Title: Child of Light
Author: Camilla aka Cosmic
Email: bananacosmicgirl@hotmail.com
Rating: R to be on the safe side. Some language/sex/violence, but none more than what you would see on the show, really.
Feedback: I love feedback!!
Distribution: Death Marked Love, ff.net. Anyone else, just ask.
AN: Just feel I've got to say a real thank you to everyone who's given me their thoughts about this story. Most good, some constructive criticism. To everyone, just a huge thank you. I'm really glad this story is enjoyable (even though it is a "white-picket-fence" kinda fic…). Hope the rest entertains you as well! Now, on with the story…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 13
On Christmas Eve, the whole gang was gathering in the Summers' home to exchange gifts. The house was filled with activity from the moment Buffy woke up on the couch in Spike's arms and discovered that she should have begun cooking the food an hour earlier. Spike spent several minutes trying to calm her down, and then helped her getting started in the kitchen.
Dawn came down a while later.
"Oh, the cute sleeping couple is up," she grinned.
"Dawn, eat breakfast and then get out," Buffy said. Her tone was not angry, only stressed.
"Geez B, take it easy. It's only the Scoobies coming over, not the President."
Buffy shot Dawn a look and Dawn muttered, "Fine." She took a bowl and filled it with cereal.
Later at night, Spike and Buffy had gotten the food done in a joined effort, and the whole house was filled with the scent of edibles. Xander and Anya had arrived and Anya was putting their gifts under the tree. Tara and Willow was sitting on the couch, cuddling together as the cute couple they were. Dawn was setting the table, and the only one the group was waiting for was Giles.
The doorbell rang and Dawn ran to open. Buffy made her way into the hallway in time to see Giles take his coat off, and hugging Dawn.
"Merry Christmas, Buffy," he greeted her then, and hugged her gently.
"Merry Christmas, Giles," she replied with a smile.
"Ooh, Giles is here, then we can open presents, right?" Anya asked.
"An, take it easy," Xander said, putting an arm around his fiancée. "There'll be plenty of time to open presents later on."
"Good. Cause now that we have spent that much money on them –"
"Not something you're supposed to talk about, An," Xander interrupted.
Willow and Tara came over too, and more greetings were exchanged. Buffy stood silent, one hand resting on her belly, just watching her friends interact. There was a time when she thought she would never have this kind of happiness – especially after her mother died – but as she stood there, she felt complete. Content. Happy.
"If all you kids would be as kind as to step into the dining room!"
Buffy – and the rest of the gang – turned around to see Spike in the doorway, a red apron over his normal black clothing and a Christmas hat on his head.
Xander stood staring. Giles looked amused. Tara, Willow and Dawn giggled and Anya commented, "Nice hat." Buffy herself walked over and kissed him.
"What was that for?" he asked, a silly grin on his face.
She pointed upwards at the mistletoe hanging there and grinned at him.
"Oh. Well then I should move before the whelp or the Watcher gets some ridicules idea…" She giggled, and they made their way into the dining room, where Dawn had set the table and Spike had placed all the food he and Buffy had cooked.
"Mm, smells delicious Buff," Xander said and sat down.
The others followed and soon, they were all eating and laughing and talking.
* * *
"To Giles from Buffy."
Dawn gave the carefully wrapped package to the Watcher, who took it and opened it. He tried not to show it, but he loved opening presents just as much as the youngsters did.
"Thank you Buffy, I've been looking for this," Giles said, holding the book and flipping through a few pages with care.
"You're welcome," the Slayer replied with a smile and a hug to her Watcher.
Dawn, who had been chosen act as Santa and hand the presents out, chose the next gift. "From Xander to Anya."
Anya took the present eagerly and opened it, hardly even noticing the beautiful wrapping paper. Inside was a little box, and Anya squealed in delight when she opened it.
"They are beautiful!" she said, throwing herself around Xander's neck. "But do we really…?"
"Don't worry about that right now. You've wanted those earrings for months, and you're more than worth it." He kissed her gently.
"Let me see," Dawn begged, and Anya held the box up to the teen. The earrings were made out of gold, with small diamonds on. They were gorgeous.
"Shall we continue?" Willow asked, eager herself to give and receive presents. Dawn nodded to the witch and picked the next present up.
"Merry Christmas Buffy, from Dawn," she said. "Well, since it's from me, I can add that it's not really for you, but…"
"And what is that supposed to mean? Did you buy a Backstreet Boys CD or something that you will steal?" The words could have been harsh, but Buffy was smiling and hugged Dawn as she gave her her gift. It was small and soft, and Buffy quickly got the tape off and opened it. She gaped at the content.
"They are adorable, Dawn, thank you!" Buffy said happily. She held up the little blue set of baby clothes to the rest of the gang, and they all 'oohed' and 'ahed'. Buffy lost herself a little in looking at the small set of clothing. Despite the fact that she and Spike had been planning on going shopping for baby stuff, it had not happened so far. Some part of her was still telling her that something might go wrong, that the baby would not be right. But now she was imagining how her baby would look in these clothes. Her baby. She smiled.
While Buffy got lost in thought, Dawn continued to hand out gifts. Tara got a necklace from Willow, and Tara gave Willow a set of shower creams and gels, to which Willow replied, "You think I smell bad?" Then everyone had laughed and continued to enjoy the evening.
"To Xander from Anya." The package was small and Dawn handed it to Xander. He opened it quickly and smiled when he saw the video game Zelda lying there.
"Well, I'm bored with your other video games so I thought I'd get you something else," Anya explained. She received another kiss.
"Ooh, this is for me. 'To Dawn from Buffy'." Dawn quickly shredded the paper on the floor and smiled happily as she picked out a shirt and a pair of pants. "Cool! Thanks B!" She hugged her sister before continuing.
"To Spike from Buffy."
"I told you you didn't have to get me anything, Slayer," Spike said, but taking the gift out of Dawn's hand nonetheless. It too was fairly small and hard, and Spike gently opened it, taking care not to rip the paper. By the time he had opened it fully, Dawn was sighing in boredom.
"Thanks love," Spike said, kissing Buffy. There were three things inside the box. Three frames, holding three pictures. One of Buffy and him, taken at Thanksgiving earlier in the fall. One of Spike, Buffy and Dawn, in the summer out in the sun, not to long after Spike found out he was human. The last one held an ultrasound picture of their baby, from their latest visit at the doctor.
"It's perfect."
"Well, I wanted to find one where I looked better than that –" she pointed at the Thanksgiving one, where her stomach was showing, "– but I didn't find one."
"You look beautiful, love, don't worry." She smiled at him, and wondered how she could ever have been able to resist his charms.
"From Giles to Buffy." Dawn handed her sister an envelope.
"Ooh, more for me?" She opened the envelope and found a gift certificate for Charlotte Russe, one of her favorite stores.
"I, um, didn't quite know what to get you, so I decided you get to chose for yourself."
"That's fine with me, Giles," Buffy smiled.
Another couple of presents were handed out, which was followed by more thank you-s and happy smiles. Finally, Dawn said, "I think that was all."
"Actually," Spike said, sitting up from his seat on the couch. Buffy pouted at him, having lost her comfortable position when Spike moved. "There are some more. Two, to be exact."
He disappeared from the room and came back a moment later with a box – the round kind, in which you got hats in other times – and held it out to Dawn. "Merry Christmas, Nibblet."
Dawn took the box and set it on the floor, and lifted the top off. "Oh my gosh!" she squealed. "She's so pretty!"
"You got her a kitten?!" Buffy exclaimed at the sight of the little fur ball.
"Oh Buffy I can keep her right?" Dawn picked the little animal up and petted her. Then she set the kitten down, and after playing a while with the little ball that Spike had put into the box too, it settled down on Dawn's lap, falling promptly asleep.
"Fine," Buffy sighed. "But she is your responsibility!"
Dawn nodded, before the kitten got her attention again.
"Okay, before everyone falls asleep down here, maybe we should finish off the gift exchange. After all, we have one left." The gang nodded and Buffy wondered what was going on. They were obviously up to something.
"Will you come, pet?" Spike asked and helped the Slayer off the couch. With the gang in tow – Dawn last, with the kitten in her arms – they walked up the stairs over to their bedroom. Spike opened the door and Buffy gasped.
"Oh my… This is…" She stared at the cradle in front of her. It was absolutely perfect. Made out of wood painted white, with layers of white and light, light blue cloths, and small stones embedded in patterns around the bottom. "It is beautiful," Buffy breathed.
"You like it?" Xander asked.
"If I like it? Of course I do! Did you all…"
"Well, Spike came up with the idea," Xander replied, "And I did the wood part. The girls helped with the cloth part, Tara and Anya did the stones. Giles helped with some details, wherever he was, um, needed."
"It has a protective spell around it too," Willow quipped in.
"Guys thank you so much!" She hugged them all, one by one. "Dawn! Did you know about this?"
"I didn't have a clue…" Dawn said, slightly disappointed. She would have loved to be part of this surprise.
"Sorry Dawnie," Willow said, "It just… I dunno. We thought you might want to be surprised too."
Dawn nodded. Meanwhile, Buffy made her way over to Spike, and she kissed him. The kiss quickly became deeper, and finally, Xander cleared her throat to get the two to separate. Buffy and Spike just grinned happily at each other.
TBC…
Author: Camilla aka Cosmic
Email: bananacosmicgirl@hotmail.com
Rating: R to be on the safe side. Some language/sex/violence, but none more than what you would see on the show, really.
Feedback: I love feedback!!
Distribution: Death Marked Love, ff.net. Anyone else, just ask.
AN: Just feel I've got to say a real thank you to everyone who's given me their thoughts about this story. Most good, some constructive criticism. To everyone, just a huge thank you. I'm really glad this story is enjoyable (even though it is a "white-picket-fence" kinda fic…). Hope the rest entertains you as well! Now, on with the story…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 13
On Christmas Eve, the whole gang was gathering in the Summers' home to exchange gifts. The house was filled with activity from the moment Buffy woke up on the couch in Spike's arms and discovered that she should have begun cooking the food an hour earlier. Spike spent several minutes trying to calm her down, and then helped her getting started in the kitchen.
Dawn came down a while later.
"Oh, the cute sleeping couple is up," she grinned.
"Dawn, eat breakfast and then get out," Buffy said. Her tone was not angry, only stressed.
"Geez B, take it easy. It's only the Scoobies coming over, not the President."
Buffy shot Dawn a look and Dawn muttered, "Fine." She took a bowl and filled it with cereal.
Later at night, Spike and Buffy had gotten the food done in a joined effort, and the whole house was filled with the scent of edibles. Xander and Anya had arrived and Anya was putting their gifts under the tree. Tara and Willow was sitting on the couch, cuddling together as the cute couple they were. Dawn was setting the table, and the only one the group was waiting for was Giles.
The doorbell rang and Dawn ran to open. Buffy made her way into the hallway in time to see Giles take his coat off, and hugging Dawn.
"Merry Christmas, Buffy," he greeted her then, and hugged her gently.
"Merry Christmas, Giles," she replied with a smile.
"Ooh, Giles is here, then we can open presents, right?" Anya asked.
"An, take it easy," Xander said, putting an arm around his fiancée. "There'll be plenty of time to open presents later on."
"Good. Cause now that we have spent that much money on them –"
"Not something you're supposed to talk about, An," Xander interrupted.
Willow and Tara came over too, and more greetings were exchanged. Buffy stood silent, one hand resting on her belly, just watching her friends interact. There was a time when she thought she would never have this kind of happiness – especially after her mother died – but as she stood there, she felt complete. Content. Happy.
"If all you kids would be as kind as to step into the dining room!"
Buffy – and the rest of the gang – turned around to see Spike in the doorway, a red apron over his normal black clothing and a Christmas hat on his head.
Xander stood staring. Giles looked amused. Tara, Willow and Dawn giggled and Anya commented, "Nice hat." Buffy herself walked over and kissed him.
"What was that for?" he asked, a silly grin on his face.
She pointed upwards at the mistletoe hanging there and grinned at him.
"Oh. Well then I should move before the whelp or the Watcher gets some ridicules idea…" She giggled, and they made their way into the dining room, where Dawn had set the table and Spike had placed all the food he and Buffy had cooked.
"Mm, smells delicious Buff," Xander said and sat down.
The others followed and soon, they were all eating and laughing and talking.
* * *
"To Giles from Buffy."
Dawn gave the carefully wrapped package to the Watcher, who took it and opened it. He tried not to show it, but he loved opening presents just as much as the youngsters did.
"Thank you Buffy, I've been looking for this," Giles said, holding the book and flipping through a few pages with care.
"You're welcome," the Slayer replied with a smile and a hug to her Watcher.
Dawn, who had been chosen act as Santa and hand the presents out, chose the next gift. "From Xander to Anya."
Anya took the present eagerly and opened it, hardly even noticing the beautiful wrapping paper. Inside was a little box, and Anya squealed in delight when she opened it.
"They are beautiful!" she said, throwing herself around Xander's neck. "But do we really…?"
"Don't worry about that right now. You've wanted those earrings for months, and you're more than worth it." He kissed her gently.
"Let me see," Dawn begged, and Anya held the box up to the teen. The earrings were made out of gold, with small diamonds on. They were gorgeous.
"Shall we continue?" Willow asked, eager herself to give and receive presents. Dawn nodded to the witch and picked the next present up.
"Merry Christmas Buffy, from Dawn," she said. "Well, since it's from me, I can add that it's not really for you, but…"
"And what is that supposed to mean? Did you buy a Backstreet Boys CD or something that you will steal?" The words could have been harsh, but Buffy was smiling and hugged Dawn as she gave her her gift. It was small and soft, and Buffy quickly got the tape off and opened it. She gaped at the content.
"They are adorable, Dawn, thank you!" Buffy said happily. She held up the little blue set of baby clothes to the rest of the gang, and they all 'oohed' and 'ahed'. Buffy lost herself a little in looking at the small set of clothing. Despite the fact that she and Spike had been planning on going shopping for baby stuff, it had not happened so far. Some part of her was still telling her that something might go wrong, that the baby would not be right. But now she was imagining how her baby would look in these clothes. Her baby. She smiled.
While Buffy got lost in thought, Dawn continued to hand out gifts. Tara got a necklace from Willow, and Tara gave Willow a set of shower creams and gels, to which Willow replied, "You think I smell bad?" Then everyone had laughed and continued to enjoy the evening.
"To Xander from Anya." The package was small and Dawn handed it to Xander. He opened it quickly and smiled when he saw the video game Zelda lying there.
"Well, I'm bored with your other video games so I thought I'd get you something else," Anya explained. She received another kiss.
"Ooh, this is for me. 'To Dawn from Buffy'." Dawn quickly shredded the paper on the floor and smiled happily as she picked out a shirt and a pair of pants. "Cool! Thanks B!" She hugged her sister before continuing.
"To Spike from Buffy."
"I told you you didn't have to get me anything, Slayer," Spike said, but taking the gift out of Dawn's hand nonetheless. It too was fairly small and hard, and Spike gently opened it, taking care not to rip the paper. By the time he had opened it fully, Dawn was sighing in boredom.
"Thanks love," Spike said, kissing Buffy. There were three things inside the box. Three frames, holding three pictures. One of Buffy and him, taken at Thanksgiving earlier in the fall. One of Spike, Buffy and Dawn, in the summer out in the sun, not to long after Spike found out he was human. The last one held an ultrasound picture of their baby, from their latest visit at the doctor.
"It's perfect."
"Well, I wanted to find one where I looked better than that –" she pointed at the Thanksgiving one, where her stomach was showing, "– but I didn't find one."
"You look beautiful, love, don't worry." She smiled at him, and wondered how she could ever have been able to resist his charms.
"From Giles to Buffy." Dawn handed her sister an envelope.
"Ooh, more for me?" She opened the envelope and found a gift certificate for Charlotte Russe, one of her favorite stores.
"I, um, didn't quite know what to get you, so I decided you get to chose for yourself."
"That's fine with me, Giles," Buffy smiled.
Another couple of presents were handed out, which was followed by more thank you-s and happy smiles. Finally, Dawn said, "I think that was all."
"Actually," Spike said, sitting up from his seat on the couch. Buffy pouted at him, having lost her comfortable position when Spike moved. "There are some more. Two, to be exact."
He disappeared from the room and came back a moment later with a box – the round kind, in which you got hats in other times – and held it out to Dawn. "Merry Christmas, Nibblet."
Dawn took the box and set it on the floor, and lifted the top off. "Oh my gosh!" she squealed. "She's so pretty!"
"You got her a kitten?!" Buffy exclaimed at the sight of the little fur ball.
"Oh Buffy I can keep her right?" Dawn picked the little animal up and petted her. Then she set the kitten down, and after playing a while with the little ball that Spike had put into the box too, it settled down on Dawn's lap, falling promptly asleep.
"Fine," Buffy sighed. "But she is your responsibility!"
Dawn nodded, before the kitten got her attention again.
"Okay, before everyone falls asleep down here, maybe we should finish off the gift exchange. After all, we have one left." The gang nodded and Buffy wondered what was going on. They were obviously up to something.
"Will you come, pet?" Spike asked and helped the Slayer off the couch. With the gang in tow – Dawn last, with the kitten in her arms – they walked up the stairs over to their bedroom. Spike opened the door and Buffy gasped.
"Oh my… This is…" She stared at the cradle in front of her. It was absolutely perfect. Made out of wood painted white, with layers of white and light, light blue cloths, and small stones embedded in patterns around the bottom. "It is beautiful," Buffy breathed.
"You like it?" Xander asked.
"If I like it? Of course I do! Did you all…"
"Well, Spike came up with the idea," Xander replied, "And I did the wood part. The girls helped with the cloth part, Tara and Anya did the stones. Giles helped with some details, wherever he was, um, needed."
"It has a protective spell around it too," Willow quipped in.
"Guys thank you so much!" She hugged them all, one by one. "Dawn! Did you know about this?"
"I didn't have a clue…" Dawn said, slightly disappointed. She would have loved to be part of this surprise.
"Sorry Dawnie," Willow said, "It just… I dunno. We thought you might want to be surprised too."
Dawn nodded. Meanwhile, Buffy made her way over to Spike, and she kissed him. The kiss quickly became deeper, and finally, Xander cleared her throat to get the two to separate. Buffy and Spike just grinned happily at each other.
TBC…