A young, blonde woman cradled a tiny infant in the upstairs room of Buffy and Spike’s house. Her deep blue eyes and curly hair were very similar to Spike’s when he was human, but her sun kissed skin and softened features likened her to Buffy. She stared down at the infant, tears welling in her eyes.

“I’m not going to let you end up like Evan, little Brayden. I’m taking you far, far away from this place so Mummy and Daddy won’t have a chance to hurt you.”

With a flick of her wrist, a tuft of purple smoke surrounded the two of them, and they vanished. Sensing the flux of power in the house, Buffy and Spike bolted up the stairs to Brayden’s bedroom. The haze was still dissipating when they burst into the room, the faint smell of burnt violets still hanging in the air, and Buffy was immediately fraught with despair. Spike stared, enraged, at the empty crib, as Buffy crumbled into his arms.

“No…Spike, no…she wouldn’t…no…not Natalia…not our little girl.”

“Pet, she would and she did. She thinks she’s right after everything that happened with Evan…we’ll find her, love…don’t worry.”
--

~70 Years Earlier~

Buffy and Spike stared at the small white test sitting on the bathroom counter. Buffy stepped back, bit her lip, shook her head, and then squinted and peered down at the test again.

“That can’t be right, Spike. I…I’m pregnant?”

Spike grinned at her.

“Think that’s what the little ‘plus’ sign means, love,” he said with a chuckle, “Wait till I tell Clem I knocked the Slayer up!”

Buffy smacked him on the arm.

“You will do no such thing. We have to keep this quiet, Spike…at least till we figure out how we can keep the baby safe.”

“Already getting hormonal, are we Slayer,” he asked, trying to hold in his laughter, “Whatever you want, love.”

Raising her eyebrow slightly, Buffy pushed Spike back against the wall.

“Right now…I want you.”

Their coupling was short and passionate, Spike lifting Buffy up onto the counter, setting her next to the pregnancy test. He thrust into her already wet slit, and pumped her into oblivion, sinking his teeth into her neck and pulling a small amount of blood. It was just enough to push her over the edge, and as she came down from her own high, Buffy noticed a familiar look on her mate’s face. Latching her blunt teeth onto his neck, Buffy bit down, drawing a tiny amount of blood along with Spike’s orgasm. They leaned on each other, breathing heavily. Buffy smiled.

“This kid is going to need severe therapy with us for parents.”


--


Over the next few months, the Scooby gang grew closer to Spike and Buffy. Willow aided the pair by casting glamours to keep Buffy’s condition a secret for as long as possible. Xander built an entire roomful of nursery furniture, while Giles and Andrew, who were currently heading up the Council, set up a trust fund for the new arrival, as well as purchasing a new home for the pair on the coast of Wales. The home was by no means giant, however, it was quite expansive compared to what Buffy and Spike had been used to in the past. It was two full stories with an attic, was painted in brown and tan hues, and had a tall chimney on the left corner of the roof. The huge, paned windows were the most impressive feature of the house, and when Spike received the first images of the estate from Giles, he silently thanked the Powers That Be for his new immunity to the once deadly rays of the sun.

Dawn went ahead of the pair to the new home to ready it for their arrival, after Buffy decided she wanted to give birth as close to the spot where she had her dream of the little one she knew was to be Natalia, as her due date was set to mid-September. Giles had begun to train Dawn to be a Watcher as well, however, they had decided that she would wait to enter into her position after her wedding. Andrew and Dawn had grown very close in the past few months, even though most of their contact was via phone and webcam. Everyone wasn’t as thrilled for their new arrangement as they were, however, as Xander constantly quipped, if they could learn to accept Spike, they could learn to accept anyone.


Buffy’s labor was quick and relatively painless. Spike burst out into the waiting room with a huge grin plastered on his face. Willow and Xander jumped up to greet him, and they collided in a tight group hug.

“It’s a girl…it’s Natalia,” Spike said, still smiling.

Giles stood and walked over to the jumping group, thrusting his hand out at Spike, and willing himself to keep his composure.

“Congratulations, Spike. How is Buffy doing?”

“Slayer’s a bit knackered, but the doctors say she’s doing surprisingly well. She doesn’t fancy staying here too much longer, but I doubt they’ll let her out too early.”

“That’s understandable, she’s always hated hospitals.”

A brief silence fell over the group, and Spike’s heart jumped.

“Do you want to see the little bit?”


~Four years later~

Spike held a short, curly-haired, four-year-old girl up to the maternity ward’s viewing window. Her eyes, deep blue pools, lit up as Spike pointed to one tiny infant.

“See, Natalia, poppet? That’s your baby brother Evan. How’s it feel to be a big sister?”

Natalia beamed proudly up at Spike as he set her down.

“I like him Daddy,” she said, before frowning, “He’s not gonna take my room is he?”

Spike ruffled her hair and laughed.

“No, poppet, he won’t. We talked about that, remember? He’s got his own room already. You helped me paint it.”

She nodded.

“I’m a good painter.”

“That you are, poppet…you want to go see your Mum?”

“Uh-huh. Won’t she be tired though, Daddy? Auntie Dawn said that when Mummies have babies they get real tired an’ I need to help Mummy around the house cuz I’m a big girl now.”

“Auntie Dawn is very smart, poppet.”

“Yep. She remembered my birthday too, Daddy,” she said, pointing down at the pink sneakers she was wearing.

Chuckling to himself, Spike took Natalia’s hand in his own, and they walked towards Buffy’s hospital room.

--

Buffy held onto the limp form of a teenage boy. She sobbed and rocked him back and forth, the ground around her, once their seaside home, was scorched and littered with bodies of Slayers and demons. A pool of blood, a mix of the creatures and humans surrounding her. Giles fought valiantly by Buffy’s side, figured he had nothing left to lose given his age and the malignant tumor recently found in his brain. His crumpled body lay a few yards away from the Slayer, though she didn’t notice anything aside from the dead form of her son. Spike and Natalia were nowhere to be seen. The world around Buffy spun, her mind blacked out, and she gave into the darkness.

Buffy awoke to the sound of Natalia’s scream, and the smell of burning violets.

--