Spike glanced at the clock anxiously while leading Joyce and William towards the bathroom. There was no way he'd get everything cleaned up in time. Buffy had left early that morning, claiming the need for a girl's day out shopping and at the sauna, and leaving him with the kids for the day. They had spent the better part of their day playing with every toy known to man, as their father adored spoiling them, putting on a sock puppet show, complete with little sock vampires, and had a food fight in the kitchen.
The blond herded his children into the bathroom; all three of them covered in food. While stripping them both down and turning on the tap, he mentally reviewed everything that needed to be done.
Get the kids a bath.
Put 'em to bed.
Straighten the kitchen.
Straighten the den.
Shower m'self.
Change for tonight.
He glanced around the suddenly cluttered bathroom and grimaced.
Straighten the loo.
"Ok, bath time, you two." He lifted Joyce and set her down inside the tub, "In ya' go," he waited for William to haul himself over the side, because 'big boys can get in the tub themselves', before grabbing the shampoo from out off the shower basket. Squirting some into his hands he simultaneously scrubbed their heads clean, causing little Joyce to giggle.
He gave her a genuine smile before continuing to scrub them both from top to bottom. Buffy would absolutely spit if she came home to find them filthy after a day in his care.
"Alright, tip your 'head back," he told Joyce, using a large cup filled with water to pour water over her head and rinse the shampoo out of her hair. He filled the cup again and shifted positions, "All right, your turn, Will," Will obliged and tilted his own head back.
Flipping the plug on the tub so it could drain, he let the water swirl out while he rubbed the kids dry with a huge towel. Draping a clean towel over each of their shoulders he shooed the kids out the door and into the hallway, "Go t'your rooms and put on your pajamas. I'll be right in to put you to sleep."
As each giggling child took off half-naked down the hall - Joyce holding the tips of her towel at each of her shoulders and using it as a cape while she ran for her room in a fit of laughter - Spike shook his head and chuckled before turning back to the bathroom to clean it up.
He made a face before quickly scooping up all the laundry and stuffing it into an already overflowing hamper. Good thing it's laundry day tomorrow. He then used a washcloth to wipe up the tracks on the floor and threw it on top of the accumulating laundry pile.
Turning, he went down the hallway to check on their progress towards bedtime. William's door was closed tight so he softly knocked on it.
"I'm changin', don't come in!" His son yelped in surprise.
"Alright, just open the door when you're finished," he replied, moving towards his daughter's room and mumbling under his breath, "I was there when you were born for Christ's sake..." he muttered, not liking his six-year-old son's recent request for more independence. Just isn't right, him growin' up this fast...
As he approached his daughter's open door, however, he smirked in amusement at her less inhibited ways. She was jumping up and down on her bed, having ditched the towel just outside her doorway.
Spike lent and picked it up before walking towards her bed and grabbing her mid-leap. She giggled into his shoulder; "How about we get some knickers on you, little one?" He asked, and headed towards her dresser.
Seven minutes later, a much more clothed Joyce Ann was fast asleep in her bed and Spike had just closed the door to his son's room again, having said 'good night' to him. He took a deep breath and then descended down the stairs to get to work on the cleaning. The way he figured it, he had about forty-five minutes before Buffy came through the door, dressed and ready to go out to dinner as they had planned, and fifty minutes until Dawn arrived, having agreed to watch her god-children while they were out.
Entering the den, he scooped up an armful of toys and dropped it unceremoniously into an open chest. He threw in a few more things until it had been filled and then plopped the lid down and forced it locked. He pushed Joyce's dollhouse back into a corner and quickly discarded the toy guns and G.I. Joes that had been left out into a closet. Shutting the door behind him be glanced around and took note of a few miscellaneous toys sitting out on the floor, kicking them aside he walked out of the room, "Good enough."
As he came through the kitchen doorway he paused. Funny, it hadn't looked this bad when we started baking... Cake mix was lightly powdered the floor and eggs were lying broken on the kitchen table. Flour and other assorted baking ingredients also littered the kitchen. So, with a sigh, he began to wipe, sweep, and mop his way to a usable kitchen. He had just thrown away the last of the paper toweling when he caught a glimpse of the time.
"Bloody Hell!" Shoving the rest of the cleaning supplies beneath the sink, Spike raced towards the stairs and up to the master bathroom. He twisted the knobs while pulling his shirt over his head, and then discarded of the rest of his clothing into the hamper. He jumped into the shower and quickly lathered and rinsed. After scrubbing his hair one last time to make sure he had all the cake mix out, he shut off the water and grabbed for a towel.
Wrapping it around his waste he stood in front of the mirror and said a quick prayer of thanks for the reflection that came with being human as he ran a comb and some gel through his short blond locks.
Entering his and Buffy's bedroom, he stepped over to the closet and let the towel around his waste fall to the floor. He'd worry about it later.
He quickly chose a pair of pressed chinos, and a charcoal grey sweater that were hanging in the closet and slid them both on. After slipping into a pair of dress shoes, he checked his appearance in a mirror one last time before heading out into the hallway. He started for the stairs and was half way down when he heard Buffy's key in the lock. A smile crossed his features. Perfect timing.
He casually sauntered down the rest of the stairs to find Buffy waiting at the bottom. He stopped three steps up and stared. Somehow, no matter that they had been married for almost seven years, she could still take his breath away.
She was elegantly dressed in a dark grey skirt that came to a stop mid-calf, but was slit up in the back to just above her knees. Her top was sleeveless and hugged her curves lower down but became loose at the top to pool around her shoulders. It was lilac in color and she had a matching handbag slung carelessly over her shoulder.
She gazed up at him, equally as speechless, as he closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms for a sweet kiss. When he finally pulled away they were both flushed. Still holding her against him, he used one hand to run his fingers through her loose hair, and gazed at her thoughtfully, "The kids missed you while you were gone."
She lightly laughed, "did they now?" He nodded and then met her gaze again, "I did too," he added. She nodded and pulled him closer again, "I thought so." Their lips met just as there was a soft knock at the door. Pulling away, Buffy gave Spike a small smile before turning to open the door.
"Hey you guys," Dawn entered the room, carrying a large stack of books in her arms, "Ready for a night in with the munchkins."
"Hey Nibblet," Spike greeted her, never having given up her nicknames, "They shouldn't be too much trouble. Any trouble at all actually, they're both asleep already."
"Ok," Dawn replied, setting down her material for the courses she was taking at UC-Sunnydale on a table in the front hallway, "you guys leaving right away?"
"Yeah," Buffy agreed, "Right after I check on the kids quick. I'll be right down and then we can go. All right, honey?" Spike nodded and watched Buffy make her way up the stairs. Spike felt his heart expanding at the thought of the kids. Six years and he still couldn't grasp the fact that they were HIS. His children. What was more...they were Buffy's children, too. God, he'd give anything to just freeze that moment in time. Oh yeah, he was SO whipped...and damn happy about it. He was so lost in thought and emotion that he didn't even take note that Dawn was speaking to him until she waved a hand inches in front of his face.
"Hello in there!" She was grinning at him; "I asked where you guys were going?" Spike cleared his throat in embarrassment, "Uh...just out to dinner. No big," he replied, using a Buffyism. Dawn nodded, clearly still amused at his little blank-out.
"All right, I'm ready," Buffy returned from upstairs with a knowing smile on her face, "Let's hit the road."
"Were either of them still awake?" Spike asked, waving to Dawn over his shoulder as the couple walked down their front step.
Buffy nodded and smothered a giggled when she answered, "Yeah, umm...Joyce was up. She said you guys had a good time today." Spike gave her a strange look when her answer ended with a laugh. "Right. We did." He wondered just what all Joyce had told her mother.
He held open the door to the passenger side of the car while Buffy slipped into the seat and then shut it and walked around the front of the car to the drivers' side and got in. He adjusted the mirror and turned the key in the ignition, Buffy staring at him all the while, before turning to her and asking in an exasperated voice, "WHAT?"
She burst into laughter again, "N-nothing...just...well, I have a question for you..."
"Yes?"
She smiled for a moment longer and then reached into her purse, "Actually," She pulled out one of the sock puppets from that afternoon's performance. It had a shock of yellow yarn as hair and two mismatched blue buttons for eyes. Lipstick had been used to draw on lips and candy corn, stained with red permanent marker, had been glued on as fangs, "Spike here has a question for you..."
He felt as though all the blood in his body had suddenly rushed to his face, "Well...ya' see...." He trailed off and swore under his breath and looked anywhere but at Buffy.
It was because of this that he didn't notice she had leaned towards him until she was practically in his lap.
"Did I ever tell you," she whispered into his ear, running her fingers through the soft hair on the back of his head, "How sexy I think good fathers are?"
His mouth went dry at the look on her face, and sure enough she had taken his breath away again. He glanced mischievously at the back seat, and just before her mouth closed over his, he was able to mutter, "What say we skip dinner, luv?"
END
Gotcha!
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Her Portrait
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