Chapter 20

“No, that’s not happening.”

Buffy knew he would argue with her, but she had to make him understand. “Spike, this is important. I really want to do it for the baby.”

He shook his head, not about to back down. “We’re not doing anything just in case, Slayer. You said that everything was going to be fine, and you had me believing you.”

“I feel in my heart that everything will be fine, but you never know when something could go wrong. It’s important to be prepared. I want the baby to remember me if it comes to that.”

“The baby’s not gonna need to remember you,” Spike explained, tears forming in his eyes that he couldn’t hide anymore. “She’s going to know you, see you every bloody day. She won’t need a videotape reminder when you’re always going to be around. I’ll see to that, Buffy. You’re going to be there for every part of this child’s life, and Dawn’s. They don’t need to watch their mother on some video, saying how much you love them when you can do that in person.”

Buffy hated that she’d made him cry. She knew how much he didn’t want to talk about what could happen during the labor, but it was important to her. It was important that her children grew up knowing how loved they were, that they had a mother who would have done anything for them. No matter what, she knew they would be well taken care of. Spike would see to that, so she decided to let the subject drop for now. Buffy took him in her arms, guiding his head to her shoulder as she rubbed his back, whispering soothing words to ease him. “It’s okay, honey. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just want them to know…”

He pulled away, cutting her off. “They will know. You don’t need to make a video, love. If…if something happens, I’ll tell them every chance I get how amazing their mother was. You’ll still be here through me, but we won’t need to worry about that any time soon. You’re not going anywhere.”

Buffy gave him a sad smile. It meant a lot that he always believed that.


* * * * *


Getting closer to Buffy’s due date, the sweetness was bound to fade. She was grouchy, irritable, and definitely not a joy to be around, but Spike loved her. He just had to keep reminding himself of that.

“Oh my God, do you have to breathe so damn loud?”

Spike shut his eyes, opening them to glare at her while trying to keep his temper in check. “I’m all the way on the other side of the bloody room, and may I remind you, vampire. We don’t even breathe.”

She rolled her eyes. “That is such a load of crap. You may not need to breathe in order to live, but you do it. And right now, it’s getting on my nerves. Angel used that whole ‘no breath’ thing as an excuse to let me die when I was sixteen. Yeah, right, he so could have saved me when I drowned, but did he? No, he didn’t even bother to try. Would you have done the same thing, huh?”

“There’s no easy way out of this conversation, is there?”

She stood up, which wasn’t easy with her large belly. “I knew it! I bet you don’t even really care about me. You just wanted to get in my pants, and now that that’s done and you knocked me up, the truth comes out.”

“Are you daft, woman? Why would a man, living or dead, put up with your mood swings if they didn’t love you?” he wondered, stepping over to her, checking carefully to make sure she had no stakes on her.

Buffy was getting tired of these pregnancy hormones. She wanted the whole thing over with. “Fuck me, Spike. I want this baby out now.” She jumped him then, as much as she could with the added weight, attacking his mouth with hers.

Spike wasn’t one to complain, so he gave back as good as he got. He just got her over to the couch when she pulled away, a frown on her flushed face. “What is it?”

“Change of plans,” she panted. “My water just broke.”

His eyes widened, helping her up carefully and leading her over to the front door, grabbing the bag that they’d packed a few weeks ago. “Just keep taking deep breaths, love. I’ll get you to the hospital as soon as I can, we’ll call Joyce and the others on the way.”

She nodded and got in his car once he opened the door for her, clutching her stomach as she continued her breathing exercises.

Spike sped away from the house as soon as he got in the car, heading for the hospital with one thought on his mind, that nothing would go wrong.


* * * * *


He was ushered into the room after Buffy, who was screaming bloody murder along the way. They gave him hospital scrubs to put on, and Spike never thought in a million years that he would ever be in this position, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“You’re doing great, Buffy. It looks like this baby is ready to come out,” Dr. Saunders claimed.

Buffy breathed heavily, gripping Spike’s hand tight in hers. “Don’t let go,” she pleaded.

“Never,” he responded, squeezing her hand back.

“Okay, Buffy, it’s time to push now.”

She did just that, feeling drained from just one push. “God, it hurts so much. I don’t remember it being this bad the first time.”

That worried Spike, bringing her hand to his mouth and placing a kiss on her knuckles. “You can do it, sweetheart.”

“You’re almost there, Buffy. Just give us one more push.”

She did as the doctor said; pushing with all the strength she had left in her. Buffy laid her head back when it was over, tears streaming down her face at the sounds of a crying baby.

“Congratulations, you have a boy.”

Spike was in awe as he gazed at the child. “I guess you weren’t a girl, after all.” It didn’t matter to him. He had a son; something he never thought could happen. He wasn’t worthy of such a gift, but he would treasure it always. He was worried when Buffy’s eyes closed, even more so when the machines beeped at her side. “What’s going on?”

The nurse suddenly pulled him out of the room. “You’ll need to wait outside, sir.”

That was the last thing Spike wanted to do, but he obeyed and watched through the door. All he heard was that she was losing a lot of blood. He stood there and waited as his biggest fear came to life.