"Boon you're shaking so hard you're causing a bloody earthquake," Spike grumbled under his breath.

"Sorry," she replied meekly, only trembling more with fright. Spike slapped her on the back and pushed her forwards.

"I'll take point. If a Polgara jumps out, hack its arms."

"What?!"

"You're the Slayer - there's nothing a demon's more terrified of in all the world and it's me who's trained you. You're the bloody wrath of God - believe it! I do."

"You do?" He gave her a nod and saw her beam with pride, then steel herself and stride on. After another half an hour though, it became frighteningly apparent to Spike that there were no Polgaras out here and that there never had been. He vamped out and growled, putting Boon on guard."What is it?"

"We've been tricked."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, Slayer, Buffy and Andrew are in danger. As the understanding passed between them, the pair began a sprint back to the house, Spike snarling and spitting out expletives as he ran. He couldn't believe he'd been such a fool. Connor was the son of Angelus alright, to say the least.

***

With Andrew passed out on the sofa, Buffy had allowed herself a moment's repose. She'd only meant to give her eyes and back a rest. The lower part of her abdomen was under pressure, she knew she could go into labor at any moment. Her exhaustion finally overcame her and she nodded off. Some time later when a hand clamped over her mouth and another pressed her down to the bed, she snapped awake, ready for a fight.

"Stay quiet, Buffy!" a man warned,"They're coming for you, I'm here to help!" She'd remain quiet, but that didn't mean she wouldn't still mash this guy into next week. Andrew however, roused from his own slumber by the disturbance, beat her to the proverbial punch. The monk was pounced upon and pulled off Buffy, the two men falling off the bed and tussling on the floor. Buffy turned on the lights in time to see Wesley Wyndam-Pryce getting royally bitch slapped upside the head by Andrew."Buffy!?" Wes exclaimed, sounding every bit as spazzy as when they'd first met.

"Andrew, honey, let him up," Buffy asked. Andrew gave Wesley a nasty look and got up off him."Wes, if I wasn't so happy to see a familiar face I'd punch it."

"That's nice to hear, lovely to see you also." Picking himself up off the ground and righting his monk's habit he wore, he launched himself immediately into it,"I do wish there was time for a proper explanation, but there simply isn't time, we must leave this place immediately."

"Come again? I'm not going anywhere, especially without Spike."

"Buffy, the Polagara was a ruse to separate you from him, they're coming to take the baby from you." With those words a deadly chill set upon the Slayer.

"Does Cordy know about this?"

"Cordelia has no part in this, but she cannot help you. Buffy, this concerns the Key and your sister Dawn, there just isn't time to explain."

"Talk faster then. I'm not going without my husband or Boon."

"Buffy..."

"I mean it." She was as infuriatingly stubborn as when they'd first met and every bit as stubborn. Wesley sighed and quickly gathered his thoughts.

"Dawn was made from your essence in an elaborate and complicated spell in order to house the power of the Key. So much so that the monks here do not have the capabilities to repeat the process, but the baby is ready made. They mean to take it from you, pre-born and infuse it with the Key. After that...the monks, they're fatalists, you see? They're a cult and hardly a holy order at all. There is nothing holy in this place. They believe in accomplishing what the First Evil could not....Buffy, do you understand what I'm meaning?"

"They're going to kill my baby?"

"Yes, but not if I can prevent it. I've been living here all this time, knowing that you would come, as was prophesied. Please, we must leave now, they could come at any moment. You must chose between Spike and the life of your child. What would he want?" There were the sounds of footsteps approaching the door and Buffy went into action. She slipped on her sandals as Wesley and Andrew armed themselves,"We'll have to fight our way past and make a run for it." The monks came in a dozen strong and her two protectors soared into battle. Buffy picked up a sword herself and went to join but turned back to take something with her, the baby blanket Spike had given her.

They'd made it past the first wave and were running at breakneck speed through the house to escape. Wes looked back only once, to see Cordelia in all her effulgence atop the stairs and the two shared a knowing look. After over a year of waiting, the first part of their plan had come together.

***

It's not too much further," Wesley told them,"I assure you it's quite safe and unknown by the monks. I don't doubt Spike will be able to follow however, he is your mate after all." They had been on the move for over an hour, running hard to the most of it, something that was none too easy for Buffy in her condition. She wasn't particularly surprised when the cramps that had come upon her in transit had finally defined themselves as active labor.

"Come on, sweety, give mommy a break here," she whispered to her child.

"Just around this bend."

"Good thing, Wes. My water just broke."

Chapter 32

"Spike? What's wrong?!" Boon cried, rushing to the vampire's side when he lurched forward and nearly keeled over, clutching his middle. He was breathing hard, eyes clenched tight from apparent pain. He fought past it and straightened, though his abdomen still quivered and roiled against him. He felt it then, he felt Buffy sending her will out to him, begging for him to come to her. The claim he'd put on her was powerful indeed, never before had he felt her so completely nor so strongly inside with his demon and his soul.

"I think...I think...if we don't get to them soon...run faster, don't mind me, get to Buffy and Andrew at all cost, you understand me Slayer?" She pulled him up straight and wrapped her hand around his forearm.

"Let your demon out again, it'll help I think. Won't it?"

"You're starting to get aren't you, girl? Starting to feel your power?"

"I am."

"And what's it telling you?"

"Same thing. Let's get 'em!" Spike let his demon come out again and roared.

"Right!!" They broke into another sprint, running wild and hard through the forest, determined to reach their mates in time.

***

Buffy paced back and forth in the small room of the cave deep inland from the house and lake. She held her back and rubbed her stomach, trying to center her breathing. The contractions were coming every ten minutes now. All the while she was silently pleading for Spike to find them.

"I need to sit down," she whimpered. Wes had been preparing a place for her to give birth as best he could. Under his monks' habit he wore plain clothes, and had hidden a few immediate supplies - food and water, first aid and his monk's knife. Skint supplies for a woman about to have a baby. Without her husband by her side. Wes helped Buffy down to sit, with her back against the cave wall, down on the spread out monk's habit. It was then that she burst into tears.

"Oh god, I can't do this! I can't do this!" she cried, hiding her face in her hands.

"Buffy, I'm sorry," Wes said, crouching down beside her,"I wish this could have been done different, but things must play out in a certain way. I admit, I never planned for you to go into labor."

"Plan?! Wes what was wrong with last week? Or two months ago!?"

"Buffy in the months you've been at the house you've been well fed, tended to. I saw you when you arrived, you were too thin, under nourished and Spike wasn't fairing much better, nor was your friend Andrew or the other Slayer. You were under enormous stress, we thought this time would strengthen you for the situation we're in now."

"Who's we?"

"Cordelia and I primarily..." Buffy let out a cry, another contraction coming on.

"Where's Spike?!!" She sobbed through her body's tensing, feeling the baby pushing down and a need to push herself,"Please, go find him...I need him. Please Wes."

"I can't leave you, not now. You're vulnerable and I cannot risk you being found alone. I'm prepared to deliver the baby. I've never done something like this before and though the Council never prepares a man for this, even those sent into the field, but I've watched the Learning Channel...though not in the past two years."

"Wes, shut up!!"

"Andrew can help." The mouse squeaked, trying to hide behind the baby blanket he now held.

"I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies!!" the mouse cried. It made Buffy smile, despite how dire the situation was.

"Andrew, sweety, just hold my hand, please," Buffy bade, reaching for him. He nodded and sat down next to her, passing the blanket to the needy mother about to be. Time passed, nearly an hour and Wes was telling her to breathe and to push. Andrew put his arms around her and tipped his head down to her and hugged her while she cried for Spike and felt the baby coming.

***

Spike wasn't doing particularly well in his own right, he was, to begin with deathly afraid for his wife and child, but it was coupled with a dull unrelenting and unexplainable ache in his abdomen. He wasn't allowing it to hinder him, but the pain was increasing in intensity, even the demon couldn't keep it at bay. As they ran back to the house, he forgot nearly everything in his surroundings and opened himself to the voice that had been calling for him these past hours, Buffy's. It wasn't as though he heard it directly inside his head, it was more the sense of her, the connection they'd formed through their claim. He understood where his physical pains were coming from. Buffy was under great duress, fearing for their baby, feeling out of control and alone. The anguish washed over him in waves and spurned him on.

The sounds of angry voices barking out orders came to the vampire's ears a couple of hundred yards from the house, halting Spike and Boon as he grabbed her and pulled her down behind the cover of the lower trees. He shushed her before she had a change to protest, then keened himself towards the voices. The Slayer was missing, so was the boy, they had to find them before it was too late. Before what was too late? Spike wondered. Taking Boon by the hand, he led them in a wide arc around the perimeter of the house, trying to discern what the nature of the commotion was, to see if the monks were to help or to endanger Buffy, Andrew and themselves. Coming close on to where the front path leading down the main doors Spike caught a familiar scent in the air, three of them in fact. The first two were familiar, unforgettable, Buffy and Andrew, but so was the third. Mingled with the essence of his family was the monk from a couple of months ago, the monk that had almost killed him. Spike's stomach clenched down hard and he nearly felt the urge to vomit overcome him. He turned himself and Boon away from the house and set himself upon the trail after them, praying he wasn't too late. If that monk had Buffy....he couldn't bear to think about it.

Chapter 33

The night was bleak, summer was turning to fall and the late August sky was promising rain at any moment, maybe even a storm. The weather had been hot and arid for two weeks, making it the perfect climate for thunder and lightning. As the vampire and young Slayer trekked through the wilderness as quickly as they could force their bodies to move. Boon hadn't seen Spike's human face for hours and his eyes near glowed in the dark of night. He led the way, pulling her along as she was unable to see in the night as he was. Buffy's scent still lingered in the air, a thick vapor trail that filled his head with her, urged him on and made his exhaustion and stomach ache a nuisance rather than a hindrance.

When the odor of her blood assaulted him, he stopped and gave an animalistic cry, grabbing on to Boon, his vampire face slipping away. He crumbled before Boon's eyes, breaking down in sobs, using her to hold him up. All his worst nightmares were coming through, his senses telling him that he was too late and they'd been taken from him just like in his dream.

"Hey! Hey Spike!?" a familiar voice called. It was Andrew. He was standing twelve feet away from them in front of a cave that had gone unnoticed until the boy had called out for attention.

"M...Mouse??!" Spike gasped.

"Buffy's..."

"Where is she!?"

"Inside..." Boon was abandoned and Spike rushed passed Andrew in search of Buffy. She was huddled in the corner, in the dark but still discernible. She looked sickly and wasted, but that wasn't all. Her face turned to see him and she smiled weakly, there was something cradled in her arms. It took a time for the knowledge to sink in, but when it did it slew him.

"I've missed it?" he sobbed, still a a few yards away from where Buffy was seated, holding the newborn. The most monumental moment of his entire existence and those bastards had kept him from it. He'd missed his baby being born, and suddenly Spike knew the greatest regret of his life, the greatest pain. The emotions on his face showed no joy, tears rained free down his sharp cheekbones, his face sunken and tense. Buffy couldn't look at him any longer, she'd have done anything to have turned back time, but it had been beyond their control."I can't have missed...I've been waiting all this time for it...I missed it?"

"I'm very sorry," Wesley said solemnly, laying a hand on the vampire's shoulder,"There simply wasn't time. We would have waited for you if I'd thought it safe, but they were coming for Buffy and I knew you'd put their safety first. Spike drew back, unknowing of who this person even was, only that in their first encounter he'd threatened Spike's life.

"He's a Watcher, he was my Watcher for a while. I told you about Wes, remember?" Buffy said,"I'm so sorry, William, I don't even have the words for how sorry....but she just wasn't gonna wait, even for her daddy."

"Sh...she?" Spike stammered, eyes widening as he took in a sudden breath,"She? We have a little girl? Oh Buffy!"

"Come here, honey, meet your daughter." He hadn't actually looked upon the baby's face yet, now realizing how foolish he was being. Right before him was everything he'd been fighting for, living for. He crossed the divide between them and knelt down Buffy and then eased himself in beside her. Buffy pulled back the corner of the blanket that covered their daughter's face. The baby was wincing and her little mouth was working itself into expressions with her tiny fists balled up at her chin. The cave was darkened, but the little light there was seemed to frighten her and she turned into the warmth of Buffy. Spike was crying, he couldn't help it, and so was Buffy. He leaned down close and pressed his cool lips to the baby's very warm forehead. She made a soft coo and snuggled closer to her mother. Spike looked on her with awe, feeling such a swell of love bubbling up inside him that it overwhelmed him. She was finally here, she was warm and tiny and all his and Buffy's.

"Buffy, please, we must call her Anne. I know we never decided, but..."

"Anne it is, after your mother. Anne Joyce."

"Beautiful....god, there's nothing more beautiful than our girl, is there?"

"Nope, not a thing. Would you like to hold her?"

"May...may I?"

"Of course, she's yours." Buffy placed the gently squirming bundle in his two hands. She whimpered, terrified at being away from the warmth of her mother, hands grabbing urgently at nothing but air and becoming increasingly distressed. Spike looked at Buffy, terrified also.

"I....I don't know what to do! Am I hurting her?!"

"Shhh...no, sweety, just bring her close to you."

"I'm....I'm cold Buffy....I haven't a heartbeat....babies like heartbeats...here, take her back."

"No, William.. You have to learn how to do this, to be everything she needs. You're the one she's always going to come to, always. You're the first man she'll ever love....so hold her and love her. Just follow your heart, follow your blood, like you always do."

"I'm scared, Buffy love." Buffy put her hands under his and gently guided Anne closer to him. He turned the baby into him and brought her against his chest, tucking her warm, downy head under his chin and against his neck. She instantly curled herself into a tiny ball and slowly calmed, somehow sensing just exactly who he was and how much he loved her. His two hands covered her entire fragile body. He held her and wept and made silent promises to her. Buffy opened her arms and Spike folded himself into her, their daughter between them."I love you so much my sweet Anne, love you both so much."

"We love you too, Spike." After a little while Anne, started to whinge, startling a still very nervous Spike."I think it's time I try to feed her. Remember that time on the beach? The night we got married? You said this was what you were looking forward to most." He backed himself and Anne away a little and she unwove the interlacing cord that fastened up her nightgown. When it was undone to her middle, she pulled the fabric away to reveal her milk heavy breast."I was reading those books, I think I know how to start....and I think I know how, you know? Just being her mom....I know." Spike guided the baby down and with Buffy's help, latched Anne's sweet little lips to the leaking nipple. He held her until Buffy had her supported in her arms, holding her head to the breast. From then on they let nature take over and after a few tentative, uncertain starts, mother and daughter began to bond as child took nourishment from the one who'd given her life. Spike's fingertips stroked Anne's cheek, feeling her taking her first milk, feeling further warmth spread between the three of them. The baby closed her eyes and was lulled into a peaceful state of bliss.

"What does it feel like?"

"It's different...hurts a little....but it's beautiful. I thought I knew before, what love was...but this is better. We made her, Spike....she's you and me....I just....I don't need anything else, ever, just her....." He kissed his wife's lips and smiled, understanding all of what she didn't quite have the words to express. Oddly enough he began to hum, then whispered as he sang to them.

"Alas, my love, you do me wrong, to cast me off discourteously. For I have loved you well and long, delighting in your company. Greensleeves was all my joy, greensleeves was my delight, greensleeves was my heart of gold, and who but my lady greensleeves. I have been ready at your hand, to grant whatever thou would'st crave; I have waged both life and land, your love and goodwill for to have. Greensleeves was my delight, greensleeves my heart of gold. Greensleeves was my heart of joy, and who but my lady greensleeves...." Anne began to suckle a with a little more determination, already showing a few of her inherent vampire traits.

"She likes her song," Buffy whispered, starting to drift off to sleep. She hated to pull Anne away, but she needed to shift her to the other side. The moment the nipple was pulled form her mouth the baby started a loud squall, but it disappeared when a new source of sweetened warm milk was offered. Once the nursing started up again, Buffy smiled up at Spike, who was still singing softly, then turned back to her daughter and closed her eyes.

"Sleep, love. I'll take care of her when she's filled up. Rest now, I'll keep watch." He took off his duster and lay it over his wife and daughter, then wrapped them both up in his arms.

Chapter 34

Boon and Andrew snuggled together on Buffy's right hand side, while she snuggled up to Spike on her left. Spike had bundled Anne securely in her blanket, swaddling her in the snug semblance of being inside her mother. All the while his wife and daughter had slept he had watched them, unblinking and constant. They were miracles, the pair of them. Across the six foot expanse Wesley stood with his eyes to the mouth, a sentinel. It was too much of a risk to make a fire, so they remained in the dark for the rest of the night. As the Buffy had slept, Wesley repeated the story he had told Buffy.

It was close to sunrise, though it was hard to tell with the cloud covered skies, but the night had remained fairly peaceful. Buffy and Anne were further wrapped in the duster, staying as warm as possible. Buffy had woken some time ago, but said nothing. Instead she curled close into her husband, eternally grateful he was with them again. She was at peace in the circle of his arms and the attendant comfort of his embrace and like him studied Anne's sublime face. Buffy eased down a little further, laying her head on his chest and tucking the baby's head under her chin. Both hers and Spike's hands covered the tiny body.

"Is she warm enough?" Spike whispered. Pulling the leather up to Anne's chin.

"Yes, honey, she's plenty warm, between you and me," Buffy said.

"I was worried...I'm always so cold."

"Don't be talking that way, you're nice and warm."

"You've made me so...not just with this Slayer body of yours that makes beautiful babies, but with your heart."

"A heart that used to be broken, used up and cold....and then you just wouldn't go away."

"Couldn't do that, pet, I was in love with you. I knew, I just had to wait until you knew too." Underneath the blanket of the coat, her left hand gave his thigh a reaffirming squeeze.

"I won't ever forget it. How could I? Gave you a kid and everything."

"That you did, love, that you did. She has your nose."

"Yep, but your eyes."

"It's dark, how can you tell?"

"When she looked at me, it felt like you. I promise, once we get her out in the sun you'll see they're a perfect match to yours." Anne gave a quick, fitful jerk with her limbs, just learning that she had more room to move about. She whimpered and made a sad little mew, the beginning of her crying again,"Shhh....mommy and daddy's have you, you're all safe...." Anne continued with small gasps of air that came out with tiny cries, still scared of this open world,"Spike, sing to her." Spike complied, the first few soft words of Greensleeves hummed softly at Anne's ear. Abruptly he stopped and quickly pulled away and got to his feet. The action startled both mother and child and the baby began to cry.

"Someone's coming..." Wes came to attention, drawing out his knife, while Spike picked up the sword he's had with him previously and Boon did the same. It was, much to Spike's surprise, Connor who appeared at the cave's opening.

"Finally!" Wes said, exasperated,"You should have been here hours ago."

"I know," Connor replied, trying to catch his breath,"It's all going wrong...they're right behind me."

"Damn!"

"What the bloody hell's going on here!?" Spike demanded. It was then that Connor showed them what was in the leaded strong box he was carrying. He shook off Spike's disdain and knelt down, placing the box on the ground and opened the lid. The entire place was filled with the glowing power of the Key. Anne stopped crying and hid herself from it, curling into her mother's breast.

"It took Cordy too long to convince them to bring it to her, even longer for me to escape with it. I can move twice as fast, but they're still coming after me, they'll be here soon enough. They still want the baby."

"Over my dead body!"

"You might be a daywalker, but you're still a vampire, 50 monks against you? One lucky stake and the Slayer and the child are helpless. Escape is the only way....we've known this for over a year."

"Spike, Buffy," Wes began, taking over the explanation,"We're still on schedule, the plan that I formulated with Cordelia and Connor. We've found a way to set things right. Cordelia came back from where the Powers sent her, with a clear vision of every day to come up until this one. It wasn't supposed to go quite like this..." Spike grabbed Wesley by the shirt and slammed him back against the cave wall, the man winced as a jab of stone caught him in the back.

"You tell me what you lot've done in messing around with the lives of my wife and daughter!!" Spike roared.

"We're trying to save them! Save us all." Connor and Spike heard the monks at their doorstep at nearly the same time,"Spike, Buffy, you must do as I say, your child's life depends on it. Cordelia has done something to the Key, I don't know what precisely, but she assures me that it will be able to take you to a time and place before the apocalypse."

"When and where, Wes?!" Buffy asked, wanting to get to her feet but still too drained from birthing Anne to manage it,"China two thousand years ago?!"

"I don't know, I'm trusting Cordelia on this."

"You need blood to open that Key," Spike stated.

"I know..." Connor went off to meet the first throng of monks, trying to hold them at bay long enough for the portal to be opened. Wes took his knife and slash it across his palm. As the droplets fell from his hand and over the energy sphere, there was a disturbance in the atmosphere that resulted in a vortex opening beneath it. The energy of the Key poured down the electrified funnel. The portal was slowly draining the Key and Wes dry,"Jump through. You must hurry, no time to debate! I won't last long....once the blood stops..."

At that moment a trio of monks breached Connor's resistance and came at them. They were stopped by Boon. The young Slayer ignored the danger and did what any natural born Slayer would do, protect the innocent. Andrew was about to leap into the fray, but Spike grabbed him by the collar,"No time for debate," Spike said, deadly serious.

"But..." the mouse tried to protest.

"I'll get her, just bloody jump!" The vampire pulled Andrew to the edge of the portal. He also helped Buffy to her feet and into the leather duster and wrapping it around her and Anne. He gave Andrew a push and bravely the boy leapt and then he was gone, swallowed by the energy,"Boon come on!! Boon!!" Wes was weakening, the Key draining his life's force, the portal couldn't remain active much longer. The young Slayer was in the thick of it, too far out for Spike to reach her and still get back to make it through himself. It would have risked it, but just then Buffy wrapped her arm around his waist and hugged close to him, Anne protectively sandwiched between them. Spike knew he'd never be able to forgive himself for what he was about to do, but he left one Slayer behind, took hold of Buffy and jumped.

As the last seconds of reality slipped away and Spike felt them shift from one dimension to the other, a shock of memory hit him. The portal created by Dawn all those years ago had closed only when Buffy had passed through, not just from the draining of blood. If it needed to be so this time also...

Spike reached out at the last possible second and caught the hem of Wes' pants, pulling the former Watcher through the portal with them.

Chapter 35

There was an audible *snap* in the air as the portal between the previous world and the one they now found themselves in closed. Spike landed from the ten foot drop on his back, cushioning Buffy's fall and consequently Anne felt non of the impact. The jarring however had her upset and crying. Wesley landed next to them with a dull thud. Spike ignored the other man and carefully rolled he and Buffy on to their sides,"Love, are you hurt?" he asked urgently.

"We're okay," Buffy gasped, staring up at the trees that surrounded where they lay and gently rocking their daughter. Beneath her was soft, lush grass, a little moist in the shade with late-morning dew. Anne was quieting and snuggling at her mother's chest, wondering why she'd ever left the warm place inside. When her father's hand began to rub her back, the tension left her body and she relaxed upon Buffy,"Is everybody okay?"

"Wes, mouse?" Spike asked, looking up, but seeing only Wesley struggling to his feet,"Andrew?! Andrew?"

"Spike, where is he?"

"Don't know, love." Spike rose to his feet, scanning the area, finally setting his sights on a patch of the lawn that was indented where the boy had landed,"He was here, pet, but he seems to have run off, don't worry, I'll wrestle him back here and give him the lecture about straying."

"Where do you suppose we are?" Wes asked, standing on the other side of Buffy, peering out over the gatherings of trees.

"Sunnydale," Spike and Buffy replied in unison, Spike continued,"The cemetery where I had my crypt is a few hundred yards off to the left, the town's to the right, or at least I hope they are, no telling what year it is until we investigate."

"How can you tell?"

"I know the trees, we both do, spent...uh...many a night alone together here."

"Oh...oh I see."

"Yeah, well...." There was sudden disruption that knocked both Spike and Wes to the ground and started Anne crying again. The Earth gave a mournful groan, not through the soil beneath them, but the entire planet. Buffy looked at her husband with eyes full of anguish, his reflected the same. They knew exactly when they were. The earth shook and Buffy wrapped both her arms around Anne, trying to shield her from everything."I remember what the First Evil told us...what it's telling the other Spike and Buffy right now."

"I can't think about it," Buffy said, cradling her daughter as close as possible,"Not right now." He crouched before her, reaching out to pet the top of Anne's head.

"Buffy, love, remember what the First told us? The only way to cease the Hellmouth's eruption was a sacrifice born of love. Pure and true love."

"No..." She shook her head in denial.

"Pet, listen now, listen to me, we both know what's about to occur and what's to be done about it. It's why Coredelia's sent us back. I gotta do it, or it'll happen all over again. The death, the disease, the end of the world, I have to do it. There's no one else and we both know it. Come on now, give us one last kiss at least." She denied him, instead rocked Anne in her arms and whispered soothing words in her ear,"Fine then, without my kiss."

"How can you? How can you talk like this? How can you do this to Anne?"

"I've held her in my arms, kissed her face, looked into her eyes. As blue as you promised. It's more than I'd ever hoped for, more than I ever deserved. What wouldn't I do for you, Buffy? What wouldn't I sacrifice of myself so you can live? And what wouldn't I do for Anne? Buffy, we created her, from our love, how could either of us not do what right so our little girl can grow up in a world with Willow, Dawn, Xander, Anya, Giles and Dawn? And you won't be without me entirely - the other Spike's still here."

"He's not my husband! He's not Anne's father!! You bastard, you can't do this to us! Spike, please!!" She grabbed on to his arm, trying to pull him down with her.

"I know you don't mean to call me that, I know how much you love me. There's no one else, love, time's out...I gotta go now....gotta go...." He broke himself away from her grasp, her fingers refusing to tear away from the skin, scratching down his arm. He let her scrape all the way down to his fingertips. Buffy was too weak to follow, to stop him and the desperation in her sobbing, clutching their daughter to her was not the last image he wanted to remember, but it was them nonetheless."Love you both forever."

"No, no, no.....Spike...." He turned and started to run. He didn't look back when he heard Buffy scream for him, heard those screams turn from words to mournful howls. When Anne's own cries joined her mother's he almost went back, but instead he quickened his pace, broke into a hard sprint, the tears streaming down his face. He'd found the resolve to do this. He'd failed last time and let Buffy's pleas stop him, he wasn't going to fail again.

Chapter 36

It seemed to Andrew that he'd been standing over the gaping opening in the bottom floor of the school for years instead of minutes. Below in the basement the Seal of Danthazar had opened with an army of Turok Hans waiting to be unleashed. He saw an incarnation of the First Evil taunting another Spike, the one from two years ago that was to become his best friend. The other vampire was preparing to jump down to his doom, while the other Buffy was telling him for the first time that she loved him.

"Mouse?" his own Spike asked. Andrew turned around and faced his friend,"Been wondering' where you'd gotten to. What are you doing mouse? It's dangerous there on the edge." Spike was twenty feet or so back from where Andrew stood. If the boy slipped accidentally Spike didn't think he'd catch him in time.

"I remember where I was," Andrew began, his voice fluttering with nerves,"I was gonna help, but I got scared and went and I hid in the equipment room near the gym."

"Yeah? I was..."

"I know, right down there with Buffy," Andrew pointed,"In a couple of minutes you're going to walk away, so you and Buffy could be together and make....make Anne. Buffy let me hold her, for just a second though. It was nice, she didn't cry. The baby that is, Buffy was already crying."

"'Course my little angel didn't cry, you're her Uncle Andrew. You're gonna teach her all about old fantasy stories, read to her from The Lord of the Rings, watch Star Wars n' tell how her dad's just like Han Solo...."

"You can to that, and you are just like Han Solo."

"Yeah, but I know bugger all about Red Dwarf."

"I think they're out on DVD now."

"Good to know....mouse, come on, time's a wasting."

"It is. Spike? Do you think you'll go to Heaven when you die?"

"Dunno...I've killed many..."

"I just killed one. Does it make a big difference?"

"Not for us to answer, but I hope and try to have faith."

"Maybe I can to then, if you can."

"That's good, pet, now come away."

"Spike, can you make me a promise?"

"What is it? Anything if you just step closer over here a few paces."

"Take the other me to Portland some day?"

"What?"

"A sacrifice, one born of love, right?"

"Mouse?"

"That's right, isn't it? That's what you told me two years ago when we were all hiding out in the sewers."

"That's right...mouse, come here. You're too close to the edge there, it's making me nervous. Come here. Come right bloody now!!"

"I love you guys...tell Buffy and Anne."

"We love you too, oh god, Andrew please don't..."

"Bye." Andrew smiled at Spike, sweet and innocent and as quirky as ever. He turned away when the vampire came running for him and took a step forward.

Right before Spike's eyes, Andrew fell down through the open hole and was swallowed up by the Hellmouth,"ANDREW!!" Spike fell and reached for the boy, arm stretched out and hand open to grasp the boy's coat, or arm, or anything, but he was already gone. He watched, horrified and with his heart feeling as though it had been shredded to ribbons as Andrew slipped into the black and the vampire drowned himself in tears of sadness.

Trembling, Spike backed himself away from the crevice. God, how was he ever going to tell Buffy that their boy was gone? He struggled then to this feet, still overcome with shock and with unsteady paces he made his way out of the high school. Behind him the effects of the Hellmouth's energies collapsing under the power of Andrew's sacrifice echoed in the vampire's ears. In a selfless act, born of love, this particular gate to Hell was no more, sealed for eternity and setting the Slayer free.

Chapter 37

Two years ago, when the Hellmouth erupted, Sunnydale had shook to its foundation and the collective of demons had howled in victory with such a mighty roar that it nearly had made Buffy's eardrums bleed. There was only the dainty chirping of the birds in the trees, the cool breeze rustling the leaves and dancing on the blades of grass. Wesley had given up trying to communicate with the bereft young mother. Buffy rocked Anne and was trying to sing a rather poor version of Greensleeves to calm the crying baby, and herself as well. She was holding on to Anne and it was just enough to keep her holding on to her sanity, otherwise she'd have done something drastic. She'd have followed Spike to wherever he was now.

"Buffy," Wesley gasped,"Buffy look! Buffy, he's back!" She heard her husband's footsteps coming across the field. Her head shot up and looked hopefully at Wes, who shared her joy, then backed away to watch the reunion. His own emotions were palpable and he let them come when Buffy opened her arm to welcome her husband back. Spike collapsed to the ground and into Buffy, who squeezed him hard, Anne still fitful and squirming between them.

"Andrew's gone," he said when he eased back. He knew he had to get the explanation out quickly or he'd break down again and not be able to say a word,"He's gone....he got there first.....went into the Hellmouth before I could........so I didn't have to..." Buffy was shaking, tears streaming down her cheeks. Andrew had become so vital to them, so precious, as important as if he'd been their own brother. Spike caved then, and crumbled in Buffy and Anne,"He sacrificed himself...for Anne, for you and me." The baby was crying hard and as much as Buffy tried to calm her, she was in no state to do it. She was falling apart with relief that her husband and mate had returned to her, but in grief for the loss of a dear friend."Here, lemme have her....I need to hold her. Please, Buffy." Buffy nodded and let him take the screaming baby from her arms. Once Anne was in his arms he moved even closer to Buffy. Spike knew why Andrew had done it. Because he loved them. They loved him too.

"Papa didn't mean to frighten his little darling...shhhh..." His entire palm covered the baby's head as he held her close and rocked them. It was then suddenly that Spike felt a new miraculous change coming over him. He was warm, and it wasn't from Anne or from Buffy. It was from him, from his own circulation, from his own heart beating. Buffy must have sensed it too, because she was looking at him in the most awestruck way. Anne had ceased crying and was now nuzzling at her daddy's chest, clutching the fabric of his tshirt in her tiny fists. He rubbed the baby's back, tucked the blanket snug around her, soothing her as best he could after her tumultuous first hours in the world."You're alright, aren't you my pretty precious ? Mum n' daddy've got you, you're alright..."

"We really should get Buffy and the baby to a hospital, don't you think?" Wesley suggested. The family reunion would have to continue elsewhere it seemed, as Spike agreed with the former Watcher.

"We'll tell 'em Buffy and I'd gone..uh..camping and I delivered the baby. Wait. We don't have any identification or anything of that sort, how can we trust that they won't try and take her from us?" Spike questioned.

"Well, that is a problem."

"Bloody right it is....do you know any doctors, mate?"

"In Los Angeles, they could be here a couple of hours. Where do we go until then?"

"The house I suppose, it's not like they'd turn away their future selves and the little one, would they? Did that sound as preposterous out loud as it did in my head?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Spike, honey, what else happened at the school," Buffy asked,"Did anyone see you?"

"I think maybe," Spike said,"That he did...my other self. For a second, then I was gone, back to you and Anne." There was the sound of a twig snapping heard to one side and moments later a small, diminutive woman appeared looking thinner and more haggard than her counterpart who'd given birth hours ago. The two Buffies stared at each other, obviously thrown for loops at seeing their doubles.

"Spike...he said he thought he saw...I picked up your trail...I..." the newcomer stammered, she looked in the direction of the man with his arm around the girl, him holding...."A baby?"

"Our daughter, Slayer," Spike explained,"There's...god, there's years of explaining to do here, but first, we need to get Buffy and our daughter to your house, she's only a few hours old. We'll need a doctor too."

"Of...of course...the car's just at the cemetery entrance. How did all this....the baby?"

"Like I said, years of explaining to do." Anne was laid gently back in her mother's arms and Spike took his wife off her feet and into his arms."Let's go then." The younger Buffy walked on ahead, completely wigged out and even more nervous of seeing the two of them so close and with this little angel in their arms. She'd cast quick glances over at the child, how she clung possessively to whoever held her, how much she looked like both of them. Her own Spike waited for her back at the house. She had told him she loved him, just as he was about to sacrifice himself in order to prevent all Hell from breaking loose. He hadn't believed her. So she made him believe. She'd taken his hand in her iron grip and told him that she would follow where ever he was going, even into Hell. He's pushed her away and called her a silly, romantic bint; furthermore that her world was the one above and he was going to give that to her. He was about to do, and then she'd started to beg, and repeat her devotion to him over and over. He stood on the precipice and she was reaching for him. He'd almost done it, but then she broke his resolve and he backed away and into her arms.

They knew their mistake the moment Spike was away from the seal, the Earth seemed to scream. They held fast to each other and waited for the end to come. It was then that another appeared, it was Andrew. Spike and Buffy weren't sure what they were seeing until it was too late. He fell past them from above and found his end. There was a rumbling from down below, and then, a light. The light was everywhere, through them, around them, under and above them. It was glorious. She'd held on tighter to her lover and hidden her face against his chest. Whatever had compelled Andrew to do it was beyond her comprehension.

She thought, through the roaring music of the permanent closing of the Hellmouth, that she heard a scream. A man's voice crying out. Spike heard it too, as when they looked up Spike was fixated, he looked confused and shocked.

"Spike?" she asked,"What is it."

"I don't know...but I think I just saw myself up there." He sent her out too look after explaining it again, that there had been a double of himself up there in the school. He'd been up high, but there was no mistaking it. Buffy had honed in on the trail, using her instincts to track a vampire like she always did and it brought her to them.

When they stepped into the sunlight there was a moment of panic from her on their behalf,"I'll explain later," Spike said.

Chapter 38

There was no possible way of presenting the group gathered at the Summers house with a second Spike, Buffy and Wesley, along with Anne without a long winded explanation, so Buffy strode right on in and announced that they had new guests. The household came rushing to the front hall, Spike especially eager to be reunited with his Slayer though they'd only been apart an hour.

"What the bloody hell...." the vampire choked out upon being confronted with the family that followed his Slayer inside the house.

"Spike, mate, lookin' good, none too worse for wear after an apocalypse I see," the second Spike said to his other self. The vampire was dumbstruck at seeing himself, with the present day Buffy and with his own Buffy sleeping cradled in his arms. Then there was Anne, nestled against Buffy's breast and cooing softly. The present day Spike was fixated on the child, a small river of terror washing over him as he cautiously extended his hand out in want of touching her. He looked nervously at the other man and withdrew his hand,"It's alright, go on touch her. Her name's Anne."

"After....after mother? May I?" Spike nodded in affirmation and the other vampire reached out again and brushed his fingertips across the child's face,"She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. How is it possible?

"It's miracle, for one and there's more, but not right now, want to get Buffy into a bed and get a doctor to look her and the baby over first."

"Right, of course, sorry."

"No worries, and stop looking so bloody scared, it's a baby."

"From a vampire and a Slayer? She's no ordinary tyke is she?" Spike looked up the stairs, wanting very much to keep on going but he supposed he owed his other self a little more considering how this must have thrown every one's lives into chaos.

"No, she's not ordinary, not in the least, but she's only a few hours born and she's my little girl. I couldn't care less about Slayers and vampires. Get it?" The other Spike nodded and the first went up to the bedroom. Buffy had already turned down the bed and arranged the pillows for him to put his Buffy down. He lay his wife up against the pillows, making sure Anne was secure before taking off Buffy's sandals. She stirred for a moment, opening her eyes and smiling up at him when he pulled the quilt over her.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"We're home, pet, just rest now."

"So tired."

"I know, love, you've been through alot. You both have."

"I should feed her."

"She's sleeping, you can feed her when she wakes." He bent down and kissed her forehead."We've sent for a doctor too, just to check you and Anne over."

"Good."

"Sleep, Buffy love."

"Don't leave."

"I won't go anywhere, promise." She nodded her head and slipped effortlessly back to sleep holding her baby. The other Buffy stood in the doorway watching the exchange, wondering what her own Spike thought of all this. Then she sensed him, coming up behind her, but stopping before he could touch her. The two of them watched as the Spike from the future took off his boots and crawled on to the bed next to his wife and child, wrapping an arm around them and closing his eyes and resting his head on her shoulder. Buffy backed away and closed the door, turning around to face him.

"She alright you think?" Spike asked, catching a last glimpse of the baby.

"He's with them, so yeah," Buffy replied. He saw how she was shaking and reached for her, she hesitated a moment, a little startled, then grabbed for him too. She buried her face in his chest and muffled the sound of her sobs against his body. Spike wrapped his arms around her and moved them away towards her old room, which was now Willow's. He sat them on the bed and rocked them until she calmed. He held her cheek with his hand and brought her back to look at him.

"What's the matter?"

"Did you see them?"

"Yeah, 'course I did. I don't understand, love."

"Love! That's just it, you can see it's just nothing but total love between them! And that baby!"

"Yes, Buffy, but....."

"How can we ever get to that?"

"You don't think we can? Even after everything you said back at the school? You said that you loved me and that you couldn't live without me. Didn't you mean it?"

"I meant it, I do love you, god I love you more than anything in the world...but....I'm going to ruin it, I know I will. I'll suck you in and wreck you, I always do." He pulled her on to his lap so that she was straddling him and they could see eye to eye.

"You saw how he was holding her?" She nodded,"That total and utter devotion? That's what I've always given you and you know it, my love. The difference in that room is her, she's learned to take comfort in what he's got to give, learned that it feels good to give it back. You just have to learn, Buffy. What you want is right in front of you."

"Will you help me learn?"

"Of course, Buffy, you're my whole world, sweetheart."

"And he's hers, him and the baby girl. I want that too, I want you to be my whole world too."

"And the baby?"

"How's that even possible?"

"Dunno, pet, we have to wait for them to tell their tale. Would you really fancy having a kid with me?" She smiled slightly, her fingers twisting the loose curls at the base of his neck around her fingers.

"Might not be so bad."

"She's a little darling isn't she? Did you get a good look?"

"Not really...I'm kinda scared to, you know?"

"Why's that, pet?"

"Because I don't think it's really written in the cards for us. Some pretty miraculous stuff had to have happened for a vampire to be able to...the whole cold dead seed thing."

"Ah."

"It might be nice, but I don't really think it's gonna be for us too."

"Maybe, maybe not, we've never tried. There's all sorts of magic in the world. But if not, there's Anne still, we can be her strange auntie and uncle who look remarkably like mummy and daddy."

"Why are we the strange ones? Why can't they be the strange ones?" He brushed his lips across hers and smiled.

"Aunt and uncle are an okay thing to be, pet, we can spoil her rotten and not suffer for making her so."

"Sounds good."

"For now. I think they've been together a very long time. We've had what, a few hours of something real, something beautiful? Give us time."

"I think I'd like us to start now, please."

"Here? Won't Willow have something to say about that?"

"Well it used to be my bed?"

"Fair enough. I love you, Buffy."

"I love you too, Spike."

"Yeah, I know baby."

"With all my heart and soul."

"Yes, love, I know."

"Forever, okay? Really forever!"

"I know, Buffy."

"No, like...with everything I am."

"I know. Be quiet already you silly bint and give me a bloody kiss!"

Chapter 39

Buffy awoke feeling perhaps more exhausted than when she'd passed out, not to mention the fact that her body ached terribly. As she forced her eyes open the entire ordeal that has transpired came crashing back to the forefront of her mind.

"Spike!?" she cried out suddenly.

"Shhh...pet, m'right here, see?" he answered at her ear. She was gathered up in his arms with Anne cradled in between them, facing her father. Buffy let out a sigh of relief and dropped her cheek down to the top of their daughter's head.

"Oh thank god, for a second there....we're really here aren't we?"

"Yeah, Sunnydale, May 2003. Back in your own bed." Buffy kissed the top of Anne's warm crown and smiled at the miracle that was her.

"And she's really here too." The baby was quiet, clinging to Spike, still feeling uncertain of her new world, but knowing she was safe nonetheless,"Spike, she's a perfect little girl, isn't she? Our little girl."

"Nothing as perfect in all the world, 'cept maybe her mum. I'm so proud of you, love."

"I was so scared. I tried, Spike, believe me, I tried to wait, but she couldn't. You shouldn't have missed seeing your baby being born."

"We were set up, love, there no blame on you. I on the other hand...I'm so terribly sorry I wasn't with you, at the least to hold your hand....take away some of your fears."

"I had Andrew, and he was great. We'll always have this tiny regret, but how can we now that Anne's here?"

"Hardly at all. Still, I wish to have heard her first cry, seeing you take her in your arms..." He sighed and kissed Anne, lingering on her hot little head until his lips felt as warm as she. He inhaled her scent, memorizing every molecule of it, how she was a little of himself and a little of Buffy, but also of being a new and completely unique person. He sunk down further into the bed, covering her body with his hands and keeping her warm between her and Buffy. A few stray tears fell down his cheeks and Buffy kissed them away."I love her, I love her..."

"I know, William, I love her too. This is it now, okay, we don't have to look for a mission, or a figh...we're done. This is all we have to do forever, love Anne."

"Love Anne and love each other." The baby stretched and yawn, pushing off her baby blanket some before opening her eyes, wincing at the brightness in the room,"We'll need to get her clothes, toys, more...stuff."

"We'll get her lots of stuff, honey, don't worry."

"I need to get a job. Bloody hell." Buffy giggled and kissed the tip of his nose.

"Not something to worry about today. I know you'll take care of us, you always have." There was a knock at the door and Buffy sighed."Everyone's probably outside that door."

"No, it's just one person, I can tell - the lot of 'em are downstairs forming the mother of all research parties. No doubt picking poor Wes' brain down to the bloody thalamus! Hopefully he can field most of their questions. You both need rest and lots of it. You've given birth and I think you've earned a little maternity leave from being the Slayer."

"Permanent leave! Change the title from Vampire Slayer, to Mommy of Vampire's Baby." The knock came again, slightly louder.

"Come in!" Spike called back. The door opened and Giles peaked his head in, he was about to speak, but was awestruck at seeing the new parents cuddling their newborn between them."Come in, mate." Spike's tone was unexpected to the Watcher, gentle, friendly.

"Right, sorry, but we've a doctor to examine Buffy and the child," Giles explained. Spike nodded and carefully turned Anne over and into her mother's arms.

"I'm gonna wait outside, sweetheart, let you have your privacy," Spike explained in a hushed voice.

"You can stay," she whispered back.

"Truth? I want to...you know, just have a moment with the Watcher. I know this Giles isn't my friend like ours, but you know?"

"I do. Don't push him too hard." She gave him another kiss and he rose from the bed, making way for an older lady with a moon shaped face and long, bountiful gray hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. She carried a medical bag and gave Spike a warm smile. Stepping outside, the vampire closed the door behind him and found Giles still standing there waiting for him.

"Wes told you the gist of things?" Spike asked. Giles was pensive, arms crossed and head down.

"Yes, it was harrowing tale, a very bleak future. I should like to know your story, however."

"I'll tell it, we can sit down with a couple a pints of Boddingtons, little Who on in the background....what?"

"Nothing..."

"You looked shocked, Rupert. Suppose you'd never consider palling around with this time's Spike would you?"

"Hardly...I...." Spike breathed a hard, angry breath our through his nostrils and tightened his jaw. He should've know this wouldn't have be easy.

"Save it, Watcher. For what it's worth, you, Xander and Andrew were my best mates...we talked...there were times...bloody hell."

"Go on."

"When you let me unburden myself, let me be who I really am, when Dawn first got sick, you let me cry....fuck, I can't do this. You're not bloody him!"

"Spike, wait. Listen, you're right, the Spike I know isn't my friend...but, I'm willing to give you a fair chance."

"I rather that you gave my counterpart that fair chance. He's the one who needs it. Consider the fact that he would've gone on to be a man you loved and respected, a man that would marry Buffy and have child with her and love them with everything he's got." Giles examined this man in front of him and thought of what had occurred at the high school. He looked Spike square in the eye and gave a nearly imperceptible nod of consent."Thank you."

Chapter 40

The bedroom door opened and the doctor stepped out, giving Spike an unexpected warm smile."You can come back in now," she said. Spike made his way back to Buffy's side as the doctor gathered up her belongings.

"Everything's okay?" he asked of his wife.

"We're good," Buffy answered him, opening up the hemp gown she still wore in order to nurse Anne again.

"I've given your wife a few shots, all preventative measures considering the situation of the birth, other than that, everything appears perfectly normal," the doctor explained,"Your daughter's in excellent condition. I'll be designating her a file number at the hospital under your names, Mr. and Mrs...."

"Harker, Mr. and Mrs. William Harker. Our daughter's name is Anne Joyce," Buffy smiled and he winked at her. Finally giving her his real name obviously pleased her, though he was expecting he'd be on the receiving end of a few good natured Bram Stoker jokes.

"Alright then, Mr. Harker, congratulations. You can bring her into my office in a few days for a check up, I'm Dr. Beltram."

"Yes, thank you doctor." The vampire took a seat on the bed next to Buffy, wrapping his arm around her,"Up to a few visitors, pet?"

"No," she sighed, nervously,"I'm a little afraid to see them."

"I understand, love, I'm a tad off kilter too. At some point you and I are going to have to have a talk about Andrew." She nodded and held Anne just a little closer,"Giles is just outside so are our other selves."

"Maybe I could have a bath first? And we had to have someone buy a few things for the baby. I'm hungry too." He kissed her cheek and rose from the bed.

"I'll take care of it, you two just rest."

"Thank you. I haven't said it in a while - I love you."

"Love you too, be right back.

"Okay." He was met by the aforementioned trio of vampire, Slayer and Watcher as he exited the room.

"Buffy," the anomalous Spike said,"The other....I mean, my Buffy would like to take a bath and maybe borrow some clean clothes?"

"Oh, um, of course," she replied, already moving past him into the bedroom. Spike turned to Giles next.

"If it's not too much to to ask, can someone get us a few things for the baby? Nappies, clothes n' all that?"

"Actually, Willow and Dawn have already taken the liberty," Giles responded,"I have a few questions..."

"Which I'll be more than happy to answer, but first, I haven't had anything to eat for near on 24 hours and neither has Buffy." He turned to his other self,"Care to spare a pint a pig?"

"'Course...um, I have a question..."

"Come on then you two. For the record, Anne was conceived under 4th Street and Royal Avenue."

***

The present day Slayer stopped after she'd closed the bedroom door. Her other self sat curled up with pillows and the comforter, breast feeding her newborn daughter. A pang of jealousy shot through her and she tensed. The little girl was all but asleep, her small hand splayed out over the heavy swell of nourishing flesh. Buffy looked tranquil, murmuring soft words as she looked lovingly down upon the child. She looked up when she noticed she'd been joined by the other woman.

"Hey," the young mother said, gently prying the sleeping infant away from the breast and laying her over her shoulder.

"How are you?"

"Much better now that I've had some sleep and she's been fed."

"Um...Willow and Dawn went to buy her some diapers and clothes and stuff. Did you want another blanket?"

"That would be great...right now though..."

"Right, a bath. Are jogging pants and a t-shirt okay for you? For after?"

"That would be great. I just said that a moment ago, didn't I?"

"Yeah...um..."

"You want to ask me about her?"

"How did you know?"

"I'm you....well, two years from now."

"How did it happen?"

"The usual way. Would you like to hold her while I take my bath."

"Can I? Oh, maybe I shouldn't, I don't know how."

"Come here, I'll show you how." The two women made their way to the bathroom. Once the tub began to fill, Buffy passed her daughter into the arms of her other self. The other Buffy was overwhelmed at holding a baby for the first time. She couldn't remember her parents ever letting her hold Dawn,"Not so bad is it?"

"It's wonderful. She looks so much like him. How did it ever happen?" Buffy disrobed and sunk herself down into the bath.

"It was nothing short of a miracle, but then that's just Spike, isn't it?"

***

"So how is it that your Slayer's all plump as a Christmas pud and you're as thin as a bloody rail?" The present day Spike asked of his twin. The three men had gone into the kitchen and scooted out any and all Potentials, leaving them with a modicum of privacy. Spike went about his business of getting out food to prepare for Buffy and pouring a mug of blood for himself and popping it in the microwave. He leaned against the counter and spoke.

"Hard times, mate. I couldn't always trust that they wouldn't have put something in the blood. Wes gave you the gist, right? Anyways, I made all of Buffy's meals myself. After a few suspicious incidents, I didn't trust her safety to them either."

"Wesley's told us good majority of the world from which you've just come," Giles began,"I am admittedly more interested in how a vampire was able to father a child."

"Ever the Watcher, eh? One day, Buffy was pregnant. I woke up a few months ago under the sun and didn't burn. This morning my heart began to beat."

"You're becoming human? My word..."

"I dunno. I still have the demon inside. Tell you what, you research, I'll make lunch."

Chapter 41

Buffy had eaten an humongous meal courtesy of her husband and rested again comfortably in bed, wearing the clothes borrowed from the other Buffy. Anne was in her arms and wearing a new sleeper, one of many gifts Willow and Dawn had come home with. In the corner along with a bassinet were numerous shopping bags full of every conceivable baby need. The entirety of the household had gathered around Spike, Buffy and Anne to listen to their story. When Andrew had returned to the house the future Spike had at first been reluctant to make contact, considering the loss he had just suffered, but he welcomed the boy instead. Spike had wrapped him up in a crushing hug that left the boy both terrified and ecstatic. Buffy had given him a sweet smile, but couldn't bring herself to say anything.

Spike began by explaining what would have occurred this day, if their Andrew had not given his own life. From then he told of the chaos that ensued and how they'd taken refuge underground. Spike pulled Buffy just a little closer when he began to tell of how they'd taken solace in each other. Then he told of how one by one the others had all died. Buffy was silent throughout.

"You can't really understand...what....what it's like to see you all alive again... " Spike sighed, looking over at his Buffy, then gliding his hand down the length of Anne's body asleep across her mother's chest,"I was the one who dug each and every one of your graves....sometimes if I needed time alone, or if I needed a distraction, I'd dig a few extras, sometimes as many as three...knowing that they'd be filled before the end of the week. I was the one who wrapped your bodies....sometimes all we could find were old sheets...I was the one who lay you in the ground, said prayers for you....then covered you with earth. It was my responsibility, my honor. Sometimes..." He looked to Buffy again, smiling fondly at her, then swiping a pass over her cheeks with his thumbs to gather up her tears, remembering how she'd thought that because she was the Slayer it was to her to bury their friends,"But I'd never let her, had to keep my love from all that....that misery. When we learned that Anne was going to come to be, I decided it was time to leave Sunnydale, no matter what the outside world held. We waited...until...." He looked over at Dawn, who was standing between the other Spike and Buffy. The other Spike looked down and away from them,"But Dawnie wasn't the last to go, there was Rupert and last came Faith. Buffy had come over rather sickly, morning sickness and I couldn't leave her. Some demon got lucky, luv, sorry." He cast a sad look in Faith's direction and she smiled back at him. From then on he spoke of the harrowing tour through Los Angeles, the escape into the wilderness, the struggle to survive. Then he spoke of the changes that had come over him, how he slowly began to show signs of coming alive himself. Wes completed the story with the saga in Seattle.

Spike finished his tale with a promise that he and Wes would commit the epic to paper in greater detail some day. For now though, he wanted to rest and think about the future. As now it seemed his family had one.

***

From inside the house Spike watched his future self outside in the sunshine. He had his daughter in his arms and was singing her a song. Half of him was a jealousy so intense boiling up inside of him that it threatened to over power the other side that was filled with pure joy at the mere existence of Anne. The parents let him hold her whenever he asked, as they did with his Buffy and the others too. But is wasn't the same as if she'd been his own. Still, he was contended enough just to watch the image of himself holding her. One week had passed since the world had been saved. The majority of the potentials had returned home and the house had slowly quieted down. Willow, Dawn, Giles, himself and Buffy were all that remained on a regular basis. The other Spike and Buffy too of course, and Anne.

Anne was the center of attention at all times. Everyone that wasn't her parents were constantly fighting for the right to do anything for her, but the three that made up the little family kept quietly to themselves the majority of the time. Wesley had ventured to Los Angeles, there was much information he needed to impart to his friends there, or at least those who were his friends. He promised that he and his other self would delve into the mystery that was the future Spike's increasing state of humanity.

The future loomed full of opportunities. Decisions had to be made, but all in good time. The Spike and Buffy of the present day were as inseparable as their future selves. Buffy had moved down into the basement after giving up the master bedroom to the family. Giles busied himself with acquiring identities for the vampire, Slayer and their offspring. Finding that he and a small handful of remaining Watchers were suddenly in control of the Council's fortune, both Buffies were the immediate beneficiaries, along with Faith and the other Potentials.

***

From years of strife, violence and peril to now calm and the comforts of home, Spike was uncertain about all of it. He told himself to accept that the journey was over and that they could rest, but still he was uneasy, on guard. However, he certainly felt able to leave Anne in the care of his other self and felt in a way that he owed the other vampire time with the baby, being as he may never know the miracle of creating life. He came in from the sun and caught his other self in the act of observing them.

"Sorry, mate, just....uh..." he stammered.

"Not a worry, you know that. Do me a good turn?" the other asked. He passed Anne into past Spike's arms, tucking her blanket around her,"Hold her for her nap? She doesn't like sleeping alone. Always wants to be close. I need to have a talk with my girl. We have some decisions to make, about the future."

"You're going to leave Sunnydale, aren't you?"

"Don't know, but I promise you and your Buffy will be a part of Anne's life." Spike brushed his lips over his daughter's forehead,"Keep her warm."

"I will." Spike left his other self and ascended the stairs to where his hearing detected his wife finishing her morning routine. He gave a quick knock on the bedroom door and slipped inside. She was standing in front of the mirror frowning. He admired her naked body appreciatively.

"Mmmmm, love, you do know how to entice a bloke, look at you," he moaned,"God, I'm a lucky man." Buffy continued to frown, which escalated into a full out pout. She poked her tummy and watched it jiggle.

"How can you love this jelly belly Buffy?" He slinked up behind her and cupped her rather full breasts, gently caressing.

"I like your tummy, pet. Besides, you only had the kid a week ago, give those Slayer powers a chance to kick in, yeah?" His hands tickled down her ribs and came to rest on her not in the least objectionable stomach. He nuzzled her neck, kissing and nipping.

"Where's the baby?"

"Happily dreaming in the arms of her daddy's double."

"I think he loves her."

"Everyone loves her. Sweetheart?"

"We don't have to decide right away do we?"

"No, 'course not, but I've been thinking about it is all."

"You need to relax, honey, and really actually do it. I mean, really. Sleep in late, spend all day being a daddy, making your wife breakfast, maybe give her a pedicure."

"Oh, so you're playing that Willing Slave card then are you? Fine, you've got me."

"I know that, Spikey. And no Willing Slave thing here, or if there is it's mutual. I'll sleep in late..."

"It's past noon, precious, you only got up thrice to feed the little'un."

"...love our little girl...and, bitey."

"Bitey?" Buff exposed her throat to him and pressed herself back against his body, her hands moving over his.

"We can't be together for while...so...bitey." She cast him a glance over her shoulder, a little smile and then a quiver when the demon's visage appeared. His fangs slipped as easily into her vein as would a knife. Buffy went boneless in his arms as he drank from her languidly, the pair of them utterly intoxicated,"I love you." He finished partaking of her gift to him, tongue laving over the wounds.

"I love you, Buffy."

Chapter 42

It was comforting to realize that Cannon Beach was as they'd remembered it. The stones had been there for thousands of years and would be another thousand from now. They'd found the same spot as where they'd been married and had waited out the day until all the tourists had left and they were alone. The Andrew that was not their own waited in the wings, back near the car. Buffy and Spike had asked him to come with them to Oregon. Afterall, what was inside this boy had become their mouse.

After two years of living out of civilization, being back in it was not agreeable. A small town in rural coastal Oregon suited them much better. Sunnydale was close enough to return to for holidays.

The cool twilight breeze off the ocean curled around them and sang arias through the trees. With their arms around each other and three month old Anne nestled between them, Spike held his girls close and held aloft a heavy volume to read aloud from in epitaph.

"The Road goes ever on and on Out from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, Let others follow it who can! Let them a journey new begin, But I at last with weary feet Will turn towards the lighted inn, My evening-rest and sleep to meet.

"Goodbye, mouse." Some adventures do indeed have an end.