CHAPTER ELEVEN

Spike entered the hospital room with a small bouquet of flowers in hand and Buffy smiled up at him as he said, "Hey, uh... Xander had a meeting he couldn't get out of so I'm here to pick you up." In reality, Spike had begged Xander to let him pick Buffy up from the hospital, and with a little convincing from Willow and Tara, Xander had reluctantly agreed.

"Oh, okay, cool. Are those for me?" she asked, gesturing to the flowers in his hand.

"Oh... yeah." He handed them to her, fervently hoping that he wasn't blushing like a nancy boy ponce.

"They're beautiful." She smiled up at him as she buried her nose in the blooms.

He smiled nervously, "Well, everybody buys the baby something, but the mother always gets left out."

"That's sweet of you."

He just knew he was blushing now as he stammered, "I'll... uh... get your bags and we'll go." He turned and started gathering her belongings, taking deep breaths to try to get himself under control as Buffy put her daughter in the pink car seat. She lifted it up and smiled at him as he held the door open and they walked side by side to the parking lot.

XXXX

"Welcome home, baby girl." Buffy smiled at the child in her arms as she walked over the threshold.

Spike followed, struggling slightly under the weight of several gift bags, Buffy's suitcase, and the car seat. 'Who knew babies needed so much gear?' he thought to himself as he dropped his load on the floor at the end of the couch. "Nobody home?" he asked as he looked around the silent house.

"Oh no. Dawn has a history exam and I told her she shouldn't skip it."

"Right then. Where do you want these, pet?" He gestured to the pile of items clustered around his feet.

"Right there will be fine, Spike. I'll sort it all out and put it away later."

He nodded and followed her over to the couch, helping her to sit down before he sat at the other end. "So, has she got a name? Not that I don't think baby Summers is cute, but..."

"Amelia Joyce Summers," Buffy said as she smiled proudly.

"Your mum would've been right proud of you, pet."

"Thanks. Uh... could you take her for a while? I know you're not really baby friendly, but I desperately need a shower before the hordes of visitors start tromping through here. I look like hell and I smell like the hospital."

"Sure." She passed over the tiny bundle of pink blankets and smiled before heading toward the stairs. Spike watched her go and said quietly, "You look beautiful, Buffy, you're glowing." She shot him a quick smile and disappeared upstairs.

XXXX

The Scoobies were sitting around the table at the Magic Box in uneasy silence. Anya, not being one for sugar coating things, suddenly blurted out, "So, who's the father?"

Willow huffed, "We don't know, Anya, she won't say. She's been all avoidy secretive Buffy for the last nine months, so what makes you think she's gonna start with the spillage now? I resolve faced her every chance I got and everything and nothing worked."

Xander shrugged as he flipped through a magazine. "I hate to point it out, but maybe it's Spike. As much as I'd hate for it to be the bleached menace, it kinda works out, time wise and all."

"I don't think we should be talking about this now. It doesn't matter where this baby came from; what matters is that Buffy needs our help," said Tara assertively, surprising the others with a side of her they'd never seen before.

XXXX

Harmony sat at a dimly lit table at The Bronze, sipping on her Cosmo lightly and twirling the small umbrella she'd received with her drink. Waiting was not her strong point and if it'd been any other man she would've left by now, but this guy was special to her. So special, in fact, that she'd dug out the red Gucci dress she only wore once in a blue moon. She wore her hair down in loose curls because she'd remembered him telling her that his ex always had the best bouncy hair. 'Hmmm... not anymore,' she thought cheekily to herself. Before she knew it she was feeling the effects of the alcohol and that's just when he happened to walk in.

"Sorry I'm late; luv got a little held up."

She looked him over appreciatively, noting the tight black jeans that showed off his impressive package quite nicely, and the blue shirt that complimented his eyes as well as his muscular physique. 'Oh you are so forgiven for looking like that.' She smiled up at him and chirped, "Oh, that's okay. I haven't been waiting long."

He quirked an eyebrow toward her almost empty glass. "Let me get you a drink, pet. Cosmo, right?"

"You remembered," she giggled.

XXXX

Quite a few drinks later, Harmony giggled, "You really didn't have a clue that I was into you?" She leaned toward him as she dropped her voice a little and asked seductively, "Did you not like me?"

Spike took a large gulp of his beer. "A bloke would be stupid not to like you, but you're just a little young for me, that's all."

"There's only like what, five years difference? Or is it eight?" she slurred.

"I think you're a little bit drunk," he smirked while she giggled and hiccupped.

"I can't stand it back here. A few weeks and I already want to kill people, so I'm going to Argentina." She smiled crookedly and leaned on the table.

"How are you gonna afford that?" he asked, taking another sip of his beer.

"I've got four jobs; that will get the plane ticket, and as soon as I've got enough, I'm out of here. Do you wanna come? My tent sleeps two," she said mischievously.

Spike sighed, "I wasn't entirely honest with you, Harm. The reason I didn't jump on you back in London is 'cause there's someone else"

"So why are you sitting here now?" she asked.

"Was someone else, not is. I thought that when I came back we'd sort of pick things up where we'd left off," he sighed.

"But you didn't sort of pick things up?"

"It's complicated."

She reached behind her and grabbed her purse then started digging in it. She came up with a pen and scrawled something on a napkin. "I guarantee I'm not complicated. At all. One trip. Peru? Brazil? Just for fun. You know why we do this, Spike. I've seen it in your eyes. It's not for the memories, it's not for the photos to show your friends, it's not for the tales you tell, it's being there." She passed Spike the napkin and smirked a little. *I guarantee no complications, Harmony. XOXO*