Disclaimer: Joss owns all. I just made them live in Cleveland.

Author’s note: This is a continuation of ‘The Rest of Our Lives.’ It is a good idea to read that one before starting this fic, if you don’t I suspect you’ll be horribly confused. *Huggles and other good things* to my fabulous beta... Bloodytearsoflife. She rocks. I would be lost without her.
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Chapter 1: Disappointment

Buffy Graves, Slayer extraordinaire, was pushing the vacuum around her living room, desperately trying to make herself not think about the failed pregnancy test that was lying in the bathroom wastebasket upstairs.

She was desperately trying not to think about the letter that sat on the dinning room table, that announced that Faith was pregnant...again.

She was desperately trying to ignore the stack of magically sealed white envelopes that sat in her bedside table drawer.

She was desperately trying to not look at the smiling faces of her two yet unborn children that sat on the mantle piece.

Buffy shut off the vacuum and sat down on the couch with a sigh. Her house was so quiet now that Dawn, Willow and Oz had packed up and gone to England. The pictures on the mantle piece mocked her with carefully preserved happiness. Dawn smiled, her blue eyes sparkling on her birthday, before they sent her off to Oxford to pursue her ancient languages degree. Willow and Oz’s portrait looked down on her. They were in England too, Willow in her second year of doing her masters at Cambridge, Oz faithfully following her.

It’s not like the house was completely empty. Andrew was lurking in the attic. Why Giles thought she needed Andrew of all people to be her Watcher was beyond her.

Anya was still here too. The Magic Box, version 2.0 was doing well in Cleveland. Anya had a staff that knew what they were talking about and whom she was keeping a close eye on just in case they strayed over to the dark side. Anya had plans for a worldwide chain of stores. Buffy had been subjected to the demon’s business plan and personal goals for the next hundred years.

It was good to know that Anya would still be around when Buffy herself was all immortal and childless.

‘Cause that’s how she felt.

But the good news was if she didn’t have kids after all, she wasn’t going to die. Not if the prophecy was true anyway.

Blood of light, Blood of dark,
Blood of Blood,
Blood spilt to cover up the evils of blood’s evil,
Undercover of darkness blood is hidden,
Three times blood is split, three times evil rises,
Blood of light, Blood of dark,
Cycle begins anew.

It was still on the fridge, there for all to see as they raided the insides for hot pockets, blood, or cold pizza. It was a constant reminder that Buffy was as far from normal as she could get.

On the outside everything appeared normal. The house was well kept, clean: the garbage was always at the curb on time. In the driveway sat Buffy’s black convertible, and Spike’s black Desoto that he had restored himself to replace the one that he lost in Sunnydale. There were of course the little things that if a passer-by had a discerning eye, they would be able to tell that this was not a normal family. Spike’s license plate read ‘Big Bad’ or that they lived directly across the street from a cemetery or that the man of the house never came outside during the day. Anya preferred to teleport in and out of the house at will and hardly ever used the door but was always the first to answer it when they got a delivery. And then there was Andrew, with his million cameras scattered about the house, pointing out windows and from under the porch roof.

Frankly Buffy was afraid to go up to the attic. Andrew’s room was the one place in her house she was truly afraid of. There were probably dishes with fuzzy leftovers on them in there that had developed their own language by now.

With another sigh, Buffy picked up the vacuum and headed up to the attic anyway, passing by the entrance to Nerd Haven and over to the storage closet to put the appliance away.

She hated this storage space. This is where they kept their things. Four boxes that were labelled, Ariel and Cat.

On top of which sat the birthday and Christmas presents that her father had sent them. Buffy just hadn’t the heart to tell him that they had left and that he would never see them again.

Buffy trudged back down to the second level of her house and plopped down in the office chair, her history textbook open before her on the desk. She was supposed to be studying for her midterm on the Boar War but it just wasn’t sinking in. She had too many thoughts swirling around in her head. Too many memories. She looked at the clock wondering when Spike was gonna get back from his blood and smokes run so that they could go patrol. Anything to get her out of her melancholy mood.

Her latest report from Xander: Super Watcher, in England was full of a whole lot of nothing on the apocalyptic front. A lot of boring nothing. Everyone was flocking to England and she was left with boring tests.

Downstairs Buffy heard the front door open and close, and felt the familiar tingles that meant ‘mate’ run up and down her neck. Oh thank god, she thought as she took to the stairs and launched herself into Spike’s arms.

He placed a kiss on her head and hugged her close. He’d been feeling her disappointment all day. He hardly needed to ask what had happened. Sometimes he wondered why she bothered with the pregnancy tests at all. Ariel had told them in her letter that they wouldn’t have kids until two years after they were married. It had only been a year and a few months. They were immortal, no sense in rushing things when you had eternity.

“Let’s patrol,” she whispered into his neck, nuzzling her marks there. “Want to do something, fight something to make me forget.”

Spike nodded and put down the bag of blood he had been carrying, picked up few random stakes from the hallway table and headed outside, his bride still wrapped in his arms. It was only once they were across the street that he finally put her down.

With a forced smile on her face, Buffy grabbed one of his offered stakes. “Bring on the evil vamps. Slayer wants to play.”

“If you wanted to play with evil vamps love, we could have stayed at home,” he said with a leer.

“We’ll be doing that kind of playing later Spike,” she promised.

Buffy put up a brave front, trying to make herself feel better. The cemetery was quiet which wasn’t helping her mood. She knew this cemetery like the back of her hand, ok, maybe not quite, but she was very familiar with it. She closed her eyes and focused on the vampire energy in the cemetery and stepped towards it, turning a few times to avoid tombstones. A few steps past the crypt that Spike called his own for about three days a year and a half ago, Buffy fell face first onto the wet grass.

Buffy groaned and lifted herself up off the ground and looked back to see what she had tripped over.

“Oh my god!” she moaned.

Spike stepped around the body in the grass and gave it a little kick.

“Yep, the bugger is dead,” he muttered.

“Spike! Have some feelings. It’s Gable!” Buffy said as she stood up and brushed the dew from her pants.

“Oh the feelings are flowing. It’s kind of a fun tingly feeling actually. The wanker is dead! I feel like a party,” Spike continued.

“That’s not nice, Spike,” said Buffy as if it was a conditioned response.

He looked at her smugly.

“Oh ok!” she conceded. “He’s dead, vengeance done, woo hoo,” she continued blithely. “The question is, who killed him?”

With a nod, Spike crouched down low to inspect the body. He examined the neck looking for wounds or any indication of just what killed him.

“Don’t know, luv,” noted the vampire after an exhaustive search. “No marks, no blood. Don’t know what it was. Not a vamp. The wanker’s neck isn’t even broken.”

“Ya, but what is that smell?” asked Buffy wrinkling her nose.

“Noticed that did ya?” Spike asked.

“Smells like....take out that’s been in the fridge too long,” she observed. “Or Andrew’s room.”
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It was a joyous occasion. For Andrew anyway. It was as if his long months waiting to be the revered watcher had paid off. He had an assignment. Find what kind of demon kills without leaving marks and left behind a foul smell. And he was up for the task.

Locked away in his attic room, he immersed himself in the volumes (duplicates) of reference materials Giles had left him with. He would get this right. He would make a difference. He’d finally get the respect that he deserved as Buffy’s watcher. Ever since he’d returned to Cleveland, to be a field watcher, with Buffy, the formidable Chosen One, he’d been longing for this opportunity.

Perhaps this would get him back to England, within the bosom of the Watcher’s Council, closer to the heart of the organisation. Closer to Dawn.
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“Do you think it’s fair to leave it in the hands of Andrew, the guestage?” asked Anya, as she sat down with Buffy to eat breakfast the next day. “I mean, you didn’t like Gable, no one did, really. Whether you liked him or not, he deserves justice.”

“I’m not going over his head this time, Anya,” Buffy explained. “He’ll just whine and say that we don’t trust him or respect him...whine, whine, whine. It’s about time he pulled his weight around here anyway. He’ll look for a while, if he finds anything out, I’ll follow up, but I’m not putting it on my priority list. It’s Gable. I had to pretend I was his cousin, so the cops could identify his body. That’s the most I’m willing to do at this point for him.”

“You are still bitter because of what he did to Spike,” added Anya, stating the obvious.

“Like how,” noted Buffy.

“I still think you should tell Giles. He likes to be kept in the loop. He is the head of the Watcher’s Council after all.”

Buffy nodded her head. “Ya, and I’m the Chosen One, shouldn’t my instincts be respected? It’s probably just some demon that decided to that taking out the Demon Hunter of Cleveland was a good bragging point. I’ll probably slay it next week when it thinks it can take out the Immortal Chosen One.”

“You really like this immortal bit, don’t you?” asked Anya.

“Hey, I’ve got to have some good points in this dreary childless life,” complained Buffy.

Anya reached across the table and took her friend’s hand. “You’ve only been married for a year and a bit, Buffy. You’re immortal, you’ve got lots of time to have kids.”

“You sound like Spike,” Buffy sniffled. “I’m ok with it, really I am. Well, I was until I knew about Ariel and Cat.”

“You wanna come to the Magic Box with me and help me do inventory?” asked Anya completely out of the blue, but in a sympathetic tone, like it was supposed to help.

Buffy couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’ll let you look at the money? Maybe you could even hold it?”
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Buffy bounced out onto the porch in a happy mood. It had been a few months since Gable’s death. Andrew had come up with many leads but nothing significant. It was routine stuff on patrol. Buffy was certain that she must have killed the demon by now, given the odds. Cleveland’s hellmouth wasn’t as active as Sunnydale’s was. So unless this demon, whatever it was, left town, or was lying low, Buffy was pretty sure she’d gotten it.

She put her hand into the mailbox and pulled out two bills and pink envelope, Faith’s handwriting scrawled over the front.

It didn’t take Buffy’s imagination long to deduce just what was contained in the envelope. Walking into the house, dazed, Buffy dropped the bills on the floor and kicked the door shut. She walked into the living room and sat down on the couch, desperately trying not to start shaking.

With a deep breath, Buffy tore into the envelope. The pink cover of the card held a picture of a white teddy bear. Trying to control what her hands were doing, Buffy opened the card.

It’s a Girl!
Parents, Robin and Faith Wood,
are pleased to announce the birth of their littlest addition:
Nicole Elizabeth Wood


Buffy dropped the card on the floor, not bothering to look at the date or the weight of the child in question. She hugged her arms to herself, her control over her body’s reaction to the news wavering. Faith had another kid, while she was still waiting. Life so wasn’t fair.

Spike found her on the couch an hour later when he finally woke up. Her face was wet with tears, the mail scattered around the front hall and in the living room. His eyes lighted on the card at her feet and knew instantly what was wrong. Picking up the little pink card he read it, and placed it on the mantle, like it belonged there, then he sat down next to his wife and mate, gathering her up into his arms.

“Why is life so unfair?” she asked, sniffling into his black tee.

In response, Spike kissed Buffy’s blond head. He had a million things to say to her in this situation, unfortunately they were the same million things he’d already said to her in this same situation. He wanted to make everything better for her, take away this longing to have children, get her pregnant and make her happy all in the same moment.

He pulled her onto his lap and took her upstairs to their bed. Even before he’d laid her down on the soft comforter she was already removing her clothes. They’d fallen into a pattern: Buffy gets sad about not having kids, they have sex.

It made him feel like a hired stud.

He took a step back from the bed, as his eyes passed over his wife’s now exposed upper body. It didn’t matter why they were doing it, he couldn’t help but love the time he spend inside her hot confines.

Her nimble fingers pulled at his button fly, bringing him out of the denim casing, eager and ready for whatever activities she wanted then and there. With a quick lick to the underside of his cock he was hard and ready for her. She shimmied out of her own pants and threw them across the room, setting to work on Spike’s jeans once again.

The black jeans tossed out of the way, Spike settled down between her thighs, his tongue working his way towards her lush pink core, already wet with anticipation.

She didn’t want foreplay, she didn’t want to be teased, but what she wanted, he wasn’t going to give to her until he was good and ready. His expert tongue laved her slit tenderly, teasing her. He ignored her moans for him to get on with it. Demanding chit. Or the pulls at his hair. He was set about this particular act. She was going to have to live with it. As her knees bent and squeezed against his hands pushing them back, he sucked on her clit, bringing her closer to release.

The room rang with her screams as she finally was overcome with the sensations Spike was creating down below. In an instant Spike was poised at her entrance, waiting to be invited in.

“Please, Spike, don’t keep me waiting,” she pleaded, her voice breathy from previous cries of pleasure.

He slid into her wet channel, filling her up. This was home to him: it only needed one more thing to be complete. He brought his fangs to the fore and bit down upon his marks on her neck as his cock trust deep into her. The double penetration made it hard for him to hold back, and the room was filled with Buffy’s grunts as she took the full force of his harsh pounding.

“Mine,” he growled, removing his fangs from her neck and licking the wound closed.

The smile on her face told him she didn’t mind the force of his trusts. Suddenly she flipped him, riding him a few seconds before she leaned down and bit into his neck.

“Mine,” she growled back, smiling with his blood on her lips.

That scene alone could make any vamp come.
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tbc...

Disclaimer: The characters were made by Joss...I just made them live in Cleveland, get married etc.

Author’s note: Beta’d by the lovely Bloodytearsoflife
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Chapter 2: Unwanted

Buffy stumbled down stairs to get herself some juice, almost colliding with Andrew on his way up to the attic.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered.

Buffy looked curiously at the ‘watcher’ a moment before continuing down the stairs. Andrew had been sullen for weeks now, since he couldn’t track down who or what had killed Gable. It was an open and shut case to Buffy. A demon of unknown origin had done it, and she’d most likely killed it at some point during patrol these last past weeks.

Andrew was just sulking because he didn’t find out what it was.

She supposed she should be nicer to Andrew, he was Giles’ representative in Cleveland. But there something inside of Buffy that refused to let Andrew not suffer because he was taking Giles’ place. If that made sense at all.

Buffy reached up to grip the handle on the fridge door and let her eyes pass over the prophecy that was held up by three magnets. You would think that the number of times she and Spike got it on that she’d be pregnant by now. There was something in her brain that just wasn’t holding out hope anymore. She was doomed to be immortal and childless. Everyone around her was going to have fat grandbabies before she did. Buffy pulled open the fridge, sticking out her tongue at the prophecy and grabbing for her juice.

Pouring herself a glass, she looked up as the phone rang. With so many people in the house it was never necessary to rush to pick it up.

Andrew’s voice came from the stairs: “Buffy! It’s Faith!”

Buffy rolled her eyes. She really didn’t need this now. Not only did she not want to gush and coo over a baby that wasn’t hers but she didn’t need to break down on the phone with Faith. With a sigh, Buffy steeled herself for the conversation and picked up the extension in the kitchen.

“Faith?” asked Buffy into the handset.

“B, sorry for calling so early,” started Faith in a rushed voice.

Buffy glanced at the clock, she hadn’t even realised that it was seven in the morning. Sleeping with a vampire did weird stuff to your internal clock.

“No problem. What’s up?” asked Buffy, expecting to be bombarded with the latest news on the two Faith progeny.

The line was silent for a while and Buffy wasn‘t sure if Faith was still there or if they had gotten disconnected.

“Faith?”

“There’s something here, stalking us. I think I could use some Slayer type help,” Faith rushed out in one breath, completely seriously. “Can you come to New York?”

The jealousy and loathing took a quick exit. “Absolutely, we’ll be there tonight,” said Buffy. “Get your self and the kiddies somewhere safe. I’ll call your cell phone when we land.”

“Thanks B, I owe you one,” noted Faith in a relieved voice.

“And Faith? Next time don’t leave it so late,” Buffy admonished.

“Well I was a little busy taking care of a newborn, I didn’t really notice until yesterday, how close this thing had gotten. I’ve got to go. See you soon?”

“Yeah, I will. Say hello to Richard and Nicole for me,” concluded Buffy, hanging up the phone, only to pick it up again to book tickets to New York on the next flight out.
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Spike and Buffy stepped out of the airport just as the sun was setting. Getting out her cell phone, Buffy dialled Faith’s number again, this time hoping to get through.

The phone on the other end just rang and rang.

With a worried look at her mate, Buffy put away the phone. Spike hailed a cab.

“I don’t know where to look for her though,” she admitted as they slid into the back seat of a yellow taxi.

“Start at the beginning. Their apartment,” he said, leaning towards the plastic divider between them and the taxi driver, giving the man the address of Robin and Faith’s apartment.

Spike leaned back against the seat and clutched Buffy’s hand to his. The worry emanating off of her was almost visible.

The cab stopped outside the apartment complex and Buffy and Spike got out. Buffy looked through her bag to look for the set of keys Faith had left her the last time she was in Cleveland.

Turning the doorknob to the now unlocked apartment, Buffy pushed the door open with her foot and stepped tentatively into the Faith and Robin’s home.

It was decorated sparsely with boxes, as if they were in the process of packing up to move. They were in need of a bigger apartment now that they had two kids. Spike slipped in behind her, no invite needed since that weekend he and Buffy had taken a weekend break from slaying in Cleveland to slay in New York as a vacation last year. The two of them walked around the apartment cautiously, eyes and ears open from any sign that someone was in the apartment.

“Can I help you?” came a voice from the bedroom.

Buffy looked up to see a teenage girl standing with her hands on her hips standing in a bedroom door way.

“If you are breaking in, you might want to get lost, I’ve just called the cops,” continued the girl.

“Who are you?” asked Buffy.

“Look, I’m supposed to be here, you aren’t. If you come any closer, I have pepper spray...”

Spike laughed at this comment. “She’s the sitter, luv,” the vampire concluded, putting his hand out to steady his mate.

“Oh, ya, that makes sense,” conceded Buffy.

There was a thump from the room the girl was standing in front of and the sound of padded feet. Out of the room scurried out a two year old little boy with curly brown hair. The girl picked him up and continued to glare.

“I’m Faith’s friend, this is my husband. She asked us to come here. Do you know where she is?” asked Buffy.

The girl shook her head. “No, but they were supposed to be home before sunset. I thought it was them when you came in the door. I didn’t know anyone else had keys.”

“B!” said Richard, lifting his arms up at Buffy with a smile on his face.

“I think someone recognises me!” observed Buffy with a smile, walking forward to ruffle Richard’s hair.

“You have no idea where they could have gone?” asked Spike, trying to get his wife focused again on the matter at hand.

The girl shook her head again.

“Right then,” he noted, disgruntled.

Tracking Faith and Robin in this city wasn’t going to be easy.

“I’ve got to go,” said the girl. “This job wasn’t supposed to be longer than 6pm. I’ve got a date.”

“And we’ve got to find Robin and Faith,” observed Buffy turning to her mate.

Spike pulled a couple of bills from his back pocket and thrust them at the girl. “This cover the bill?” he asked.

She looked up at him tentatively, reaching for the money. “You sure you aren’t kidnappers or something?”

“Not kidnappers, see the picture on the wall there?” noted Spike pointing to the frame that held a picture of Faith, Anya, Dawn, Willow and Buffy at Buffy’s wedding.

The girl’s eyes went wide and she nodded in comprehension. She put down Richard and grabbed her coat and purse.

“I hope you find them,” she said simply. “Niki’s in the bedroom asleep.” And with that the girl left the apartment.

“Well now we need someone to watch the kids,” said Buffy matter of fact-ly. “Anya!” she shouted up at the ceiling, not caring that it was probably going to wake the baby.

Anya poofed into the apartment, her foot tapping in impatience. “What?”

“We need you to baby sit,” explained Buffy.
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Following Spike’s nose, for Faith’s scent, brought them through a couple of cemeteries and to a warehouse. Inside the warehouse, abandoned and in bad need of repair, Buffy found the first tell tale signs that they were on the right track.

Faith’s cell phone lay in the middle of the warehouse floor, the light flashing that there were three new messages.

“They are close,” noted Spike, he grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him, making her leave the cell phone there.

They rounded the corner and exited through a side entrance, taking three or four steps before being confronted with the ugly, smelly truth.

Faith and Robin lay, dead on the hard pavement, not a mark on them, but the smell of moldy food in the air.

The implications of it all hit Buffy at once. “I didn’t kill it. It’s all my fault!”
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Buffy and Spike returned to Faith and Robin’s apartment, Buffy’s tears still wet upon her cheeks. The slayer instantly picked up Ricky and held him to her, muttering just how sorry she was and how it was her fault.

“It got them too?” asked Anya, sympathetically.

Spike answered the question with a nod of his head, as he removed Buffy’s cell phone from her coat pocket and began to dial the watcher.

As Spike explained the situation to Giles, Anya led Buffy to the couch, making the slayer sit. “What are you going to do?” asked Anya carefully.

“I’m going to find it and kill it,” growled Buffy startling even Spike.

“I meant about the kids, about the bodies. You have to call the police,” she said. “The kids, they are going to be put into foster care.”

“No,” interrupted Spike. “The police won’t want to hear about it for twenty four hours. They haven’t been missing that long yet.”

“We can’t just leave their bodies there Spike,” added Buffy.

“We either do this the human way, or these kids won’t have a normal life,” he explained reasonably, closing the cell phone up, his conversation with Giles long over. “The watcher is on it. It won’t be long before he’s got the answers we need.”
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They waited until 6 am to phone the police, Anya having left long before. The children slept soundly in their room, unaware of just how much their lives changed since they last saw their parents. There was a sharp knock on the door as the police arrived. Buffy waited for Spike to answer the door as she prepared herself for what she knew was coming.

They had their story down, not that there was much to sort out, just that they hadn’t found the bodies. They had no idea where Robin and Faith were.

Buffy felt numb as the police asked their questions, as the news that Faith and Robin’s bodies had been found, as the fact that the children were going to be taken to foster care until the nearest kin were found.

Spike piped up at the last bit, that they were the nearest kin.

When Faith had had Richard, she’d made a will. Richard and Niki were to go to Buffy and Spike Graves, no questions. Robin and Faith had no other relatives. I guess it helps to have immortal friends to grant the custody of your children to, thought Buffy.

They couldn’t take the kids right away though. They had to check out Faith’s will. Who was her lawyer? How could social services get in contact with them?

Spike supplied Giles’ phone number, the Council’s vault holding the will and testaments of all the Scoobies, and several of the former potential slayers.

Buffy was brought down to the morgue to identify the slain couple.

Xander flew in to be the lawyer for the family, which brought a smile to Buffy’s face. Xander posing as a lawyer? Comical.

Within another twenty four hours everything had settled down. Xander, Spike and Buffy sat in Faith’s apartment in silence.

“Do you know...What was it?” asked Buffy. “Giles has to have something for me. I have to find this thing.”

Xander shook his head sadly. “We’re getting reports of demon hunters being found dead all around the world Buffy. Whatever this thing is, it’s hunting all of us.”

“All the more reason to kill it,” noted Buffy.

“Got more important things to think about now, love,” said Spike softly.

“What’s more important that finding out what did this?” she asked annoyed.

“I was thinking of the babies,” he explained, grabbing her hand an giving it a squeeze.

“He’s right Buffy,” added Xander. “You’ve got Richard and Nicole to think about now.”

“They can come with us. It’ll go to LA next,” she said, standing up.

“How do you know that?” asked Xander.

“Have you had any reports of deaths in LA?” she asked daring him to prove her wrong.

“No, not that the Council is aware of.”

“Then we are going to LA.”
__________________________________________
tbc...

Disclaimer: I blame Kennedy on Joss.

Author’s note: Expertly beta’d by the fab BTL
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Chapter 3: Another Victim

Niki wailed as the bright sun of the LA day hit her. Buffy lowered her sunglasses, scanning the crowd for her father and Valery, who had agreed to pick them up at the airport. Behind her and safely in the shadows Spike held Ricky’s hand. The sun was a long time from setting, but Buffy didn’t want to waste a single second tracking down this monster. She had people to see, and things to slay.

At long last her father’s sedan pulled up in front of the arrivals area and Hank Summers got out, the look of confusion at seeing his daughter holding a baby that clearly was not hers.

“Where’s Ariel and Cat?” asked Hank. “You said you were bringing kids, I thought you meant yours.”

A perfectly coifed Valery stepped from the passenger side of the car, distain dripping from every pore.

Ignoring her stepmother, Buffy opened the back door of the car and smiled at the car seats that she’d asked her father to pick up for her. Niki safely strapped in, Buffy turned to Ricky hiding in the shadows with Spike and called out to him.

“Ricky, come see your Aunty B, it’s time to get you in the car sweetie.” With no little prodding from Spike, the toddler made his way slowly to the car and Buffy’s waiting arms. Picking him up, she turned towards her father. “They are Faith’s. Faith is dead,” she stated plainly.

Her father’s smug look fell.

“I’m here to track down her killer.”

“And you expect us to baby sit for you? While you run all over town hunting some demon?” asked Valery rather loudly.

Buffy bent down into the car once again, strapping in Ricky, before shutting the door and turning to her stepmother.

“That’s exactly what I expect you do to, Val,” Buffy sneered, stepping into her personal space.

“Hank!” Valery protested.

“Get in the car Valery,” said Hank wearily opening his own door and getting in.

From what Buffy had gathered from her father’s phone calls over the last few weeks, before this whole thing happened, their marriage was going south. Buffy couldn’t say that she was sorry for it at all. With a smile she turned towards the shadows and blew a kiss to her husband before getting into the car with the rest of her family.

As the car pulled away she waved forlornly at Spike who was going to make his way to the Hyperion via the sewers and therefore not have to endure Valery for the settling in of the children at the Summers house.

Those kids, they were her family now.
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“There are wards up all over the Watcher’s Council,” explained Dawn over the phone. “I’m sure Giles will take the necessary precautions.”

“And what about you?” Buffy asked, twirling the phone cord between her fingers.

“Willow’s popped in and put up a few spells that will make my dorm room safe. She’s done the same to her flat and Oz’s house. Can you believe he found a werewolf commune in Cambridge?”

“Ya, it’s shocking. Dawn I don’t think you are taking this seriously!” Buffy continued. “It killed Faith.”

“I know,” sighed Dawn. “And it’s not like I haven’t had this conversation with both Giles and Xander. I think Xander was worse. He wanted to blow off Council stuff and stay here with me when he got back in the country.”

There was a pause between the sisters.

“Are they divorced yet?” asked Dawn cheerfully, referring to her father and stepmother.

“No, sadly,” muttered Buffy.

As Buffy hung up the phone she felt that Dawn hadn’t told her everything. Since Dawn had moved to England, pursuing higher education at Oxford, the distance between the sisters seemed bigger than just the miles separating them.

In the newly reconstructed Summers house, Hank Summers was cooing over the two babies, Ricky playing with blocks on the living room carpet and Niki sleeping soundly in a new basinet. Her dad would take care of them. These two kiddies weren’t hunting demons on a regular basis; they were safe enough for the time being.

“I’ve got to go,” Buffy explained. “I’ll be back before sunrise. You have my cell phone number if anything goes wrong?”

Her father nodded. “I hope you find whatever killed Faith...”

“Thanks Dad.”
__________________________________________
Buffy caught up with Spike at Angel’s hotel. The LA gang was just as she remembered them, righteous and full of hope. Except Kennedy that is. Buffy couldn’t understand just how any of them put up with her. Except that she had money. Maybe that was why they kept her around.

“I’ve received the details from Giles,” noted Wesley. “It will be coming here, sooner or later. We don’t know how it attacks, just that it leaves no mark.”

Around him the LA gang were absorbing the info he dished out, while around the room, not paying attention to anything or anyone, Drusilla danced about.

“Except you forgot that after it kills it leaves a funky food smell behind,” interjected Buffy, walking through the hotel door.

“That doesn’t do us much good. We are trying not to die from this thing!” spat Kennedy turning to face Buffy.

All eyes looked up at the Slayer who sauntered up to Spike’s side and took his hand.

“Mrs. Graves!” cooed Drusilla, finally noticing that Buffy had arrived. “Come to do away with the pretty monster, hunters he eats. This one’ll get caught in his teeth,” noted the mad vampire indicating Kennedy with scratching motions.

The LA gang obviously had gotten used to ignoring Dru. Buffy couldn’t do the same thing though. She waved at her husband’s sire with her free hand.

“Kiddies all settled in, love?” the bleach blond vampire asked his wife.

Buffy nodded. “Dawn called too, she says hi.”

“That’s nice,” said Wesley with a smile. “How is our little Oxford undergrad?”

“Latin bores her and she’s still mad that they won’t let her in the Aramaic course reserved for upper classmen.”

“It’s a tough course,” offered Wesley.

“Can we get back to the thing that’s going to kill us?” asked Kennedy, an edge of hysteria in her voice.

“Little hunter’s tea party is nearly over. The cakes aren’t quite right. Someone forgot the sugar in the baking,” observed Dru.

“What the hell does that mean?” shouted Kennedy exasperated.
__________________________________________
Nothing was accomplished by the time the sun was about to rise. Buffy was incredibly tired, and dragged Spike back to her parents’ house. There was no way she was staying under the same roof as Angel and Kennedy again. Not if she could help it anyway.

The Summers house was asleep, quiet and normal. Buffy found that the room designated as hers was made up for her and Spike, the curtains pulled tight. Niki slept away soundly in the corner. She tip toed out to Dawn’s room to find Ricky curled around a new stuffed dog, obviously a present from her dad.

Shedding her clothes, Buffy crawled into bed, Spike following close behind. They snuggled close to each other and fell into a dreamless sleep.

It lasted until the phone rang.

With a groan, Buffy reached for her cell phone. “What?”

“Buffy?” asked Kennedy’s voice on the other end. The former potential seemed out of breath and worried, which got Buffy’s attention. “It attacks in the day time. I just saw it. It, it attacked me. But I was with Lorne. It’s afraid of other demons.”

“’K, stay with Lorne. Tell the others, keep with a demon, vampire, someone demony. Spike and I’ll be back to the Hyperion in an hour.” Buffy flipped closed her phone and rolled on top of her mate.

“Time to get up sleepyhead,” she whispered.

“We got three hours of sleep Buffy!” he groaned.

“You can rest when this thing is dead.”
__________________________________________
“I am not going to be bait!” screamed Kennedy.

Dru clapped happily in the background, enjoying the joke. Buffy would have clapped too, but she thought maybe Kennedy would run off into the daylight and then their bait would be gone.

“But it wants you, Kennedy. Who better to help us kill it?” asked Angel, holding one of Dru‘s dolls. He had been trying to distract Dru from antagonizing Kennedy.

Kennedy glared back at the vampire she grudgingly took orders from.

“If you are its next target then it stands to reason that we would have more success using you as bait than someone else,” reasoned Wesley.

Buffy looked around the lobby of the Hyperion and the very sleepy faces that were gathered around. Fred yawned, trying to stay awake. They’d been awake all night, and now to have Kennedy attacked on her way home...it was just too much.

“The way I look at it,” started Buffy, “is that it’s going to come after you anyway, whether you are willing bait or not. Let’s at least try to save you?”

“Maybe she wants to join Faith in the great beyond,” added Spike. “You two were chummy back in Sunnyhell.”

“Was not!” declared Kennedy.

“Good, then it’s settled,” said Fred with a clap of her hands, as if she was trying to keep herself awake. “Kennedy is bait, Buffy, Spike, and Angel will follow. Everyone else not being hunted today...to bed!”

“See, I knew there was a reason I liked you,” noted Wesley.
__________________________________________
“You keep out of the sunshine!” Buffy ordered her husband as they walked down the shadowed alley following Kennedy at a distance. “Kennedy isn’t worth you getting dusted,” she whispered.

With a smile on both of their faces, Spike and Buffy turned towards Angel to see if he’d heard that comment. Buffy knew enough about vampires to realise that he probably had. He wasn’t giving any signs of caring though. Spike moved the axe he was carrying from his left hand to his right, sniffing the air. His mouth opened to say something but he was cut off.

“Uh, icky smelly demon!“ shouted Kennedy ahead of them.

No longer was there any time for Buffy to think about how much Angel lacked caring for Kennedy, she sprang into action, letting the two vampires follow behind her. Around a corner and directly in a patch of sunlight, the demon, brown, smelly, and large was circling Kennedy. It meant that Buffy wasn’t going to have any help fighting this thing.

Buffy leapt between the two, kicking away the demon’s long arms from Kennedy and bringing out a dagger from its sheath around her calf.

“Watch out for its fingers!” shouted Angel from the shadows.

Buffy’s eyes took in the tentacle like fingers and realised that they had little suckers on them. That was probably how it killed. She didn’t want to take the chance. Another kick and a swipe with the dagger and Buffy realised that she needed a longer weapon.

She kicked the demon in the gut one last time before jogging over to her mate and taking the axe he still held in his hand and pecking him on the cheek for his assistance.

Buffy turned back to the demon, only to see Kennedy decide to take it out by herself.

“Kennedy! No!” yelled Angel from the safety of the shadows.

But it was too late, the demon had wrapped its tentacle like fingers around Kennedy’s head. Buffy raised the axe and sliced the demon’s head clean off. Kennedy crumpled to the ground along with the headless body.

“Kennedy?” asked Angel, pacing at the edge of the shadows.

Buffy crept closer to the former potential and felt for a pulse. She was dead.
__________________________________________
“Are you sure that there aren’t more of them?” asked Fred, grimacing at the head Buffy had carried back to the hotel.

“I guess we’ll find out,” noted Buffy. “But right now, I’m going to sleep the sleep of the victorious.”

“You want to crash here for the rest of the day?” asked Angel looking through an address book, not really looking at Buffy or Spike.

Buffy looked at Spike for a moment before nodding her head in agreement. “I could use some shut eye before getting the third degree from the evil step thing.”

“Mrs. Graves has a bird pecking at her brain. Peck, peck, peck,” came Dru’s voice from the office.

“And apparently I have to talk to Dru too,” noted Buffy with a sigh. “Can I sleep first? Please?” she begged the vampiress.

“You may!” giggled Drusilla, scurrying away up the stairs.
__________________________________________
It was one in the afternoon when Buffy finally woke up from her mid day nap. As much as she hated to sleep in her clothes, she had been far too tired to care. Now, wrinkled and in desperate need of a toothbrush, Buffy made her way downstairs to find Dru.

She’d learned over the year and a half since her wedding, that Dru, though, mad and completely incomprehensible was a nice person. In a sick demented vampire way. The years confined to the inside of the Hyperion, spells protecting every human that walked through the door, had mellowed her a bit.

But she was still loony.

“Mrs Graves is here to have tea,” expressed Dru to the dolls that were surrounding the little table and chairs she had set up in the lobby of the hotel. “Behave you lot or there will be no songs!” Dru picked up one of the dolls and offered Buffy its chair.

Tentatively, Buffy sat down on the child’s chair, wondering just what Dru had to say to her this time. The last words of wisdom that Dru had imparted to her had involved tea and a monkey.

“Mrs. Graves wants to know when to buy the paddling pool. She always wants to know about the fishies. Shall we tell her?” asked Dru of her dolls.

Buffy could almost picture the dolls nodding back at the dark haired vampire. Dru clapped her hands and turned to look at Buffy at long last.

“Mrs. Graves,” Dru started seriously. “Tea holds the key. The key is the tea.” Dru looked into Buffy’s eyes as if begging that she understood. “The fishies, they swim in the sea until you drink the tea. My boy wants a monkey but he’ll be disappointed. My poor Spike.”

This wasn’t shaping up to be any different from the other conversations Dru had had with her.

There was a slam of a door upstairs and Spike came stomping down the stairs with a glower on his face.

“We’re leaving,” he exclaimed, not happy in the slightest.

“What happened?” Buffy asked, standing up from the tiny chair, looking questioningly at her husband.

“There’s no need to get all mad about it!” came Anya’s voice behind him. “I’m mad enough about it for the both of us.”

“Anya?” asked Buffy confused. “What the hell is going on?”

“Tell her!” Spike ordered Anya.

“Dawn and Xander were having smoochies in the board room. I walked in there minding my own business, actually I was retrieving a file Rupert had left in there. And there they were all with the smacking noises.”

Buffy’s hand went to her mouth in surprise. “Dawn...and Xander?”
__________________________________________
tbc...

Disclaimer: Joss said we could, right?

Author’s note: Many huggles to Bloodytearsoflife for the great betaing.
__________________________________________
Chapter 4: Anya’s news

“Explain!“ ordered Buffy once they were in the safety of the cab and on their way back to her dad’s house.

Anya sat back against the upholstered seat and sighed. “Look, I don’t know how this is your business. I’m annoyed with myself for telling Spike. He’s being over protective and grr.“

“Of course he is,“ said Buffy patting her husband’s hand. “It’s Dawn.“

“She’s so young, I mean. Sure, she had the Xander crush before her crush on Spike, but, it’s Xander. Shouldn’t he be all brotherly?“ asked Anya as if imploring some higher power to answer her question.

“It’s going to be all weird and icky in London now. Not that’s she’s there very often. Just every weekend. Damn over achieving watcher wannabe. I wish I had exploded Xander Harris’ brains out long ago.“ Anya crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned against the seat of the taxi.
“I thought you were with the watcher now?“ asked Spike.

“I am! But I don’t think Xander needs to be happy until I have everything he didn’t give me. The wedding, two point five kids, the house with the white picket fence and the dog that barks at the mail man. He can’t have that with Dawn until I have it with Rupert.“

“Do you think he will?“ asked Buffy.

“Xander, he proposes to anything with two legs,“ said Anya bitterly.

“I think he’s a little more discerning than that, Anya,“ placated Buffy. “’Sides, I was talking about you and Giles. Are you that serious?“

Anya let a big smile grace her face. “I have to go back to London. I’m staying the weekend. There’s a charity function that Rupert needs a date for tomorrow night. I bet Xander and Dawn are going to be dates too. Ok, I’m off.” Anya brought her hand up to wave goodbye, but instead Buffy snatched her hand.

“Anya, uh, cab?” said Buffy pointedly, as if it should have been obvious.

“Oh, did you want me to chip in my share of the cab fare?” asked Anya innocently.

“No, you can’t just teleport in a cab...the driver...” Buffy hissed.

“Oh, ya. Okay, I’ll wait,” said Anya, crossing her arms. “I’m not sticking around to meet your stepmother though.”
_________________________
Buffy felt sorta obligated to spend some time with her father. She cursed Spike’s vampirism as she had to be taken out by her father and Valery for shopping, to see the sights, to take the kids to the beach, etc.

Valery and her dad didn’t even hold hands once while they were out.

The truth of the matter was, Buffy would have much rather have spent time with Angel than with Valery, and that was saying something in itself. Time was spent with Angel though as well. Kennedy’s body was sent back to her parents in Connecticut, only after an appropriately long memorial service attended by the AI crew and a smattering of those who survived the destruction of Sunnydale.

Willow even said some kind words. Buffy thought they were quite charitable. Of course the service wasn’t just for Kennedy. Faith and Robin were mentioned too. Their bodies lying in a morgue in New York waiting to be claimed and buried. It was Faith who was in Buffy’s thoughts more than Kennedy.

She’d begged Faith to lay off the slaying. She wasn’t a slayer any more, Faith had the opportunity to have a life. She’d begged Faith to stop slaying when Richard was born. She’d begged and pleaded, afraid of just this sort of thing happening.

And it did.

She hoped to the PTB that there wasn’t any more like that ugly thing she’d killed. Buffy Graves didn’t want to bury anymore of her friends this year.
_________________________
Back in Cleveland the moving began. It was sad to do, but it had to be done. Anya was moving into Dawn’s room. Dawn’s stuff was moved into storage. Buffy had no idea when Dawn would be back to stay, or if she would be coming to stay at all. Richard moved into Anya’s room, new baby stuff and some of the stuff that they’d taken from New York filled the room. Little boy blue covered the walls, altering it significantly from what it had looked like in Anya’s occupancy and even more so from Ariel’s short habitation.

More stuff in the storage space.

Niki was moved into Cat’s room, not altering the room much at all. She was quiet but active, always moving around, wiggling, kicking off her socks.

“She’s gonna be just like her mum,” commented Spike as he laid her down for her nap the day after they’d gotten back to Cleveland.

“Let’s hope it’s without the ‘killing people’ phase,” joked Buffy.

“Not with you raising her,” he added. “You’ll keep this one on the straight and narrow. You’ll be a great mum.”

Spike’s words made Buffy’s thoughts swirl, and she spoke them aloud. “I keep thinking about what Ariel said when she was here. Ariel looked up to Niki. She’s gonna be a potential Spike. She’s gonna die before she has a life, like her mother, like Kennedy. I look at her now and see such hope for her and I know it’s all in vain. Maybe we should give her away, put her up for adoption. Anything to get her away from us, from this life...”

Spike, took his wife by the shoulders and forced her to look in his eyes. “Anything you do now, other than what the powers have made happen already could change everything. I won’t have you risk Ariel and Cat. How do you know if Niki would want another life than what her mother had? It was good enough for Faith. Let the little one make her own choices when it’s time. She’s got years to go.”
_________________________
The addition of the children to Buffy’s life filled a void and a need in her daily routine. She could be the devoted mother during the day, like she’d wanted to be, and the vigilant slayer at night like she had been chosen to be. She only had a few days a week when she actually had classes to attend, leaving the care of the babies to Anya, if she was home, or Andrew.

Increasingly Anya was not home though. She was at her store, or in London with ‘Rupert’. Buffy barely saw her last remaining local female friend at all.

It was time to get some new friends.

Buffy registered for a Moms and Tots group in the demon side of town, with the intention of making Niki and Richard used to being around demons, good demons, and growing up knowing the difference. It took a few sessions to make the other moms realise that she wasn’t there to slay them and their children.

But she really didn’t make any friends.

It bothered her, a lot. Spike could tell. In the darkness of their room just before dawn he would hold her and wonder exactly how he could make life better for her. Slaying, Niki and Richard were her life. As she grew older, not aging, what friends she had would die away, leaving her with him and no one else. They were friends. Friends, lovers, life partners. But she needed a friend to do the girly thing with. She wouldn’t be able to rely on the rest of the Scooby gals. They’d left for non hellmouthy pastures.

Spike could hear wriggling in the crib in the room next to theirs. Niki was awake and soon her whimpers would wake Buffy, the dutiful adoptive mom. Planting a kiss on her temple, Spike slipped out from between the covers and found his pants, looking to see to the baby before she could wake Buffy.

There was a flash and a puff of smoke as Anya popped into the room.

“Bloody hell demon girl!” he hissed, but it was too late, Buffy was awake and staring at her friend.

“What’s wrong Anya? Is Dawn ok?” she asked worried but sleepy.

“Giles asked me to marry him!” gushed Anya, turning on Buffy’s bedside lamp and showing off her ring.

“This couldn’t wait until bloody morning?” asked Spike annoyed.

“No! You are my friend and I wanted to share the happiness! Besides he had to go to a meeting,” explained Anya.

“I’m happy for you, Anya,” yawned Buffy, reaching to give Anya a hug. “But next time something life changing happens? Can you do the math for the time difference?”
_________________________
After months of planning and preparation, because Anya had wanted to make her wedding with Giles even better than her wedding with Xander, the Hellmouth was abandoned and the chosen one and her family were relocated to jolly old England for the festivities.

Buffy stepped off the plane, Niki and Richard in tow, and into Dawn’s waiting hug. A year away from each other had been terrible. Xander was at Dawn’s side, which made Buffy look at her friend warily.

He raised his hands in defence. “I know what Anya’s told you. She’s got it all wrong.”

Buffy looked at him suspiciously. “Are you sure about that?”

“Xander!” hissed Dawn, trying to get him to be quiet.

“Anya told me about the smoochies,” commented Buffy, readjusting Niki on her hip.

“That’s all it was!” protested Dawn. “Just some smoochies, heat of the moment, much thinking and talking about needed.” Dawn nodded her head emphatically as she spoke.

“Absolutely,” Xander agreed, nodding right along with his partner in crime.

Buffy looked between the two and shook her head sadly. They weren’t doing a very good job of covering up.

“Where’s Spike?” asked Dawn, trying out a new topic of discussion.

“He travelled cargo. We couldn’t be sure that he wouldn’t get burnt by the stray ray of sunshine this time around. I have to pick him up at the large freight counter.”

Xander snickered at the comment but kept his tongue in check, as he scooped up Richard and walked with Buffy and Dawn to pick up their own luggage before getting Spike.

“Have you seen the bride’s maids dresses yet?” Buffy asked worried as she waited for her suitcase to drop down on the conveyer belt.

“Yep,” began Dawn with a grim smile. “They are hideous, as usual. But at least they are a semi decent colour this time.”

“I inspired the radioactive green,” chimed in Xander.

Buffy looked back at her male friend for a moment before settling her eyes back on the belt, not wanting to miss the luggage. “You are taking this a lot better than I thought you would. I’m proud of you Xander.”

“Aww shucks, Buffy,” he joked. “I’m happy for her. Really I am. I figure those who have died get a free pass about their love lives. I just haven’t fallen into that category yet. I’ll probably stay dead and then the fun goes right out of that party.”

“Nah, Willow would bring you back,” offered Dawn, taking his free hand, an action that didn’t go unnoticed by the slayer.

“Ooh! Luggage. Black one,” interjected Buffy.

“They are all black!” noted Dawn.

“Not true. I bought Niki a purple one and Richard’s is green,” explained Buffy. “It’s not my fault that Spike thinks he’ll be a ‘bloody ponce’ if his luggage is anything other than black.”

The four pieces of luggage secure (two black, one green and one purple), the merry band of Scoobies headed to the freight counter to claim Spike.

“What did you say was in there Buffy?” asked Dawn as the attendant went to find the crate in the back.

“Oh, he’s just a body. You wouldn’t believe the paper work. I couldn’t take the risk that they’d x-ray the contents and be like ‘crap it’s a body!’ That would have been a nightmare.”

The attendant came back to the counter.

“Every thing seems in order here, ma’am. I’m sorry for your loss. If you’ll have the hearse come around you can pick your dearly departed up.”

“To the hearse!” exclaimed Xander jokingly. He caught the eye of the attendant and thought better of his outburst. Death maybe wasn’t something you joked about in mixed company.
_________________________
The babies strapped in, Spike free from his wooden box, the group sped towards the Council building post haste.

Anya and Giles greeted them at the door.

“It’s about bloody time you got here!” exclaimed the watcher, ignoring all others and reaching forward to hug Buffy.

“I missed you too Giles,” whispered Buffy, glad for once that she had handed off Niki to Dawn, as her watcher hugged her tightly.

Giles pulled back from the hug and let his eyes travel to the two children in the group. Niki was sleeping soundly in Dawn’s arms and Richard, ever the quiet one, was looking wide eyed at the new people from Spike’s arms.

“Don’t worry, we’ll have lots of cute babies of our own very soon. You can’t have these ones, Buffy’ll get all mad,” observed Anya.

“Oh, great, now Anya’s gonna have kids before I do!” moaned Buffy, as if the thought had just occurred to her.

“Don’t you have enough to deal with?” asked Dawn. “And could we please go in? The British already think we American’s are strange.”

“Yes, we soon will be inundated with Americans,” noted Giles ushering in the group and ignoring Anya‘s comment. “Willow and Oz are travelling here tomorrow.”

“The Americans are coming, the Americans are coming!” spouted Xander.

Dawn whapped him on the arm.
_________________________
tbc...

Disclaimer: Buffy and Spike aren’t mine. I just made them live in Cleveland.

Author’s note: Beta’d by the wonderful Bloodytearsoflife
__________________________________________

Buffy walked about the Council building, her mint green monstrosity of a dress swishing behind her. Anya’s wedding day had come and Buffy was missing a two year old ring bearer. It wasn’t surprising that Richard had gotten lost in crush of the guests and Council lackey’s attending to security. It wasn’t every day that the head of the Council got married, or that a watcher got married to a demon, or that the ceremony was being held in the Council’s chapel.

“Ricky?” called out Buffy into the Council library. Richard had begun to come out of his shell since they had arrive in England, and the mischievous little man had decided that he was going to take off, with the wedding rings! Needless to say everyone was looking for him.

Anya was going to kill anyone who stopped this wedding. But then she didn’t know what was wrong. Just like the last time. Spike was guarding the groom, making sure he didn’t bugger off and Dawn was looking after the sleeping Niki.

Buffy heard a giggle and smiled. He was playing hide and seek, a game that Oz, of all people, had introduced him to. The werewolf was going to get a piece of her mind later. Ducked behind a shelf and holding a book in his hand that looked like it was a children’s book and not a council tome, he was sitting beside the little pillow that Anya and Giles’ wedding rings were tied to.

“Why you cheeky little monkey!” declared Buffy scooping up the wayward child, the pillow, and the book, the title ‘The Magic of Tea Tree Dryads’ grasped in the little guys hands. He wouldn’t let go of it.

Buffy rolled her eyes. She could have easily pulled the book out of his baby grip but then she’d have to deal with a crying child who was, in only a few moments, supposed to walk down the aisle carrying the damned pillow.

A happy Richard, Buffy, the pillow, and the book made it to the chapel with time to spare.

Demons and human alike ooohed and awwwed over the cuteness of the little boy carrying the pillow down the aisle, Buffy following closely behind him, and giving glares to the assembled demons who were looking too much like they’d like to take him home with them.

At the end of the carpet way and just in front of Giles’ friend from the coven in Bath who was to perform the ceremony, Buffy nudged Faith’s little boy to the side and bade him stand. She turned to watch Dawn and Willow walk down the aisle after her. Richard was still carrying the damned book though, tucked under the pillow.

Anya was stunningly beautiful in her white gown, much more flattering than the one she’d wanted to marry Xander in. All eyes were mesmerized by the bride and as the ceremony began in earnest, no one noticed that Buffy grabbed the book away from the little boy and handed it off to her husband when Richard wasn’t looking.
__________________________________________
For the second time in one day Buffy headed to the Council library. This time she was returning the book Richard had taken. It was deceptive. She was flipping through the pages as she rounded the corner to the library, looking at the pictures, which were coloured and on some pages had glitter on them too. It looked like a children’s book, but the words in it were like riddles. Buffy was never one for riddles. She’d had enough slayer dreams to max out her lifetime quota of riddles, thank you very much.

Suddenly a hand grabbed hers and she was pulled back from her destination.

“Spike,” she said in warning not bothering to look up from the book.

“I thought maybe you were sneaking off to do something naughty. Thought I’d join you,” he said with a leer.

Buffy looked up from the book and smiled. “That’s not what I was going to do. I told you, I’m putting back the book Ricky took. Giles will have my head if even one book out of his library went missing.”

Spike plucked the book and pressed her body against the wall, grinding his obvious arousal into her mint green dress.

“You have a one track mind today,” she commented with a smile, reaching back for the book.

He raised an eyebrow at that comment.

“Okay, ya, I know. Library first, then we can find a closet somewhere, ‘kay?” she compromised.

In the end though they didn’t wait until they found a closet.

As Buffy lay on top of an oak library table, her dress up around her ears and the sound of wood scratching on the floor echoing off the walls, as Spike thrust into her wet channel repeatedly, her thoughts were not surprisingly about how Giles would react to the fact that they were copulating in his library.

Her efforts to keep her tongue in check and not scream out her pleasures, crying out her husband’s name as he brought her to orgasm, was all she could think of. Not that she still had the book clutched in her hand, or that it seemed to be glowing.

Spike didn’t have the presence of mind to think it strange either, not while he was nestled between her thighs.

As Buffy bit her lip, hard, to suppress her final scream as she came she finally let the ‘The Magic of Tea Tree Dryads’ fall to the ground.
__________________________________________
They walked back to the reception together, hand in hand, Buffy looking a tad bit guilty. The look on Anya’s face convinced Buffy that the demon knew just exactly what they’d been doing.

“I am not jealous you know, Rupert and I had a little closet encounter not too long ago,” explained Anya quite seriously.

‘Gross’ face spread over Buffy’s features. She so did not want to know that Giles had a sex life. Even though she knew that there was no way that Anya would be happy if she wasn’t getting some on a regular basis. But ignorance was bliss.

“No need to be so eww about it,” continued the bride haughtily. “Go away, we are going to dance soon.”

With a smile, Spike led Buffy away from the bride and towards her sister, who was sitting by herself and looking not too happy. Buffy knew instinctively what was making Dawn so sour. Xander had opted not to attend Anya’s wedding. He’d been invited, Giles had wanted him to be his best man. But no one had taken Xander’s feelings into consideration. He had thought it best for all involved, but mostly for himself, if he didn’t attend. And this was why Dawn was moping.

The infectious giggling of a happy Willow hadn’t been able to get Dawn out of her funk either. Oz and Willow, it seemed had found a happy medium in their relationship. Buffy hadn’t wanted to pry into the details, ‘cause it seemed a little less than monogamous, but they were happy and that’s all that Buffy needed to know.

Buffy sat down beside her sister and patted the younger girl’s shoulder. “You’re bringing down the happy,” she commented.

Dawn glared at her sister. “We’ll it’s not exactly the funness that the last Anya wedding had going for it.”

“Xander wasn’t at that one either,” piped up Spike, earning him another glare from the Oxford undergrad. “Look, the whelp is somewhere in the building. Find him and get yourself out of this rotten mood.”

“And miss Anya throwing the bouquet?” questioned Dawn.
__________________________________________
The bride and groom safely on their way to an undisclosed location for their honeymoon, the Scoobies said their goodbyes as Spike, Buffy, Andrew, and the two little ones headed home to Cleveland. Someone had to guard the Hellmouth after all.

Routines fell back into place. Buffy continued her education, starting a new semester at college, leaving the care of Faith’s babies to Spike during the day. And Andrew resumed his job at an electronics store.

Richard’s third birthday passed in ‘Bob the Builder’ regalia and was only marred by the fact that Buffy seemed to be suffering from the stomach flu.

That didn’t go away.

She hadn’t thought about ‘it’ in such a long time. Two babies to take care of had left her maternal energies effectively occupied. She resorted to a home pregnancy test. Squeezing her eyes shut, refusing to look at the stick in her hand, she blew out a few calming breaths. She peeked one eye open, then the other.

Buffy looked down at the stick in her hand and the little blue cross it displayed.

So I guess that explains the sick and the yuck, she thought.

Overall this was a very happy thought.

Buffy felt tears well up in her eyes. She never thought she would actually have kids, well besides that time when two of then showed up from the future. Now it seemed that she would have fat grandbabies after all and with Spike. Something else to rub in Angel’s face.

Her mind suddenly raced to what they had done different lately. Nothing was springing to mind, except that time in the library with all the books of the Council around them.

Or maybe it was the book she had held in her hand.

Dru had said that it was ‘tea’ that would make the difference. With a chuckle Buffy left the bathroom in search of Spike.
__________________________________________
Buffy plopped down on her husband’s lap. He had been reading Shakespeare again.

“Spike, have we talked recently about how the Hellmouth does the wacky lately?”

“Not since we had that visit from the pixie convention last week. I don’t think pet,” he answered, not looking up from the book.

“Goody, ‘cause here we are having a similar conversation. Have you ever given thought to what you would name your children?” she asked.

Spike got a queer look on his face and looked up.

“Actually William for a boy and Victoria for a girl, but we both know that we wouldn’t be having boys,” he added with a neutral smile.

“Well, we might have to have the names discussion later, ‘cause I’m pregnant,” Buffy exclaimed and thrust the pregnancy test at him.

Spike’s face let up and began to pepper her face with kisses.
__________________________________________
The news that Buffy was pregnant was greeted by much squeeing over the telephone. Dawn was happy, Giles was happy. And Willow was ecstatic, she was going to be an aunt. Richard had just looked at Buffy with a perplexed face, as if to say, ’what the hell? Another sister?’ in that three year old way of his by letting his limited vocabulary express his disgust for the situation.

“No!” he shouted once, and then fumbled to get the stair gate open.

Buffy scooped up the toddler in her arms and wondered just how much of a change her life had taken since Faith’s death. Sooner than she liked to think, she was going to be mother to not only the little rascal in her arms, but his sleeping sister in the living room and the little girl growing in her womb.

And she still hadn’t finished college. Once Richard finally stopped struggling for freedom, his lunch safely in his belly and not all over his clothes as was usually the case, he was set free to play with some of his toys leaving Buffy to clean the house. Her travels took her back into the kitchen and past the fridge.

Blood of light, Blood of dark,
Blood of Blood,
Blood spilt to cover up the evils of blood’s evil,
Undercover of darkness blood is hidden,
Three times blood is split, three times evil rises,
Blood of light, Blood of dark,
Cycle begins anew.

She read it in completion a few times trying to grasp its meeting. She knew that it had to do with her immortality and her kids. She’d read enough of the prophecies about her over the years to figure out that she was ‘light’, meaning that Spike was probably ‘dark’. How very typical was that? And the whole thing is just chalk full of the blood. Blah...why couldn’t it be about marshmallow cream or something yummy?

It’s always about blood. Spike said that so many years ago. She hated when he was right.

Mmmm, marshmallow cream. Buffy’s mind returned to the fluffy stuff she had hidden in her cupboard.
__________________________________________
As the time got closer, Buffy suddenly found herself housing more and more Scoobies. Willow, Dawn, and Oz arrived first; Dawn taking up residence in her old room ignoring the fact that it was littered with Anya‘s stuff. Oz and Willow took Oz’s old room in the basement.

Buffy looked at Anya’s stuff and sighed. The vengeance demon had been able to convince Buffy that she still needed a room in Buffy’s house, because she was going to be popping in a regular basis to keep tabs on her business in Cleveland, as well as starting up another franchise in London. With the new baby, there was no way that Anya could keep the second floor room though. The new little one would be able to sleep in Buffy and Spikes room for the first few weeks sure, but sooner rather than later there was going to be major room changes.

Then Giles, Anya, and Xander arrived, putting more strain on the already exasperated Slayer. The wear and tear on her body, not to mention the fact that Spike had refused to let her slay anything while she was carrying their child had put her in a bad mood. Permanently.

Not only that but Anya stole her thunder right away. With a brilliant smile on her face, Anya announced that Giles had gotten her pregnant as well.

Buffy headed down to the basement training room to vent her frustrations on the punching bag. It was the only thing she was allowed to do that let her vent her frustrations.

Spike watched his mate trudge down to the basement. He had started to grow concerned about her falling down the stairs because she couldn’t see her feet around her protruding tummy. He had refrained from saying anything because he was pretty sure if he put another restriction on her she would start to cry.

He turned and glowered at Anya.

“What? It’s true!” she countered.

“I didn’t think vengeance demons could get pregnant...” started Dawn eagerly looking to glean more information.

Spike didn’t wait around for Anya’s response, before heading down to the basement to his wife’s side. The hoards could find their own room assignments for all he cared. He knew where he was sleeping, but he didn’t want to find himself sleeping beside an irate slayer who couldn’t slay. That always ended with him getting smacked around, and not of the good variety.
__________________________________________
Buffy hung up the phone on Dru. The phone call from LA wishing her good luck on the delivery of her child was odd. She didn’t talk to Angel at all. Fred had babbled on about the baby and how Dru was really excited. Wesley had inquired about the wards and enchantments that were going to be put on the house to further protect the little family. And Dru...Dru had madly talked for half an hour, Buffy not really knowing exactly what she was talking about.

She did get a few lucid moments from the crazed vampire though. Dru was certain that it wasn’t Cat that was nestled in Buffy’s womb. That wasn’t news to Buffy though.

The list on which she’d written the names of her children that she had compiled while Ariel and Cat had stayed was hidden away under her pillow.

So Dru had dicussed names. She’d been really keen on Edith for some reason. There was no way in any hell dimension that Buffy was naming her daughter Edith.

Spike had been pulling for Eugenia, named after his favourite aunt. Buffy had wanted Katrina. Either worked with the middle name they had both picked: Joyce.

Buffy was glad that Dru wasn’t able to leave the Hyperion hotel though, ‘cause she was pretty sure that if the mad vampiress could leave, she’d be living in Buffy’s house too, waiting for the kid to pop.

Buffy had three hours before her due date was going to pass. She’d been so looking forward to getting this kid out of her, so she could resume her normal life again, complete with slaying, being able to pick up Richard and Niki, and not bumping into things all the time. Her tummy was massive, or so she thought. She’d never been pregnant before.

Leaving the office, and her confusion over Dru’s ramblings, she decided that she needed some juice. She got to the kitchen just in time to join Willow, who was making grilled cheese sandwiches.

Willow hadn’t talked much to her since she and Oz had arrived. At first Buffy had thought that it was because Oz had started to rub off on her. She wasn’t too sure now. Willow was super excited about the baby but she wouldn’t talk about how she was or anything of a personal nature.

Buffy took a sip of juice and put down her glass on the kitchen counter. “Ok, spill. I want details. You are keeping something from me and I can tell. Best friends tell you know!”

Willow looked up sheepishly, hiding behind her hair. “I didn’t want to make you mad.”

“Why would I be mad?” asked Buffy.

“Well, you left the room when Anya started gushing about being pregnant....” started Willow.

“Wills, are you and Oz...” Buffy trailed off, her eyes wide.

“Pregnant,” Willow completed, nodding her head.

Buffy smiled and reached out to hug her friend. “I’m excited for you. This means that this baby is going to have lots of cousins!”

Buffy felt a small pull from the baby but brushed it off as another random baby movement.

“Uh? Buffy did you spill your juice on me?” asked Willow.

Buffy backed up and looked down at her denim maternity overalls. They were wet. She looked back up at Willow a look of panic on her face.

“Spike!” she screamed.
__________________________________________
Willow placed baby Graves into Buffy’s arms. She was perfect. They had all made it to the hospital and waited patiently, for hours as Buffy’s voice screamed and swore at her mate for what he’d done to her.

Inside Buffy’s hospital room, an exhausted Slayer held her baby daughter, her bald head and closed eyes revealed nothing about what she was going to look like when she grew up, but she did have Spike’s ears and Buffy’s nose.

“She’s beautiful Buffy,” said Spike leaning in over his wife and daughter.

“The most beautiful girl in all the land,” breathed Buffy with a smile.

“Bianca,” Spike whispered softly.

“Huh?” she looked up in confusion.

“The beautiful daughter in the Taming of the Shrew,” Spike explained

“Pretty name, much better than Eugenia,” she teased.

“Hey! We agreed on Eugenia, my favourite aunt was named Eugenia,” Spike protested.

“Bianca Joyce Summers-Graves,” said Buffy looking down lovingly at her daughter.

The door to Buffy’s bedroom opened, and Dawn peaked her head in.

“Come in Dawn,” said Buffy with a smile on her face. “Come meet your niece, crusty old Aunt Dawn.”

Dawn sat down next to her sister and gazed at the sleeping babe that was being cuddled between the Slayer and her vampire father.

“Has she got a name yet?” asked Dawn.

“Bianca Joyce,” said Buffy.

“Pretty,” agreed Dawn.

Dawn pulled back from the family and took something out of her pocket. The folded mass of white envelops caught Buffy’s eye at once. Dawn tried to flatten the wad of paper.

“You wanna open one?”

Willow entered the room to check on baby and mom. Xander holding Richard‘s hand, Andrew, Giles, Anya, and Oz who was holding Niki all trailed in behind her.

Buffy and Spike looked at each other before both reaching for an envelope. Everyone in the room got an envelope.

There was some discussion about how Niki was gonna wreck hers.

“Okay, on the count of three?” said Dawn.

“One, two, three,” counted down Willow.

Everyone tore. Niki was chewing on hers.

Giles’ envelope opened.

“Bianca Joyce Summers-Graves, born on the 31st of October, 2007” read Giles.

The group smiled knowingly.

“And just look at all the rest of these envelopes Buffy!” laughed Dawn.

“Yes, the similarity between you and the reproductive habits of rabbits is uncanny,” added Anya.
__________________________________________
Fini, for now...there will be more instalments...I’ve got all those envelopes to account for.