Chapter 17

Spike burst into the hospital, immediately finding her friends in the waiting room.

“What happened? Is she okay?”

Willow was the first one to speak up. “We don’t know yet. The doctor is still running some tests.”

Spike ran his fingers through his hair, taking a seat next to Xander. “I knew I shouldn’t have let her patrol alone.”

“Hey, you should know by now that no one could have stopped Buffy. This isn’t your fault,” Willow said, trying to reassure him.

He nodded, instantly jumping up when he spotted the doctor headed in their direction. “Is my girlfriend all right?”

The doctor looked at the distressed man, then at the other worried faces around him. “Are you with Buffy Summers?”

Giles stepped closer to him. “Yes, how is she doing?”

“She seems to have a head injury, but nothing too dire. The cause of her fainting is most likely from that, and from some added stress in her life. Were you aware that Ms. Summers is pregnant?”

There were shocked faces all around, but none of them were more so than Spike.

“What? No, that’s not possible.”

He nodded. “I would say about six weeks along, both her and the baby are doing fine at the moment, but I would suggest she takes it easy from now on.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Giles told him, still not sure what to make of this new information.

Spike sat back down, at a loss for words.

“Man, and I thought Buffy being pregnant the first time was a shock. Do you think she’s been seeing someone else?”

Willow slapped Xander on the arm, while Spike sent him a scathing glare.

“No, you ponce, she hasn’t been seeing anyone else. I don’t know how it’s possible, but the baby is mine. I know it. I need to see her.” Spike headed over to her room, not about to let anyone stop him. Once there, he opened the door to see her lying very still in bed, eyes closed. The doctor didn’t say anything about her being unconscious, so he just assumed she was sleeping. It was confirmed when he took a seat next to her, and her eyes opened to look at him.

“Hey, you’re here.”

He gave her a small smile. “Of course I am, you wanna tell me what happened tonight?”

She thought about it. “My head is kind of fuzzy, but I remember Drusilla being there.”

Spike growled at that, standing up with a start. “Bloody bitch, I’ll fucking kill her!”

Buffy grabbed his arm before he could take off. “No, there was a demon that attacked me. I think Drusilla…saved me.”

He reined in his temper, sitting back down. “Are you sure?”

“It was all a blur, but yeah, she must have been the one to bring me here.”

Spike was confused, wondering if Drusilla had some sort of ulterior motive, but he couldn’t think about that now. “Has the doctor talked to you?”

Buffy nodded, glancing away from his piercing gaze. “Pregnant, huh? I’m still trying to wrap my mind around that. I didn’t know vampires could have children.”

“Neither did I.”

She turned to look back at him. “How do you feel about it?”

Spike graced her with a bigger smile. “Honestly, I’m bloody amazed right now. You’ve already given me something that I thought I would never have, but this? I love Dawn, but it kills me knowing that I’m not her real father. I just never thought I could be one.” He lay next to her on the bed, holding her close. “The demon in Africa told me that finding the gem would give me a miracle. I just assumed he meant the sunlight, but this is so much more than that.” Spike placed his hand over her still flat belly. “My baby’s really in there,” he said in awe.

She smiled at the look of adoration on his face, already knowing that he would be a great father. Seeing him with Dawn was proof of that.

“I love you so bloody much,” he commented, touching his lips to the top of her head.

“I love you, too.”


* * * * *


“Dru? I know you’re here.”

She stepped out of the shadows. “My Spike, how is the sunshine?”

He knew her well enough by now to know what she was talking about. “She’s fine. Why did you help her?”

Drusilla glided over to him. “The girl holds something precious inside of her; no harm must come to it. You’re not my William anymore, I’ve come to say goodbye.”

Spike felt tears in his eyes, knowing that this was the most sane he’d ever heard her be. “Thank you, if I’d lost her…”

She pressed a finger to his lips. “Shush now, the little one will need you. Those bad tin soldiers needed to be stopped. Don’t believe everything you hear,” with that said, she vanished back into the shadows.

Spike left the crypt, feeling lighter than he had before and knowing that she was responsible for the destruction of the Initiative, but he was going to be a father, and nothing could top that.


* * * * *


He smiled at her sleeping form, gazing at the child in his arms. “That’s your little brother or sister in there.”

Dawn giggled, even though she probably had no idea what he meant.

Buffy opened her eyes, smiling at the sight of them together. “Let me hold her.”

Spike handed the baby over to her mother, joining them both on the bed. “I have never seen your mum so thrilled. She’s already out buying baby supplies, but we don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl yet.”

Buffy waved her hand in the air. “That doesn’t matter; she’ll buy stuff for both. I have a closet full of boys’ clothes, just in case that’s what Dawn turned out to be.” She held her baby close to her, a hand on her stomach. “At least this time around, I know my child will have a father.”

He kissed her cheek. “Damn right; they both do. Nothing will make me leave. You’re stuck with me.”

She snuggled up at his side, a satisfied smile on her face. “I could definitely live with that.”


* * * * *


“Surprise!” everyone yelled the second Buffy and Spike walked into the house. It was pointless for them to have a surprise party that she already knew about, but she didn’t want to spoil their fun.

Buffy mingled a bit, then sat down to open up her presents. Most of what her mother gave her was stuff for the baby, no matter what the sex turned out to be, but she didn’t mind. It was always good to get a head start. She received a vibrator from Anya, quickly moving to hide that from her mother, giving the other woman a glare.

Anya shrugged. “What? It’s for those times when Spike isn’t around.”

He chuckled, which caused Buffy to send a glare in his direction.

Willow and Tara got her some blouses, Giles a wicked cool knife, and Xander an offer to repair anything in her house that got broken, free of charge. With another baby on the way, there was bound to be a lot that needed repairing, so she’d be very happy to take him up on that.

Spike was last, giving her another black box.

Buffy opened it to reveal a gorgeous, heart shaped locket, with the inscription ‘love always’ on the back. She gazed up at him, tears in her eyes. “Thank you, it’s so beautiful. Could you put it on me?”

He nodded and took the necklace from her, placing it around her neck.

She went to check it out in the mirror, showing the girls her new piece of jewelry.

Xander shook his head. “You know, you’re just making the rest of us look bad. Anya’s going to expect something shiny now.”

Spike grinned, watching his girl as she laughed with her friends. When she came back over to his side, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “So, how does this birthday rate with the others?”

She smiled, resting her head against his shoulder. “Best birthday ever.”