Summary: Okay, so this is my first foray into A.U. It's not totally A.U. as it follows the storyline up to the end of season six. This is my take on season seven. Not that I don't adore Joss Whedon and the genius that is 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', this is just something that wouldn't stop bugging me until I wrote it. So, when Spike leaves to get his soul back, all the pain and suffering he's caused over the years, forced his brain into overload and he developed amnesia. Buffy, meanwhile, back in Sunnydale, has problems of her own, she's pregnant. When Spike returns to Sunnydale, he doesn't remember anything or anyone, but he feels strangely drawn to Buffy. Buffy puts up with him, if only for her unborn child. Spuffiness ahead, I assure you. And also I played with the timeline a bit, instead of Spike reappearing in September, he shows up around June, I know it doesn't exactly make sense, but hey, this is my fic, my universe, I can do what I want.

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah, I own nothing, blah, blah, blah.

Buffy stared into the azure eyes of the man who loved her more then anything else in the world, listening helpless, as he poured out his soul to her. They were in a strange room, darkness filtering in through the unfamiliar curtains. But Buffy didn't even notice it; all that mattered now was Spike.

"I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are; you're a hell of a woman. You're the one, Buffy."

Buffy awoke with a start in her bed. The look of confusion on her face was quickly replaced with one of deepest urgency. Clamping a hand over her mouth, she rushed to the bathroom. Not again she thought, emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl. When she was done, she lay down on the floor, feeling the cool porcelain caress her skin. The feel of it brought to mind the touch of a certain bleached blonde vampire. Her sister Dawn entered the small bathroom, sat on the floor next to her sister and began to brush the hair from her sweat-soaked brow.

"Again?" Buffy nodded silently and Dawn sighed.

"Buffy, when are you going to admit it? Everyone's accepted it already, even Xander, what are you waiting for?"

"I haven't accepted it yet." Buffy said, willing the tears that were always so close to the surface lately away.

"You're going to have to. I mean this isn't something you can ignore." Dawn was clearly enjoying having some power over her older sister.

"I know, Dawnie, it's difficult." Buffy was disgusted with herself, lying on the floor of her bathroom, crying useless tears over an event and a man she couldn't change, loading all her problems on her sister. Buffy was supposed to be strong; she was supposed to be the one to carry all the baggage, not dump it on Dawn.

"Are you considering not having it?" Buffy was quick to answer.

"No, no, of course not. Who knows when I'll get another opportunity like this? And I know I'm scared and all non-accept-y but I want this, more then I've wanted anything before." Dawn was quiet for a second, then;

"You had the dream again, didn't you?" Buffy sat up to face her sister, another wave of nausea swept through her and she had to prop herself up against the bathtub.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because when you do, you wake up all introspective and Wisdom-Girl."

"As opposed to the times when I wake up with a dunce hat on?"

"No, sometimes you wake up screaming." Dawn's tone was crisp, business-like, but belying a hidden undercurrent of fear. It was the tone of a girl who had seen more demons and vampires then sleepovers and shopping trips. Buffy knew it well.

"You miss him, don't you?"

"I do" Buffy confessed, "Even after. . . . Everything, I still miss him."

"Do you love him?" Buffy's answer was too quick, Dawn mused, rehearsed even.

"No." Dawn got to her feet and walked away from her sister, over to the door way.

"Then how do you expect to love his child?" The teenager left then, leaving the Slayer, albeit not totally alone, but more lonely then she had ever been before.

Dawn tugged urgently at Buffy's hand, dragging her down the busy street and into the teeming baby supply store.

"Come on, Buffy, it's 'Midnight Madness', everything's half-off"

"Dawnie, every time something has the word 'Madness' or 'Bonanza' in the title, things tend to get out of control."

"Buff, you've been living on the Hellmouth for way too long."

"I didn't mean demon-wise, I meant women-wise, especially hormone-induced crazy women. I don't much relish the thought of getting elbowed in the eye by an overzealous mother-to-be." Dawn laughed.

"Come on, Buffy, you're the Slayer, you can handle anything"

"I'm a pregnant Slayer, I can't do anything." Buffy mumbled to herself. She swiftly looked over in Dawn's direction, but the excited teen hadn't heard her over the bustle of the crowd and just kept towing Buffy towards the store. Buffy relented finally and allowed herself to be swept up in the wave of activity. After a little while, the omni-present cloud of excitement permeated Buffy's tough exterior and she found herself running down the aisles after her sister. Dawn, on her part, was completely infatuated with the tiny jumpsuits and shoes and piled them into the basket Buffy had managed to commandeer.

"Dawnie," Buffy said, laughing.

"Calm down with the clothes, I'm not far enough along to tell if I'm having a boy or a girl yet."

"Right, hence, neutral colors; yellow, green." Dawn stuck her bottom lip in a pout.

"Come on, Buffy, I'm going to be an Aunt, let me enjoy it." Buffy laughed at her sister's antics and reached out a hand to help her. After waiting for hours in the line for the cashes, Buffy and Dawn erupted from the store, giggling and laden down with a multitude of bags.

"Dawn, I didn't know you had that in you."

"Same to you, Buff, those women didn't know what hit 'em" Buffy's laughter trailed off when she caught sight of a flash of platinum blonde hair from across the street. Oh God, is it him? She fixed her eyes on the back of the stranger, willing him to turn around and fearful of what she would see when he did. When the man did turn to face her, she wasn't surprised, not really. Those cheekbones, that scarred eyebrow and those unforgettable eyes, could only belong to one person.

"Spike" Buffy whispered before collapsing in a heap on the floor.

Dawn knelt beside her unconscious sister franticly searching for a pulse.

"Buffy, wake up" A small crowd gathered around Dawn and the prone Slayer.

"Someone call a doctor." Dawn ordered, panic creeping into her voice. There was a rusting sound as several people at once complied with her request and all too familiar voice broke through the fog encompassing Dawn.

"Is she alright?" Dawn whirled around to find a worried Spike staring back at her.

"Spike!" She cried, flinging her arms around his neck.

"You're back, when did you . . . . . . .? Never mind, we have to help Buffy." Dawn went to kneel back down next to Buffy when Spike's next words stopped her short.

"Do I know you?" Dawn looked over at the blonde vampire.

"What? Of course you know me; I'm Dawn, Buffy's sister. . . ." Spike just stared at her; there was no recognition in his crystal blue eyes.

"Jesus Christ," Dawn said, laying a hand against her forehead.

"I, so, can't deal with this right now." Pointing at Spike, she said;

"You pick her up and follow me, I'll grab the bags." Spike did as he was told and scooped the comatose Slayer into his arms. He cradled her head, almost as if by instinct, painting a very realistic picture of a vampiric Romeo, carrying his Juliet.