SUMMARY:
William "Spike" Pratt, has it all, a beautiful wife, a good job, a sweetheart of a stepdaughter, a brother that also happens to be his best friend. Life couldn't get better or could it?
Warning; Rated for every perversion possible; You have been warned, while some subject matter is definitely Taboo and I am not making light of it in any way, please remember everything that happens is 100% consensual. Also know that while Spike meets Buffy at a very young age, he would never sexualize a child. His mind would never go there, and that's not something I would ever write. I say this because, Spike meets her as a very little girl, and is instantly taken with her, but trust me when I say not like that.
This story also includes, underage drinking, possible drug use, lots of dirty language and lots of Riley bashing. There will not be however, vampires, demons, or playing poker for kittens; My 3 month old kitten objects to this practice.
Most of the story will take place from Spike's POV; I may throw in other's pov's but will indicate who they belong to, to avoid confusion.
Of course the standard disclaimer applies, I own none of this, but sure would love to rent Spike for a while.
A FAMILY AFFAIR:
Chapter 1
If you had asked me seven months ago, I would have told you that I had to be the luckiest bastard alive. I think about the past six years and just how far I have come.
Six years ago, my brother Liam and I were struggling in London; Our parents having died a couple of years before. I had always been a good student and had been accepted to Oxford, unfortunately money ran out and I had to quit.
My brother Liam had been accepted to a school in the States and was able to convince me to move with him to California.
Not long after moving to the small town of Sunnydale, I was hired as a photographer for the town newspaper. It wasn't what I aspired to, but it was a job and it paid for me to finish my education at UC Sunnydale.
I had always had eye for beauty, Liam had always given me shit about my being the tortured artist, I love to draw, write poetry and am damn good with a camera.
My professors always praised my work and right before graduation, I was rewarded with a show of my own at a local but prestigious gallery.
Critics came from Los Angeles and San Francisco and I received rave reviews.
That is also where I met Joyce; Joyce is a beautiful but slightly older woman.
She ran the gallery and by the end of the night had managed not only to sell several of my pieces but had helped me make connections for possible future showings in other galleries.
I was instantly taken with her; She truly loved and appreciated art, and she had a inner light that I was attracted to.
I asked her to go out for coffee with me after the show and we talked until morning. I didn't want to let her go yet, so I asked her for dinner later that night.
She admitted that she would love to, but was afraid that she wouldn't be able to find a babysitter.
I had never dated a woman with a kid before, but I love kids; I decided to go for it and invited her to bring her child along; stating that it would be no problem to pick a more family friendly place.
She gave me a critical look, but finally consented and gave me her address and asked me to pick her up at 7:00. Telling me it would have to be an early night, because Buffy had school the next day.
Buffy, seriously she named her child Buffy?
At 7:00 sharp, I was ringing the doorbell of a lovely two story home; I was surprised when the person that answered it was not Joyce. Instead I was greeted by the most adorable little girl that I had ever seen. She had beautiful long, blond hair, and striking green eyes.
She was precious, as sweet and friendly as she was cute. She had stolen my heart with a smile. I would love to photograph her, I thought and made a point of asking Joyce for permission. Buffy had the same inner light as her mom, but if possible it was even brighter. Perhaps it was her innocence, God I had just met the little girl but I had this instinctual need to help protect her from anything or anyone that could destroy that innocence.
She told me that she was 10 years old and in fifth grade; She also said that she wanted to be a professional figure skater when she grew up.
She told me that I talked funny, and asked why?
I explained to her that I came from England and that we all speak like that. For some reason that made her giggle; I wonder what is going on in the mind of a ten year old.
Finally Joyce joined us and we left the house; I had decided on pizza for dinner, not having any idea what a little girl would eat and afterwards we hit up the carnival that was in town.
Fortunately I had brought my camera and I was able to take some wonderful photos of both Joyce and Buffy.
Everyone was having a wonderful time and I hated for the evening to end, but I knew that we needed to get Buffy home and after hearing "one more ride" three times we were finally able to drag an exhausted little girl home.
Joyce had invited me in and told me to make myself comfortable while she put Buffy to bed; Buffy quickly responded to that with a pout of her lips.
"Mom, I'm not tired." She said while yawning.
I just had to laugh at her, she kind of reminded me of myself when I was that age.
"Tell William goodnight Buffy." Joyce said.
"Goodnight William" She said bending down and kissing me on the cheek.
"Call me Spike" I told her.
"Spike, what kind of name is that? That's funny." She said.
"You should meet my brother if you think that's funny, they call him Angel."
She couldn't control her laughter at that, and went bouncing up the stairs with her mom.
A few minutes later, Joyce came back downstairs, still laughing at something that Buffy had apparently said.
"Thank you." She said to me.
"For what?" I asked, I couldn't imagine what I had done to earn that.
"You're so good with her, most men I meet suddenly remember previous engagements when they find out about her."
"They're loss and good riddance." I tell her. "Honestly Joyce, she's adorable, you've done such a good job with her."
" I try" She said, I couldn't help notice the sad look on her face.
"Do you mind if I ask about her dad?"
"You know, same old story, boy meets girl, boy and girl get married, girl has a baby and boy takes off with his secretary."
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." I told her sincerely.
"So would you like a drink?" She offered
"Yes please." I told her "If it doesn't offend you, I'm going to step outside for a smoke; filthy habit, but I can't seem to break it." I confessed.
"There's an ashtray on the porch." She just smiled.
After a couple of drinks and lots of conversation later, it was time to leave.
"I had a wonderful time tonight Joyce, I would really like to see you again." I said while giving her a chaste kiss.
"Really, you would?" She seemed genuinely surprised; I guess some guys have been major douches about her having a kid.
"I would, if you would like." "How about dinner and ice skating?" I offer.
I would love to take Joyce on a grown-up date, but I will not ever push it and will always let her know that Buffy is welcome.
"If we go on Saturday, I think that I can get a baby sitter"
"Joyce, that's fine if you can and if you want, but not necessary."
"I appreciate it, but I would like to go to dinner somewhere that doesn't have menus with crayons."
"You've got it." I tell her and decide to kiss her one more time, taking her in my arms and kissing her passionately.
Fast forward six years; Joyce and I married less than a year after meeting. She truly is a great wife; sure the passion is no longer there, but I guess that's to be expected. I have tried everything that I know to bring it back, but despite my best efforts, the most that I have to look forward to is a few minutes in the missionary position and then sleep.
Despite the frustration that I was feeling, I knew that I had a great life and I would never cheat on my wife. Sure my porn collection would probably rival Larry Flint's and I had bought stock in in a lube company, but it's better than the alternative.
Joyce still runs the art gallery and I have been able to make a name for myself in the art world; I have had showings all over the world and had even been back to London a couple of times. I have had a book of poetry published and am now working on a collection of my photography in book form.
Joyce and I had never had kids, but Buffy was enough for both of us.
I was truly blessed with a dream of a stepdaughter; She was kind and loving, she never treated me like a stepparent, she was almost like a good friend; Since she never gave Joyce and I any trouble, I was never forced to step in and be the bad guy.
I had cherished watching her grow from an adorable little girl into a lovely young woman.
Buffy also had a great group of friends, this was the house where everyone wanted to be; Joyce and I were both thankful for that, as long as everyone was here, we didn't have to worry about Buffy being out running the streets where God only knows what kind of monster she might encounter.
I taught her how to defend herself, but prayed that she never had to; The thought of some animal hurting her made me see red.
She and my brother "Angel" had developed a pretty close relationship and truth be told, I think that she has a little crush on him.
He knows better though, he knows that if he ever tried anything with her, I would fucking tear him from limb to limb.
As in all things though, just when you're sure that you've completely got it made, fate steps in to say fuck you.
That's what happened a few months ago; Joyce had to go to Los Angeles to pick up a piece that was going to be on loan to her gallery.
Buffy and I decided to have a movie and pizza night, She had invited Willow, Xander and Anya over, I had Angel over, and we had a blast.
The movies that the girls picked out were ridiculous though, who the hell has ever heard of vampires that not only can go out in the sunlight but sparkle when they do?
The girls loved them though, and I was enjoying watching everyone enjoy them.
Xander and Angel were enjoying bitching about them, especially when the girls started debating Team Edward or Team Jacob.
When Buffy piped up that she was definitely Team Edward, I heard Xander mumble something about "stupid vampire, what does she see in him?"
Oh I guess that Xander has a major thing for Buffy, but fortunately she just didn't see him like that. To her he is a brother and nothing more.
There is one guy that Buffy has been dating off and on; his name is Riley and to put it mildly he is a complete tool. However Joyce approves of him so who am I to judge?
Something about that kid just sets my nerves on edge; I can't put my finger on it yet, but there's something and I consider it my duty to find out what it is.
We were half way through our second movie when the phone rang, breaking me out of my thoughts of killing Riley Finn.
I answered the phone and before I could finish saying hello, a British voice broke in saying that he was Dr. Giles from Sunnydale Memorial Hospital and that there had been an accident.
Apparently Joyce was almost home, when for some reason she had passed out at the wheel and ran her car into a ditch.
"Mr. Pratt" the doctor said. "As far as injuries from the accident go, they are relatively minor and she's going to be fine. We are more concerned as to why she passed out though, and we want to admit her for testing."
"I'm on my way" I told him. I grabbed my keys and explained to Buffy what had happened.
"Sweetie why don't you stay here with your friends and I'll call you as soon as I know something." I offered.
"No way Spike, I want to see her." She argued.
"I will take the others home and meet you at the hospital" Angel offered.
"Thank God for him, I had actually forgotten that they were here."
Buffy and I rushed to the hospital and we were told that Joyce was already in a room.
Once we found the correct room number we walked in to be met by the doctor that I was speaking to earlier.
"How is she doctor?" I asked.
"Oh William," Joyce said, she refuses to call me Spike like everyone else.
"I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened, I guess that I was more tired than I thought."
"It's ok luv, I'm just glad that you're alright."
"Well as I was about to tell your wife" Dr. Giles spoke up.
"We preformed a CAT scan and well there is no other way to say this, we found a mass."
"A mass, what does that mean? Buffy asked.
"We won't exactly know until we get in there and see." He said.
My voice started cracking, "Are you saying that she has cancer?" I asked. I can't believe that this was happening.
"Probably, we'll know more after surgery, it's scheduled for the morning,"
"Can't you tell us anything?" Buffy was crying now.
"I wish that I could, honestly I do, but right now, we just don't know." The kind doctor said.
"What time is her surgery?" I asked.
"She's scheduled for 8:00 am."
"Can we stay with her tonight?" Buffy asked.
"Buffy, sweetheart, let me take you home so that you can get some rest, I will come back and stay with her."
"No, Spike, please let me stay." I saw the tears in her emerald eyes and could deny her nothing.
"Ok sweetie, we'll both stay." I told her.
I walked over to hold and comfort Joyce, but once I looked at her I saw that she was already asleep. "We gave her something so that she could sleep."
The sofa in her room, pulled out into a small bed, which I insisted that Buffy take, I tried to make myself comfortable in the reclining chair. I could tell by Buffy's tears and sniffles throughout the night, neither of us were going to get any sleep.
"Poor kid, first her dad abandons her and now her mom might possibly leave us." My tears were falling now and I didn't know who I was crying more for; was it Joyce, myself or Buffy?
I guess that I must have cried myself to sleep, because the next thing I knew it was morning and the room was full of doctors and nurses.
Buffy was awake and her eyes were still red and swollen from her crying.
"They're getting ready to take her" She whispered.
I walked over to Joyce and gave her and kiss and told her that I love her, and that we would be waiting for her once the surgery was done.
"Why don't you two go get some breakfast and you can come back and wait for her?" a kind nurse suggested.
"How long will this take?" I asked the surgeon.
"Honestly, it just depends on what we find when we get in there?" " I'd guess probably about four hours, but that's just an estimate." He said.
"Come on Buffy, tell your mom bye and let's go get some coffee." I said gently, I knew that she wouldn't want to leave Joyce, but she was going to need her energy.
"Bye mom, we love you." Buffy said with tears streaming down her face.
"I love you too, baby." "William, promise me that you will take care of her."
I knew what she was implying, but I couldn't acknowledge it, instead I just said "She's going to be fine."
After a quick, tasteless breakfast and coffee that tasted like cigarette ashes, we made out way back to the room to wait for her doctor.
I knew that they said it might be a while and I encouraged Buffy to get into the hospital bed and try to rest, she had no more dozed off, when the doctor appeared in the room.
There was no way that this could be over so soon and I began to panic.
"Mr. Pratt, she's in recovery, she made it through the surgery without any problems, but I'm sorry there's nothing that we can do."
"The tumor is quite large and covering a portion of her brain that makes this inoperable."
"How about chemo or radiation?" I asked desperate for any hope that I could find.
"I'm sorry, it's too advanced."
"How long?"
"Honestly I don't know, it could be days, weeks or months." "It's really hard to guess." " We inserted a central line, so that she can have constant pain medication."
"Oh God why is this happening?" I sobbed.
I had yet to realize that Buffy had opened her eyes and had heard everything.
A/N: Ok, so I know there was nothing funny, smutty or anything else enjoyable about this chapter, but unfortunately it was necessary.
I'm not the kind to beg for reviews, but I do love them and appreciate all feedback. I do try to answer all reviews very quickly and I try to not drag out updates. I hate to be kept waiting and I'll do my best not to do that to you.