. Jus' wanted my fair share of the fun of havin' a baby." He nuzzled her neck, inhaling her scent. It was even sweeter now that she was pregnant with his child.
"I understand and later we'll both read that book together." She covered his hand with her own.
*****
Angel headed across town towards his old mansion, figuring to stay there again now that he was back in town and unsure of how long he would be staying there. Buffy had briefly mentioned something about a hellgod during their conversation after he ran off the fledgling that had been Buffy's recent boyfriend, Riley. And oddly enough, even Angel would have thought he would be the one to be taking Buffy's relationship with Spike badly. He couldn't deny he did feel a bit upset at hearing that this relationship included the fact that she was pregnant with his child. That had given way to shock though when he had tried to work out in his mind how two vampires could be having a baby, which had led to the hasty explanation of it being a key she needed to protect from a hellgod.
So, even though he might be uncomfortable with the whole Buffy and Spike thing, he was going to help her as long as she allowed. It might be Spike's child, but if he would do his best to protect her child since it was Buffy's and for the next few months, protecting the baby would include protecting Buffy while they were connected. At the same time, being an interesting balancing act of being there for them while keeping his distance from Spike as much as he could. While he wasn't looking to cause trouble for them, he wasn't so sure sparks wouldn't start flying the moment Angel and Spike got together. They didn't need there to be bickering vampires constantly when energy should be used to stop this hellgod.
He paused, coming out of his thoughts when he sensed the presence of vampires approaching. He glanced around warily. Who knew what kind of minions this hellgod had... even vampires. He frowned when he saw three females emerge from the shadows to his left, dressed scantily and eyeing him like he was a particularly tasty dessert.
*****
Buffy went home the next day, apparently just to get fussed over by her mother. Granted, this was her first grandchild, one that she thought she might never have after learning her daughter was the slayer. So Buffy just went with it and let her do her fussing. She sat back and listened to her mother go on about all the tips she had for her daughter regarding the next nine months.
"Mom, I got this huge book that tells me just about everything I need to know. I did good and already started reading it. With Spike even... wasn't even sure he could read, but hey." She shrugged. "I'll take good notes and we can schedule study breaks so you can look them over." She grinned as she teased her poor mother.
"You're a wicked child. But, there are some things that might not be in that book and you'll only learn from talking to someone who's been through all this before," she shook a potholder at Buffy. She had been looking so drawn and tired since she returned from the hospital, but talking about the baby always got some of her a bit animated again. "I hope you remembered what that woman told you, even though you're a vampire now, you still have to eat really well for the baby. You never really even ate very well as a..." she obviously had difficulty saying it, "well before. So please remember to eat well."
"I will... you know Spike won't let me get away with skipping even one meal... practically force feeds me," she made a face at the battle they had that morning in fact. She lifted her watch and checked the time. "Well, I have to meet the others at the Magick Box. You make sure to take care of yourself, mom." She kissed Joyce's cheek.
Joyce shoved a tupperware dish of still cooling cookies at her daughter. "Make sure Spike gets some, too. Call if you need anything, no matter the time."
"I will, mom..." She pulled the hood up over her head and hurried out the back door. It was already starting to get dark out, she had been at her mom's for awhile now talking about the apartment and the baby.
She hurried into the Magick Box a short time later. She dropped the hood of her jacket and peeled it off to toss it aside as she headed towards the back of the store to join the others. Spike was already there and got up, sliding his arm around her and nuzzling a kiss into her hair. They ignored the disgusted sound that came from Xander's general direction. He would just have to eventually get over it as far as they were concerned. Buffy sat down and scooted over for Spike to sit beside her then rested her arms on the table to lean forward.
"So... anything on the researching front yet?" She asked hopefully.
"Well, without a name it is quite difficult to distinguish which hellgod we are dealing with. There are several. All of them could have uses for a mystical key, I must say. Anyone would if they wanted a power source for something big." Giles sighed and shook his head. "Until we get a name, there is little we can do but keep our eyes open."
"My baby is not a big battery," she pouted. "And they said key, so there has to be a mystical lock out there."
"Yes, but still... before it was given form as your child, it was big ball of energy and others would use that irregardless of its intentioned purpose. You understand that. You may need to protect your baby from more than this hellgod."
She continued to glower at the table top, not liking this one bit. Why couldn't everyone be like vampires and go all 'oh no, slayer, run!' so that she wouldn't have to worry about something coming after her baby. The would just see that the slayer was protecting the baby and then run for the hills all scared-like. She was jarred from her thoughts by the sounds of the bell above the door announcing someone was entering the shop. She would have thought customer except for the gasp from Willow.
Buffy looked and her own eyes about bugged out. Angel had come in, which would have been enough of a surprise for the others. But, Buffy's shock came from the fact that the three brides were crawling all over him. He was trying to dislodge himself from them so he could walk, but every few steps they all became entangled again so that progress was slow across the room.
She started to stand with a growl, but Spike held her back tightly before she did something bad. Giles was wiping at his glass animatedly and muttering, while Xander blushed scarlet and muttered an excuse to hurry up the stairs to look through the books out of sight.
"What the hell are they doing here?" Buffy settled for scowling at him dangerously from her seat since Spike wouldn't let her up.
"You... knew he was in town again?" Giles asked as he replaced his glasses and avoided looking towards the scene.
"Yeah, was going to tell you in a minute, but he sort of blew that idea out of the water, didn't he?" She went back to glaring.
"Buffy, I didn't bring them here willingly. I was heading back to my mansion last night after we talked and they just appeared! Now they won't leave me alone," he grunted as he tried to disentangle himself again. "Something about needing a new master. But, they won't take no for an answer."
"And they're not just dust because..."
"I can't get a chance!" He motioned, or rather tried to, as they just seemed to attach themselves to him again.
"Fine, let me do it." She started to stand and started swatting wildly at Spike when he still didn't let go of her. "Let go, let go! I'm only going to dust the sluts... and why did you stop me in the first place, wouldn't you have enjoyed seeing me stake Angel?!"
"Calm down, pet. It's not good for you or the baby." He said calmly as if she wasn't boxing in his ears that moment. Sadly, it was probably just that he was used to her abuse by now. "An' yes, normally I would dance in his dust, even help you. I just don' see how that's goin' t' do us any good right now. We need all the help we can get with protectin' the baby."
"That doesn't explain why you're still stopping me from dusting the sluts! Have you forgotten what they DID to me??!!" Her her voice was raising and her eyes were wide as she clawed at him.
This wasn't going well. This called for one of the few times he would ever bring himself to enforce his Sire's bond over her. He cupped her head in his hand and vamped, speaking in a low voice as he held her eyes with his gold ones. "You will relax an' go t' sleep, rest."
She continued to fight him weakly for a moment before slumping against him unconscious. Spike relaxed as well once he stopped having to fend her off and was sure she wasn't about to hurt herself. He cast Angel a hateful glare as he stood with her cradled in his arms.
"How dare you bring them here." He hissed then looked over at Willow. "Red, please do some of your mojo t' get rid of the vampsluts before Buffy wakes. I'll take her int' the trainin' room t' get her t' calm down a bit."
The others looked at each other worriedly after he disappeared into the other room with the slayer. They were a bit surprised by her outburst, but the worried looks turned to accusatory ones in Angel's direction. None of them moved for awhile, even the brides had stilled as they realized their fate seemed to be in question. Willow finally stood after a moment, looking like she was going to do just as Spike had asked. The brides recognized this and disappeared in three puffs of smoke.
Angel relaxed finally. "Look, I didn't mean for all that to happen. They wouldn't get off me and I was actually hoping you guys would help me get rid of them." He looked at them tiredly. "Well you scared them off for the time being, so thank you. I didn't know she would react like that. I really didn't. She didn't tell me very much... I didn't know..." He ran his hands over his face and through his hair. "I'll just get out of here for now and keep on trying to see what I can find out through my connections."
He turned to leave and the Scoobies just looked amongst themselves, unsure of what to do. Maybe it was best he leave so they could avoid a vampire war in the middle of the shop.
Tara stood and put her hand on Willow's shoulder. "I'll go check on them and see if I can help any. This also reminds me, I was going to suggest that since we couldn't find anything and probably won't until we know more, then maybe we could do a different bit of research. Somehow I really doubt we'll find anything about pregnant vampires, but from what Buffy told us it seems that the Powers told her to treat it like a normal pregnancy. So... why not just find out about pregnancy so we can be helpful... and maybe even some small charms and potions to help her during the next nine months. I'm sure she'll really appreciate something for the morning sickness and the discomfort and the pain even." She nodded.
Giles raised a brow and smiled. "Yes, that does sound like a nice idea for a diversion from the recent depression we've been under. We'll get to that."
The witch was pleased to get approval for her idea and smiled as she headed for the training room. She poked her head in tentatively, hoping tempers had calmed down and if they had that the two weren't being intimate. "Hey..." she said softly as she tried to peer into the darkness.
"You can turn on the light, Glinda." He told her softly and she did.
He was sitting on the couch with Buffy curled up in his lap, still out of it. Tara went over to sit at the other end of the couch, folding her hands in her lap.
"Guess you can sense he left, yeah?" He nodded and she continued. "Do you... is there anything I can do to help?"
"Nah, thanks, luv." He gave her a kind smile as he stroked Buffy's hair. "I'll jus' take her home in a bit an' let her sleep it off. I'd ask you t' jus' erase her memory of what they did t' her, but she wouldn' approve of that an' if she ever found out she'd dust me." He sighed.
"Yes, in the very least, if would have to be her choice," Tara nodded in agreement and motioned towards the door. "We're stopping researching this hellgod and the key for a bit, for a much cheerier research subject. We're going to learn all we can about pregnancy so we can be helpful. Willow and I are going to see if there's anything we can do that'd help with her morning sickness and anything else to make this easier on her."
"That's right nice of you all," a slight smile curved his lips, glad that even though the child was his and most likely going to bring lots of trouble for the group that they were still supportive. He stood, carrying Buffy towards the door. "She bought a book as well. We've been readin' it t'gether an' it tells us lots of stuff about being pregnant. She'll be pleased t' have all of your help an' she would be overjoyed at the prospect of somethin' t' keep away the mornin' sickness."
He carried Buffy back out into the shop and everyone looked up curiously. "Right then. I'm goin' t' take her back t' the apartment. Figure t' tell you what she had planned t' say before we were distracted. Last night after she left you guys, she went on patrol t' fee an' ran int' an old friend of ours. It seems Soldier Boy was turned. Attacked her an' went for the baby, raving about it bein' a sign of the apocalypse. Angel scared him off, though."
He shifted Buffy as a heavy silence followed. "Figure after that, he deserved t' not be dusted on sight today. Sure he'll know better next time, hopefully. We need all the help we can get protectin' itty bitty an' as long as he doesn' cause anymore trouble then I won' either. Know you blokes worried about us havin' it out..." He shrugged. "Like I said, I'll behave as long as he does, though."
"How very... mature of you," Giles said, but not with his usual sarcastic tones. "Yes, please get her home and we will continue with our little pet project. Though, I have one concern. According to what Buffy told us, the messenger made no mention of her body temperature. The fetus will need to be kept warm, but you realize as a vampire her body is quite cold like your own. Maybe her body will develop a sort of fever to automatically keep her warm during the pregnancy, but if not you should try to keep her warm. Just as you would with an incubator, for pregnancy is like an internal incubator. So I suggest as soon as you get home you wrap her snuggly in layers of blankets."
Spike lifted his brows. He hadn't even thought of that. It made perfect sense and he was glad Giles had brought it up before damage was done to his daughter. He smiled warmly and nodded before leaving the store.
He carried Buffy into the darkened apartment, not bothering with the lights. There was no need. He could see perfectly as he made his way to the bedroom where he laid her down on the bed then went to get more blankets like Giles had suggested. He slipped into bed beside her and curled up around her, hand stroking her stomach affectionately. His itty bitty daughter was in there. Blessed with a child he never thought he would have after Drusilla turned him. A blessing brought to him double fold by this little slayer. She might not be sure if she loved him yet, but he knew... it was only a matter of time before she realized it. He kissed her temple and slipped into peaceful slumber.
tbc...
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