Slayer's Unexpected Surprise

Buffy stared at the white plastic stick in front of her. Two blue stripes were clearly visible, burning themselves into her mind. Her heart stopped beating for a second.

She was pregnant. She couldn't be pregnant, it wasn't possible.

She gripped the sink to steady herself and closed her eyes. This had to be a mistake.

When she looked at herself in the mirror and saw her pale face, a grim determination settled over her. She walked out of the bathroom, grabbed her jacket and was out of the door, making her way to the doctor.

An hour later she was pulling her jumper down, listening to the doctor's cheerful voice. "Good news for you, Ms. Summer, you are indeed pregnant."

Her determination was long gone and all that was left was panic. "I…I can't be! Are you sure?" Buffy stammered, her voice taking on a hysterical note.

"100 sure. You're in your eighth week."

"But, this is unnatural!"

"Believe me, Ms. Summers, it is one of the most natural things in the world."

"Oh, believe me, you have no idea," she mumbled and shook her head. She had a bad feeling about this.

Buffy shrugged her jacket back on. "Thanks, doctor." And with that she left the doctor's practice as quickly as possible, all her senses screaming at her that something was not right.

She entered the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind her. "Spike?" she asked. "Are you asleep?"

Spike grunted and a blonde head came up from under the covers. "Not anymore," came his sleepy voice. He squinted at her and when he saw her standing at the door, unmoving, her hands behind her back, he asked: "What is it, pet? Is something wrong?"

"I'm pregnant," was the quiet answer.

Spike blinked once as the words sank in. Then he abruptly sat up. "You cheated on me?" he exclaimed. "Is that your way of telling me that you cheated on me?" He was out of the bed in a second and pulled his trousers on. "Because I can tell you right now…"

"I didn't cheat on you!" Buffy's eyes looked thunderous. "How can you even think that?"

"You: pregnant, me: vampire. I bloody well can't be the father!"

"But you are," Buffy said through gritted teeth. That shut him up again. How dare he accusing her of cheating?

He hesitated right in the process of buttoning his pants. "You didn't cheat on me?"

"No!"

"Oh, all right then."

"Spike! Did you even realize what I just said? I am pregnant. What are we supposed to do now?"

Spike let himself fall back on the bed. "Pregnant, you sure?"

"Yes."

"Oh, bugger." His hand went through his hair. "How did that happen?"

Buffy left the door and joined him on the bed. "I have no idea, aside from the obvious of course, you know; Buffy, Spike, too much sex."

"Too much sex, but undead sperm," he added. He looked at her. "You think someone worked some magic here, some evil plan?"

"God, yes, it's what I've been thinking the whole way home. But then I thought: Why would anybody do that? I'm hardly anything special anymore with so many Slayers around."

Spike smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You'll always be special, Buffy."

She smiled at him and kissed him on the lips. "That's debatable."

"Not for me," he said.

"Well, but you're a vampire in love with a Slayer. You've always been a bit strange," she replied.

Spike raised his left eyebrow. "And that makes you what? Normal?"

She laughed quietly. "I guess not. But what are we going to do now?"

"There's really just one option. Call Giles and the others, ask them to do some research. About magic, prophecies maybe. You could call Angel and ask him about it; he has a son after all."

"Call Angel?" She looked at him with her big doe eyes. "Call Angel and tell him I'm pregnant with your child? I can't do that."

"Well, maybe it's not my child. Maybe it's some spawn of hell or you're the next Virgin Mary or something."

"Virgin?"

"You know what I mean."

She leaned her head on his shoulder and his arm went around her. "And what if it is really your child? A real child?" she whispered.

"I don't know," he said, stroking her hair. "I don't know."

Buffy was just making pancakes, to no avail trying to calm her nerves when she heard someone coming through the door. "Hey, anybody here?" she heard her best friend's voice from the living room.

"In the kitchen!" she called back and a second later Willow's red-brown head peaked into the room. "Hey. Where's Spike?"

"Having a shower. How's it going?"

Willow sat down at the table. "Oh, it's all right. Me and Oz are back together so I'm happy again" They all had moved to London, right after Sunnydale was destroyed, so that they could help Giles with the new Watcher's Council. They all lived together in big house now.

Now Willow fidgeted on her seat before she blurted out: "Ok, it's more than all right. Oz and I are getting married!" she squealed excitedly.

Buffy forced herself to smile. "That's great, Willow."

Willow scowled at her. "All right, out with it. What's wrong? Normally you're all excited about hearing exciting stories like this."

Buffy sighed and joined her at the table. "I'm pregnant, Willow."

"Pregnant? Oh, I'm going to be an aunt, sort of?" But after a moment her happy expression changed into a frown. "Wait, by whom?"

Buffy stared at her before she exploded: "Why is everyone's first thought that I'm cheating on Spike? It's his child of course!"

"You mean…you're having a miracle baby?"

"Something like that. Actually that's what we have to find out."

In that moment Spike came out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel while having another one bound around his hips.

"Hey, there's the future Daddy coming!" Willow called cheerfully.

Spike looked up, an incredulous look on his face. After a moment he seemed to find his voice again. "All right, I forbid you to ever say such a thing to me again or I might have to bite you."

"Whoa, what's up with you?"

Spike pulled a face. "I'm not going to be a 'Daddy'. What the hell would that do to my reputation? The thought of becoming a father is bad enough without being labelled with funny, fluffy names."

"Okay…So, I guess we're not happy about a child then?"

"No!" came the simultaneous response.

Willow looked from one to the other. "Why not?"

"We don't even know what this is, Willow. How it happened, for example. It could be some evil scheme or something."

"Right. An evil scheme to impregnate a Slayer. That sounds…really idiotic. Maybe it's just a miracle and Spike's," she grimaced, "sperm is not as infertile as you thought." Willow shuddered. "I can't believe I'm talking about this. Can't you just tell me I should go away or something?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "You're over 20, Willow. Don't tell me you've never had sex. Because I know you have especially with Oz."

"God, Buffy, I don't want to hear this!" Spike complained. "This is the res head we're talking about."

Willow had flushed a bright red. "Spike's right, no talk about my sex life, please."

"Fine, then you don't use words like 'infertile sperm'."

"Can't we just get back on topic? Miracle baby?" Spike cut in, leaning against the door frame, towel slung over his shoulder.

"Shouldn't you get a bit more…dressed?" Buffy asked with a glance at Willow.

"Why, tired of looking at my gorgeous body?" he countered, a sly smile spreading on his face. He laughed at her expression. "All right, all right. I'm going." And he vanished into the bedroom.

"So what are you going to do then?"

"Do research, look for clues as how this could have happened."

"So you think there is something evil at work?"

Buffy looked away from her and onto her hands. Dawn had jumped off that tower before Buffy could save her and Dawn died, they never tried to bring her back. "I just lost my mom and my sister. I'm not ready yet to consider the alternative."

"Which would be?" Dawn asked gently.

"Becoming a mother."

"So, what is it you wanted to tell us, Buffy?" Giles was sitting at the table in the house. She had called him about two hours ago, telling him to round up the others and meet her back at the house.

Now they were all gathered in his living room; Giles, Xander, Willow, Oz, and her and Spike. It almost felt like an old Scooby meeting.

Buffy looked at them and took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

"Buffy, that's wonderful!" Willow exclaimed trying to get the others excited about what she already knew, while Giles just took a sharp intake of breath. And Xander, Xander started laughing. "You cheated on Spike, Buffy? She cheated on you, man?" Xander turned to Spike who just glared at him. Oz just sat there looking at his fiance wondering if he should agree with her.

"This is getting ridiculous," Buffy said and threw her hands in the air.

"Did you finally see reason, Buff?"

"Spike's the father," she replied, staring daggers at him.

Xander's eyes grew wide. "But he's a vampire!"

"Thank you, Xander, I am well aware of that fact."

"Buffy, this is a most unusual turn of events, I have to say. Are you sure?" Giles had taken his glasses off and was polishing them nervously.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"So, what does that mean?" Oz asked, sending Buffy a worried look.

"I'm guessing it's probably some kind of predestined stuff or something." Spike said. "Angel has a son, a human son I might add though, who was mentioned in a prophecy."

"Well, I still think someone did a spell or something," Buffy stated. "But either way, we have to find out what it is. Check the books, computers, I don't care. I just want to know what the hell it is growing inside of me."

"Probably a little blood sucker," Xander murmured.

"Xander, don't be so insensitive!" Willow scolded him. A dreamy look appeared on her face. "Maybe it's a cute, little, pink baby, all wrinkly in the face. I can imagine its small fingers grabbing at Buffy's hair…" She stopped as she found all of her friends staring at her. "What? I like babies!" Oz smiled at her.

"Why don't you have it then?" Buffy asked dryly.

"I have a fiance, we'll have kids of our own someday, Buffy."

"And I'm together with a vampire. I don't need me to be pregnant!"

"You don't need to be all snappy about it," Willow mumbled.

When she saw Willow's hurt expression, she sighed. "I'm sorry Will, I'm just a bit…"

"Moody," Spike said, grinning. "Must be the hormones."

"I'm not hormone-y!"

"Yes, you are." He went over to her and kissed her on the forehead. "But don't worry, I think it's cute."

"I'm not cute! I'm the Slayer, I'm supposed to be strong and fearsome."

Spike bit his lip to keep from laughing at her pouty expression. "You certainly still are, pet."

"I better be." He cocked his head, smiling that annoying, sexy smile of his and she couldn't help giving him one in return. Then she turned to her friends. "So, you're hitting the books or what?"

Angel's Avenger's, what can I do for you?"

Buffy swallowed once before she found her voice to answer. "Hello, Angel. It's me, Buffy."

"Buffy?" Did she imagine it, or sounded he hesitant? "How are you?"

"I'm fine, fine. How are you?"

"Buffy," There was a considerable pause. "Why are you calling, not to make small talk?"

He just knew her too well. Defensively, she replied: "Why, am I not allowed to care for what you're doing?"

"Well, yes, but considering that you haven't spoken to me for the last year, that's a bit hard to believe."

"I'm sorry, Angel. You know I was uncomfortable with…what happened last time we saw each other. I just thought maybe you needed the time to…"

He interrupted her. "There's no need to make excuses, Buffy. I'd rather not think about it," he said a bit harshly. Or maybe it was bitterness she detected in his voice, she wasn't sure. But hearing him say this made her only feel more guilty about what she had to tell him. "Actually, there is something I have to talk to you about. I'm pregnant."

There was a heavy silence on the other side of the line. Then: "By Spike?"

She could have laughed at the irony of this, had the matter not been so serious. "Yes, by Spike. But I have no idea how."

"And you want to ask me if I know anything about it." He sounded so flat, without any traceable emotion, that it scared her.

"Angel, I'm sorry." There was no answer. "You're brooding," she stated.

"I'm not brooding," She could practically hear him gritting his teeth.

"Oh yes, you are."

"So what?" he snapped. "You're pregnant by an annoying, insufferable git whom you, incidentally, happen to have chosen over me and I'm supposed to be what? Giddy with happiness?"

"God no, don't be creepy!" She mentally shuddered at the image of Angel smiling at her and congratulating her and Spike to their new family member. She pushed that frightening fantasy to the deepest recesses of her mind and said: "Look, we're not really happy about this either. We have to know what is happening, this can't possibly have just happened by accident. I'm sure there's something unnatural going on here. Well, more unnatural than the thing in itself anyway. So can you help me?"

"I wouldn't know how. My son was mentioned in a prophecy, playing a role of some importance. Maybe you could look up prophecies, but I doubt that you will find anything. Other than that, I have no idea. Buffy, are you happy?"

"What, about the baby? I just told you I wasn't, how could I?!"

"No…" his voice sounded softer now, "I mean, in general. Are you happy?"

This was a question where she didn't have to think about the answer. She was happier than ever before in her life, but she didn't want to hurt him by saying it, so all she said was: "I'm happy."

"Then I will try to be happy for you." She could guess how hard it must have been for him to say this and opened her mouth to say something in return, but he continued. "Even though Spike has a brain the size of a pea and wouldn't know how to handle a child if you gave him a manual."

Buffy smiled, knowing that beneath all the grumpiness he held a certain amount of liking for his former friend, enemy and partner. "Thank you."

This time there was a comfortable silence before she said: "I should better go. Get researchy and stuff, you know."

"Yeah, good luck with that. Goodbye, Buffy." And with that he hung up.

"Ha, I found something! These bloody bastards!" Spike waved the chicken wing he had been munching on through the air and grinned with satisfaction, his eyes still focused on the book in front of him. "I'm going to find them and then I will rip their hairy balls off and stick them into their…" He was interrupted by Willow who snatched the book from him and, as he started to protest, stuffed another chicken wing into his open mouth. Having efficiently shut him up for at least a few seconds, she sat down at the table. Spike glared at her as he bit down onto the bone, but surprisingly stayed silent.

"Duara Demons, interesting." In that moment, Buffy came back into the room and plopped down into a chair.

"Angel doesn't have a clue about this, either," she said, sighing.

"But we have," replied Willow and started reading aloud. "'The Duara Demon is known to have no females in his species. Therefore, to reproduce, he injects human women with his sperm, by way of a sting on his hand, so that they give birth to their offspring, dying while doing so.'"

Willow ended and looked over at Buffy who was staring at her open-mouthed, her eyes wide with horror. Meanwhile Xander had stood up and bent over Willow's shoulder. When he saw the picture accompanying the entry, he pulled a face and remarked: "God, if your child is this ugly, Buff, even Spike's spawn would be preferable."

But Buffy was not in the mood for stupid jokes. "So, you mean…" She stopped for moment and her next words held a new resolution in them. "No, it can't be. Don't you think I'd have noticed if a demon pushed such a thing into me?" She shuddered, disgusted. The mere thought was unbearable, but what, really, had she been expecting?

She met Spike's eyes over the table, but he gave her a lopsided smile. Still leaning against the bookshelf where he had been reading before, he said: "Don't worry, Buffy, we'll kill those suckers in no time and everything will be over. Baby gone, worries gone, and we'll be one happy family again."

"Oh, shut up," Buffy replied, but couldn't hide the small smile that showed on her lips. She returned her attention to Willow. "I still don't know how it could have been them."

"Maybe they did it when you were asleep?" Willow suggested. "I mean, Spike's often out at night, right? Perhaps when you were alone…"

She shook her head. "It can't be."

"Well," Giles interrupted, for the first time speaking up. "We nevertheless have to accept the possibility, no matter how small the chance. We have no other leads after all."

Buffy pulled a face and asked: "Is there any way to kill this demon-child?"

Willow skimmed through the pages again. "Wait…here. 'The child will be destroyed the moment its father dies.'" Willow looked up and explained. "The father has to do some kind of ritual to keep the baby alive and help it growing. If the ritual isn't performed once a day, it dies immediately."

Buffy heaved a relieved sigh. "So if we kill the father, it will all be over."

"Seems like it."

"Let's kill us a demon then."

Spike's eyes started glowing at these words. "Hell, let's kill the whole lot of them!" and Buffy shared his grin.

She was in the mood to kill something, especially the ones that had put her through this totally unacceptable ordeal.

"So, what did Peaches say?" Spike asked quietly, staring at Xander's back in front of him. They were on their way to the harbour, heavily armed. The book said Duara demons loved the water and a demon-locator spell from Willow had revealed a possible nest in a warehouse near the waterside.

"Not much. Like I said, he didn't know anything. He was all grumbly and moody though, but what else did I expect?"

"So he didn't take the news too well, huh? I could almost feel sorry for the guy, except that I don't."

Buffy hit him playfully on the shoulder. "Stop it. Imagine how you would have felt."

"Yeah, but what does it matter now? Soon Angel will be a happy camper again. The baby's not ours, well, not mine anyway, so we'll kill the demons and all of this will be over."

She sighed. "God, it's about time. I feel all icky from the inside, knowing I've got such a demon thing inside me." She rolled her shoulders uncomfortably and pulled a face. "I never felt less happy to be a woman. Couldn't they have put this into someone else? It's not fair!"

Spike laughed at her expression, the deep sound of it rumbling through the night. "You know, this morning you complained that you weren't special anymore. Seems like you have been chosen for something."

Buffy glared at him. "This is so not funny."

Spike's laugh subsided to a low chuckle. "Oh, I think it is, a bit. How does the saying go: 'Be careful what you wish for'."

"I swear Spike, if you keep this up, you can have sex by yourself for the next month."

This made his grin slip off his face, and she gave him a satisfied one in return. "I guess I like being a woman after all, we just have so many more means to get what we want."

Spike made for a reply, but was interrupted by Willow's voice. "Here it is. They should be in there."

Buffy frowned. "Are you sure?" To her, this didn't look like a demon lair at all. The warehouse she was looking at just seemed too…normal. It was a new building and it looked kind of classy. How the hell did it come to be empty so that demons could live there? It didn't make any sense to her, but she trusted Willow to know what she was talking about.

So she shouldered her axe and advanced with a grim expression on her face. "Let's go and slay them. Pronto."

The group entered the building and Buffy looked around. Nobody was inside. "Where are the ugly bastards?" Spike growled.

She turned to Willow. "Will, you must have got it wrong, this is…"

But Willow held a hand up to quieten her. "Listen, don't you hear the chanting?" Buffy frowned, then concentrated to hear what her friend was hearing and, sure enough, there it was: A dark, grumbling sound, barely resembling any coherent words. She strained her ears and followed the sound to some crates stored in the farthest corner of the hall. She pushed them aside impatiently and a small, wooden door was revealed.

A smile lit her face and she whispered: "Is everyone ready?" Buffy turned around to her friends, weapon in hand; agreeing nods greeted her. "Showtime."

A second later, the door flew into the room behind, giving view onto a group of small demons, standing in a circle around some strange, grey object. They had four long, hairy arms, each one touching the object in their midst, and their bodies were covered in scales. Two huge feet were planted firmly on the ground and four, yellow eyes covered the faces that stared at them in reprimand.

Buffy's hand had involuntarily flown to her belly. "Oh my God, this is what's growing inside of me?" She shuddered. "That's disgusting."

One of the demons croaked in a rough voice, much too deep for such a little figure: "How dare you interrupt our ritual! This is intolerable!"

She stared at the creature open-mouthed. "Intolerable? Don't you know who you're talking to? I'm the Slayer and you're about to die, you perverse little…hobbit!"

She heard a chuckle behind her, but she had reached the end of her tether. "Shut up, Spike," she growled. Her eyes were fixated on the demons in front of her. "You guys put your offspring inside me and you're outraged at being disturbed? You're barely bigger than a child, you should be more concerned about your impending death."

Buffy advanced on them, five of them all in all, and swung her axe playfully. "Good riddance." But before she could take a swing at the first of them, she had already hit the wall, hard.

"Humans," sighed the demon that had pushed her away with just a flick of the hand. "So arrogant."

He made a move forward but was stopped by an invisible force. At the surprised look on the demons face, Spike laughed. "Demons, so arrogant." He paused for second as what he had said sank in. "Aside from me of course, I'm really that cool."

"Yeah, Spike, keep on dreaming," Xander retorted and grinned when he looked at the demons. "You see, we have the most powerful witch ever, compared with whom your little magical tricks are peanuts."

Willow blushed. "Xander, don't exaggerate."

Buffy had used the distraction to creep up to the group and now tipped one of the demons onto the shoulder. He turned around, too surprised to react, and Buffy said: "Want to meet my axe?" before he lost his head.

Then chaos ensued as the Duara demons fought an already lost battle, which ended with a bloody nose for Xander, broken glasses for Giles and a cheery Buffy, who pulled her axe out of the last dead demon with vigour.

She looked up at her friends and said: "Now, let's get a pregnancy test."

Half an hour later, they were all sitting around Giles' living room table again. Spike was watching Buffy tapping her fingers on the dark wood. She seemed deep in thought, staring at the test in front of her, still in its package and untouched. "Luv, please, just do it already and get it over it. You're driving me nuts, just staring at it. And besides, I want to go home." He raised a suggestive eyebrow. "Soon." Just looking at her, her blond locks, her complexion, still a little flushed from the fight, made him want to get her into bed as soon as possible. He shook his head and tried to get these thoughts out of his mind. Now was not the time, he scolded himself.

But this seemed to have snapped her out of it and she sighed. "But what if it's still positive?"

Apparently she had missed his blatant hint, but Giles hadn't and cleared his throat, his hand going to his face before he noticed that his glasses weren't there. He looked so uncomfortable that Spike had to resist laughing. "How should it be, Buffy?" he said, deliberately ignoring Spike. "We killed the demons, so just do it."

She made a face and got up. "Ok, ok, I'm going." With a last look at Spike, she grabbed the test and vanished in the bathroom.

His gaze followed her and before he knew it, he himself had started tapping his fingers on the table.

"Nervous?" Xander asked and couldn't hide a mischievous smile. "Afraid she cheated on you after all?"

Spike let out a deep, throaty growl and barely resisted lunging over the table and throttling him. "She didn't cheat on me." He paused and let a small smile creep onto his features. "But maybe you want a date with death," he said silkily, his voice quiet and threatening.

Any further retort Xander might have made was cut off when the bathroom door hit the wall with a loud bang. Buffy came out, all the colour gone from her face, and walked over to them, letting the test fall onto Spike's lap before plopping down onto her seat.

Spike felt a quiet fear gripping him, making his insides grow cold. With shaking fingers that he tried hard to hide from the others, he took the pregnancy test and looked at it. If his heart had been beating, it would have stopped right then when his gaze fell onto the result.

"What the hell…" was all that left his lips at that moment. He swallowed and his eyes met Buffy's. He hated how insecure his next words sounded. "I'm gonna be a father?"

"I can't be a bloody father!" Spike slammed his glass on the bar and looked at the bartender with bloodshot eyes. Yellow, slitted ones met his gaze. "Give me another one."

"You've had enough, vampire." One tentacle shot out and grabbed the glass.

"No, no, I need another one." His voice sounded desperate to his own ears. He looked at the Garus demon who stared at him with no expression at all on his gray, slimy face, but Spike didn't care. He moaned. "Oh God, see? I can't even be responsible enough not to get drunk, how can I be a father?" He held his head in his hands and sniffed once. His next words when he leaned forward were even more desperate. "I've killed hundreds, thousands of people in my time. How am I supposed to raise a child, teach him morals, with that kind of history? How will he look at me if he knows his father is a monster?"

Spike shook his head once to clear it of the fog that threatened to take over his mind. "I'm not good enough to be a father."

"For the devil's sake, would you just shut up?" the bartender growled. "If I had ears, they would have already started bleeding!" The demon leaned forward and spit flew in every direction as he spoke. "You, you pathetic loser, have a fucking soul, which you're lucky to not have been killed for yet since I've noticed at least five demons in this room who'd gladly lay their hands on you, so don't you dare call yourself one of us. You're not. So go home to your little slayer friend and lead the white hat life you've chosen. Do whatever you want, but stop the fucking whining!"

Spike grunted, feeling somehow insulted in his vampire honour, even though he had basically just heard what he had wanted to hear. "You're lucky I'm too drunk to make the effort," he growled. "On every other day you would be dead by now!"

The bartender laughed. "Yeah, right." And with that he turned away.

Spike scowled. Even his threats weren't taken seriously anymore. This day was getting worse by the second. He got up and swayed for a moment, his hand gripping the bar; he'd definitely had too much to drink. Convincing himself that that was the only reason he let the bartender live, he made his slow way home.

Buffy was sitting on a bench in the graveyard, staring into the night. But her eyes weren't seeing the darkness in front of her; before her inner eye she saw Giles, a serious expression on his face and speaking the words she had dreaded to hear. "It seems like we have to consider the possibility that this is a real child. That…somehow…Spike was able to father a baby. I can think of no other explanation for this. We have looked for everything."

For a moment Buffy was too shocked to speak. When she finally spoke, her words came out much weaker than she had intended. "But…how?"

Giles shrugged, which certainly looked strange on him, and avoided looking her in the eye. Buffy's eyes wandered to Spike who was white as a sheet and hadn't spoken a word since she had shown him the test result. "Spike?" She touched his arm to get him to look at her. He jumped slightly at the touch and met her eyes, a strange expression on his face that she couldn't quite place. She was all too aware of the stares of her friends and wished she could be alone with him. This sudden change of things had got her emotions in such a tangle, she couldn't deal with her friends right now. And Spike didn't look like he even believed what was happening.

"Buffy," his voice was a hoarse whisper and the tone in which he said it told her one thing: he was terrified. Utterly and totally terrified. And somehow, even though she felt bad about it, it comforted her because she was feeling exactly the same. "I…" In that moment he seemed to notice all the others around them and he stopped. "I have to get some air. I'll see you at home." With these words he stormed out of the door and into the night.

She herself had done the same shortly after. Buffy sighed when her surroundings came into focus again. She had never thought about being a mother, never even considered it. When she had chosen to be with Spike, she had known that she would never have children and she had accepted it. Being with him fulfilled her more than anything else could.

And anyway, her lifestyle had always been too dangerous for raising a child. It had been difficult enough to care for Dawn and keep her alive. But now that was different, a little voice in her mind said. Now she wasn't the slayer anymore, she didn't have to fight demons if she didn't want to.

That thought made Buffy laugh out loud. She leaned back and tried to imagine a world where she and Spike spent their evenings cooking or playing games. They would always fight demons, it's what they were. She had admitted to herself long ago that deep down, she liked it as much as he did. It satisfied her.

She thought of Spike in his black leather duster, kicking a demon and swinging him against a gravestone, a playful smile on his lips. The image warmed her from the inside.

Then suddenly Buffy's green eyes widened and she looked down onto her belly. This child that was growing inside of her was Spike's child. Maybe it would have his eyes, or his laugh and maybe his twisted sense of humour. She smiled; a little Spike wouldn't be so bad.

This was the only chance she would ever have to have a child with Spike, there would be no other.

Buffy's hand shot backwards, and her stake went right through the vampire who had crept up on her. "Don't you dare hurt my baby," she hissed as she was showered in dust.

When Spike entered the apartment he knew she was already there. He stopped at the bedroom door and saw Buffy sitting on the bed. She was lost in thought and he studied her quietly until suddenly, her eyes went up and she looked at him. Neither said a word and he sat down beside her. The cold night air had sobered him up effectively, but he knew he must still smell of alcohol and cigarettes. Normally he would get a glare and a forceful 'suggestion' that he should shower and brush his teeth, but not today.

Today Buffy just looked at him with those big, soft eyes of hers and for a long moment didn't say anything. "Do you think we can make this work?"

"Hell, I don't know." He took her hand in his and for all the insecurity he felt on his part, he knew what the answer was for her. "I just know that you would be a wonderful mother." He smirked and played with one of her locks. "Bossy and sometimes bad-tempered, but wonderful." She laughed and smacked his shoulder. "Thank you very much, mister." But her eyes glistened strangely. "Do you really think so?" she asked quietly.

"Do I ever lie to you?" Buffy shook her head. "There you go then." Before he knew what had hit him, her mouth was on his and she kissed him with such a passion that a shiver rippled through his body. "God Spike, I love you," she murmured. "The more I think about this baby, the more I like the thought of it. It will be our flesh and blood, something you and I created. It will be us."

Spike pulled away. "Now that's exactly what I'm afraid of." He couldn't voice the thoughts that were running around in his head and averted his face, but Buffy knew what he was thinking anyway. She touched his cheek and said: "Look at me, Spike." Their eyes met and she continued. "If our child turned out to be exactly like you, I couldn't be happier, you hear me? Funny, kind, generous, brave… There's nothing I wouldn't be proud of."

Spike saw the honesty in her expression and a warm glow spread in his chest. After a moment he gave a low chuckle. "You forgot handsome."

She laughed as well. "Oh, I think it has to inherit something from me, don't you?"

Her infectious laugh stirred the inside of his trousers and his expression grew salacious. Buffy noticed his look and smirked. "You know, we're finally home. With nobody else around…"

She didn't have to say anything else, so quickly had he pinned her on the bed. Spike savoured the sight of her beneath him, her nipples visible under her t-shirt and her hips pressing up against him. "Enjoy it while you can," Buffy whispered teasingly.

He clicked his tongue against his teeth and grinned. "Oh, I will." And with that he took her mouth in a passionate, but loving kiss.

7 and 1/2 months later. Buffy fell to the floor of her bedroom after getting up out of bed. Spike woke from the loud bang he heard. "Buffy? Buffy are you alright?" Spike asked Buffy in a worried tone. "No, I think my water broke and I'm having unbelieveable aches and pains," She said screaming and holding her baby bump. "Let's get you to the hospital!" Willow said barging in the after hearing Buffy scream.

At the hospital Willow, Oz, Giles, Xander, and Spike were all in the waiting room. The doctor came out and said "Buffy has started hemorrhaging." "What?" Spike asked. "Is there anything you can do," Willow asked worried. "Yes we have to do a c-section to get the baby out," the doctor said. "So what are you doing out here, you bloody idiot," Spike said with anger. "Spike!" Willow said scolding him. "I have to get approval to do a c-section, since Buffy has not written any papers," the doctor said. "Well we all approve of the c-section just get in there and save her and that baby," Willow said practically screaming at the doctor. The doctor walked away. "Oh god, how long do you think this could take?" Xander asked. "Xander I don't know I just don't know," Willow said still worried. 2 hours later the doctor came out again but he wasn't alone, he had a little blonde baby boy in his arms. The doctor handed the baby to Spike, Spike's eyes widened at the sight of his baby boy. "What about Buffy?" Giles asked the doctor. "She's resting comfortabley in the Recovery room," the doctor explained. "Can we see her?" Oz asked for Willow. "Yes, but only 1 for now," the doctor said while walking away. The scooby gang looked at eachother, finally Willow spoke up "Spike go tell her we love her." Spike nodded his head and walked into the Recovery room with Buffy in his sight. He went over to her bed side. "Hey Buffy It's me Spike and the little bit," Spike said looking down at his son. Buffy woke up and in a sleepy voice she said "Hey." "Hey," Spike replied. The baby Spike held in his hands started to laugh. "Would you like to hold him?" Spike said hoping she would say yes. Buffy nodded her head. "Hey little guy what are you doing. Look what we did," Buffy said. "I see," Spike said putting his hand on the baby's head. "What are we gonna name him?" Buffy asked. "I don't know? I figured you would figure that out?" Spike asked. "Hmm how about Billy?" Buffy asked her lover Spike. "Why Billy?" Spike asked. "Because it's short for William and I believe he should be named after you," Buffy said smiling at her son and Spike. "You would really name him Billy after me?" Spike asked. "Yeah," Buffy said. Spike got up out of his chair and kissed Buffy on the lips, he also kissed Billy on the forehead and rubbed his head softly.

The End