Banner by Noaluvjames

Chapter 19

Buffy left early Sunday morning so that she would get back to Sunnydale and still have time to unwind before classes the next day, allowing her mother to go in to the gallery to prepare her newest exhibit. The weekend had been a revelation, and after the numerous heart-to-hearts with her mother, she decided she was going to bite the proverbial bullet and tell William about the baby.  

During the drive home, she played several scenarios over in her mind about what exactly she was going to say. But, by the time she’d pulled into the parking space outside her apartment, she still had yet to come up with a way to spring the news. Buffy gripped the steering wheel tightly in her hands and softly banged her head against them a few times in frustration.  

There was just no easy way to explain.

Shoving aside her brief pity party, she opened the door and stepped from the vehicle. Her daughter had fallen asleep about a half hour ago, and as she looked down at the slumbering girl, tears filled her eyes. Pretty soon, Dawn would have a sibling to play with. She’d no longer be her little baby anymore.

Quietly opening the door so as not to awaken her, Buffy carefully unbuckled her daughter and lifted her into her arms. Turning, she made her way to the porch and held her daughter with one hand, using the other to unlock and open the front door.  

Once her daughter was safely deposited in her bed, she walked back out to the car and retrieved her bags. She wanted to get a little bit of studying done since she’d left her books at home, but the yawn that parted her lips attested to her exhaustion and she bypassed the books where she’d left them on the table and collapsed wearily on the couch to take a quick nap.

~*~*~*~*~

The soft chiming of the front door announced the arrival of a customer, and Joyce looked over from where she stood on the short ladder hanging an oil painting to glance at the gorgeous brunette as she walked into the gallery, talking over her shoulder to a trio of men behind her.

“…just be a minute. Sheesh! Now be good boys and don’t touch anything.”

“She always like this, mate?” the blond-headed man asked a shorter male, who was sporting an interesting shade of blue hair. Surprisingly, it seemed to fit him.

Oz looked back at Giles and just shrugged.

“We’ve… ah… learned long ago to just follow obediently,” the older man replied, winking.

“Right then. Let’s have us a look.”

William left the two men behind and started wandering around the gallery. So preoccupied with Cordy’s inane chatter as they left the eatery a few places down, he’d failed to catch the name of the establishment. He was just about to walk back to the entrance and see for himself, when something caught his attention.

Veering from his path to the front door, he stopped before an 8 x 10 photograph. His finger reached out as if to touch it…

“What are you doing?” Cordelia hissed at him as she reached his side.

He didn’t answer, just continued to gaze at the other photographs – his hand poised midway to the first one he’d seen. There were twelve in all – three rows of four each hung on the wall beside the discreet checkout counter.

With an exaggerated roll of her eyes at his lack of words, she glanced at the wall to see what held him so entranced.

“Oh… very nice,” she murmured appreciatively.

Joyce finished getting the painting hung just so and stepped carefully down off the ladder. She hurriedly closed it and removed it to the back office then went over to greet her customers.

“Good morning,” she greeted the striking couple.

“Hello… we were just admiring this set here. Who’s the artist?”

“Uh… those are part of my personal collection. The artist wishes to remain anonymous.”

“How much?” William asked, never taking his eyes off the photographs. He was particularly entranced by the photo of a lone man standing on the beach looking out over the water.  

“I’m sorry, sir. They’re not for sale.”

“Five thousand,” he cut her off.

Joyce gaped at the man, and watched as the woman standing next to him did the same.

“Ten thousand,” he spoke again when Joyce didn’t answer.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, shaking her head.

“William, you heard the lady. They’re not for sale.”

“Cordy, you don’t understand. They’re hers. I was there.” He lifted anguished eyes to her and pointed to one of the photographs. “That’s me…”

Behind him, Joyce gasped. This was Buffy’s William?

“Fifteen thousand,” he told the woman, turning away from the brunette to look at the proprietress.  

Joyce’s jaw dropped when she finally got a good look at him. Her daughter could sure pick ‘em. True, he was gorgeous in a bad boy image kind of way. But, it was his eyes that convinced Joyce. He was going to make a good son-in-law.

She walked over to him and looped her arm through his.

“Tell you what…you give me a good reason for wanting those photographs, and I might be persuaded to ask the artist to develop a second set. Ah, ah, ah…” she started when he went to protest her terms. “Those are mine, and I’m quite partial to them. Take it or leave it.”

“Deal.”

“Why don’t you come in the back with me and I’ll make you a nice cup of cocoa.”

William was led docilely away, much to the amusement of Cordelia. She shook her head as Oz and Giles walked up and joined her.

“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes,” she told the two. “Hollywood’s most eligible and famous actor, being led about like some tame puppy.”

“Come on,” she urged, walking towards the exit. “I have a feeling he’s gonna be a while. We can pass the time shopping on the strip.”

Behind her, both men cringed in horror.

“Is it too early to start drinking?” Oz asked the older man.

~*~*~*~*~

William looked at the mug placed before him then glanced up at the woman hovering near his side. She arched her brow at him, waiting for him to proceed, and he found himself at a sudden loss for words. He looked around the small office as he attempted to get his bearings and his gaze fell upon a photo on the woman’s desk.

“You’re her mother,” he exclaimed.

“And, you’re William.”

Feeling like a fish out of water, he just stared at the older woman, waiting to see how she’d react.

Joyce could feel her lips twitching as she struggled not to laugh. Poor man! Didn’t know how to act.

“She told me you had a gallery. It just didn’t dawn on me… That’s me, by the way, in one of those photos,” he told her softly.

“I know,” she told him quietly. She leaned back against the counter and waited for him to proceed.

“I…” he began.

“Do you love my daughter, William?” she cut him off, eyes narrowed on his face as she searched his eyes for any hint of a lie.

“With all my heart,” he told her.

Her shoulders dropped and she heaved a sigh. “It’s not going to be easy, I’ll tell you right now. She’s been hurt, and badly. She’s had to grow up a lot sooner than I would have liked. And, my daughter’s just now gotten her life on track with school. I’ll not have you messing that up for her.”

“I wouldn’t…”

“If you break her heart…” She left the threat hanging between them.

“I won’t…”

“You’ll be getting yourself into an instant family. And, I won’t stand for any snubbing of her daughter. If you can’t deal with that, you should just walk away right now.”

“I… Me mum’s been hammerin’ at me to give her some grandbabies… And, the ‘Bit? What’s not to love?”

Joyce smiled at him, pleased.

“Well, all right then. Welcome to the family, William. Provided, that is, that you can get Buffy to agree.” Secretly, she had no doubt that he’d be able to. She liked him. Underneath that gruff exterior and Hollywood persona was a down-to-earth man that apparently loved her little girl.

~*~*~*~*~

William planned his strategy the entire drive back to Sunnydale.  

After his brief chat with Buffy’s mum, he’d gone looking for his friends, quickly finding them two shops down in a shoe boutique. Oz and Giles had looked at him with relief in their eyes at ending their impromptu shopping torture.

“Sorry, guys,” he’d told them.

“Everything all right?” Oz had asked.

“Yeah. You won’t believe whose gallery that was.”

The two men had looked at him and waited. He’d rushed on to explain about this girl he’d met while vacationing in the UK. But as one of the clerks had come back to where the group had stood – recognizing him – he had abruptly stopped talking. He hadn’t wanted Access Hollywood reporting on his love life. He had given them a look that said he’d finish the conversation once they were alone.

Cordelia had seen the glazed eyes come over the employee’s features and had hurriedly finished her purchase. The small group had just barely managed to escape the shop before the paparazzi had descended upon them.

Once assured of privacy in Oz’s car, he’d told the trio all about Buffy. They’d all seemed genuinely happy for him and expressed interest in meeting the girl. They’d arrived back at their hotel and he’d told them he would arrange a little get-together… just as soon as he convinced her to marry him.

“Good luck,” Cordy had teased, winking at him.

Now, as he closed in on the city limits of Sunnydale, he couldn’t seem to stop the permanent grin plastered to his face. With his friends and Buffy’s mother backing him, he couldn’t fail.

~*~*~*~*~

Buffy walked across campus with a spring in her step and a smile on her face. After this past week, she thought that it would be a permanent fixture on her face.  

He’d called her every night like clockwork, his calls a welcome respite from her endless studying. He’d even called one time when both Tara and Willow were over, and after hanging up, she’d broken down and told the two about him – explaining that he was the father of her baby, although, she didn’t tell them “who” exactly he was.

She’d seen the two girls’ reaction to him onscreen and didn’t need the added stress of tongue-tied friends that might unintentionally babble her secret. She liked the fact that she had him all to herself, even if she hadn’t actually seen him all week. For a little while longer, William could just be hers. She was sure that “Spike’s” relationship – if she could call what they had a relationship – would become common knowledge soon enough, and she mentally cringed at the thought.  

The Scooby Doo ring of her cell phone interrupted her thoughts.

“Hello?”

“Hey, sweetheart! How are you?”

“Mom, hi! What are you doing calling me?”

“Well, actually, I’m at your place. I came up to steal my grandchild for the weekend.” ‘And give you some William-bonding time,’ she added silently.

“Wha? Really?”

“Uh huh. We had so much fun while you were gone, so we’re gonna take a mini-weekend…just the two of us. So, you swing by her school and pick her up, and I’ll pack her a bag.”

“Uhhh… okay,” she replied hesitantly. She got in her car and drove towards school to get her daughter.

~*~*~*~*~

Buffy had just eased down into the bubbles that almost overflowed the small tub…and wouldn’t you guess, the damn phone rang. She slid forward in the tub, causing water and bubbles to slosh over the side, as she reached for her phone resting on the toilet seat.

“Hello,” she answered, a cross between breathlessness and annoyance.

“Hello, pet.”

Damned if she didn’t get little tinglies zinging up her insides as his accented voice resounded in her ear.

“Hi…” She pushed herself back in the tub so that she could lean against the back wall, careful to keep her cell phone dry. “Oh, hell,” she mumbled as more water spilled over the side.

“What?”

“Nothing. Just making a mess in the bathroom. Spilling water all over the floor… Damn, I’m gonna have to clean that up.”

Images of a naked Buffy immersed in a sudsy bath sprang to mind, and William cleared his throat before speaking again.

“I…I guess that answers the question of what you were doing,” he remarked ruefully.

“It never fails…take a bath or a shower and the damn phone rings.”

“Right then…” His imagination was working overtime, and he fancied himself a nice long wank in the shower to ease the ache in his pants.

Unless…

“I know I said tomorrow, but… see me tonight.”

Buffy sat in the tub in indecision. If he came over, without the buffer of her daughter, they were going to end up in bed. Her willpower where he was concerned was nonexistent. But, if she waited until tomorrow, where she was assured of a public outing, she’d be safe.

‘Are you crazy? The kid is out of town and you’re debating? Tell him yes already and go throw on something sexy!’

“Okay.” And, she quickly gave him directions to her place before she could change her mind.

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