Once they were back downstairs, Buffy picked up the leather book she'd been carrying around all night, and turned to a well-worn page. She handed the book to Spike, and told him to read the passage on that page.

"Well, that certainly sounds cryptic enough to have come from a watcher's diary."

"That's exactly where it came from. That's the prophecy that Willow found that night. I've never really been good at deciphering those things. I always just depended on Giles to do that and then give me the Buffy-verse version."

"Seeing how it's a little late even for me to de-code a cryptic watcher prophecy, why don't you give me the "Buffy-verse version?" Spike inquired.

"Basically, Willow and Giles said that it made references to the slayer in the new millennium, who would die twice and be loved by two vampires of the same family. Obviously that's me. It also said something about a true love, and how with my second death a part of that true love would die along with me." She noticed that Spike's eyes were starting to tear up, and she figured that he was remembering the night that she dove off the tower to defeat Glory. She reached out and took his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together and Spike looked at her, a little amazed at this tender gesture. She continued.

"Apparently when they did the spell to bring me back, we were so linked that it "brought back" the part of you that died with me, and made you *whole * again, without totally restoring your humanity. Does that make sense? Some mystical force linked us together, then, and since we completed each other, we were able to have children together. I know this is all very confusing..."

Spike looked into her eyes, amazed at her interpretation of the words he'd just read. He knew she was telling the truth, but her version of what the prophecy meant had so much more love and emotion in it than he ever imagined any watcher would have read into their works. Suddenly, he said "It's called love, Buffy."

"What is?" She asked, a little confused.

"The mystical force, as you called it, that bound us together. It's love. I always tried to tell you that I loved you, Buffy."

"Yeah, I guess it is- er, was" she corrected, then frowned. He noted the frown and a questioning look appeared on his face. "You said loved- past tense. You don't still love me, do you Spike?"

"What? Of course I do Buffy! I could never, ever stop loving you." He reached out to embrace her, a little unsure if she'd let him. He sighed in relief when she did. "Don't you remember me telling you that you're in my blood, that I was drowning in you? I still am. I always will be. I never, ever stopped loving you Buffy Summers."

"Sinclair" she corrected.

He pulled back, and looked at her. "What?"

"My last name now. Is Sinclair."

"That was my last name." He stuttered, as realization hit him.

"I know."

"Why? How?"

She smiled at him, and leafed through the next few pages of the book. "Here. It's all in here, Spike. Everything you need to know about the last five years is in this book. Although I'd much rather tell you about it than just have you read it all."

Spike skimmed the pages, and saw copies of legal documents, most of which he didn't take the time to read, other than to notice that they were apparently used to change Buffy's name on all of her bank accounts, drivers license, deed to the house, and other important accounts. He looked at her, still confused, and said "Buffy, I don't really understand…"

"Ok." She smiled. "Time for more of the story, I suppose."

+ + + + + + + + + +

late May, 2002

Xander walked into the kitchen at Buffy's house, to find a very worried-looking Willow sitting at the counter, nursing a cup of lukewarm coffee. "She still not coming down?" he asked quietly.

"No, and Xander- I'm really, really starting to worry about her." Xander poured a cup of coffee and joined Willow while she continued, trying not to ramble. "She's been like this since she found out Spike left. I just don't know what to do anymore. I've tried everything. Telling her we'd find him someway, or that I was sure he was coming back, I've even tried telling her that what she's doing isn't healthy for the baby. But nothing works. She just stays up there, laying in her bed and crying. We're lucky if we can even get her to eat the food we take up to her. What are we going to do, Xander, what?"

"I don't know, Will. I just don't know."

"What don't you know, Xander?"

The two scoobies were shocked to hear Buffy's quiet voice from the doorway. "Uh, we were just talking about Anya. I just don't know how to get her to hear me out." Xander lied.

"Oh." Buffy replied. "Uh, I have an appointment with Dr. Birch today. Can one of you drive me? I just don't feel like going alone."

"Sure, Buffy!" Willow said, trying to sound cheery. "We don't really have any plans today so we can both go with you… maybe grab some lunch while we're out."

"Yeah, ok. Well, I'm going to go get dressed then." With that Buffy walked out of the kitchen and back upstairs.

"That's good, right? That she wants to go out this afternoon… even if it is to go to the doctor?" Willow started. She was interrupted by Buffy running back into the kitchen.

"Willow! Xander! It's…you've… oh! Come here… feel this!" Buffy shouted as she grabbed their hands and placed them on her round stomach.

"Buffy! The baby's moving and kicking!"

"I know! It's never done this before. This is….wow….Ok. I have to hurry and get ready for the doctor. I have to make sure everything's alright." Buffy rushed back upstairs and they could hear her hurrying to get ready.

The three friends walked into Dr. Birch's office, and Buffy signed in for her appointment. When the nurse called Buffy back, she asked if her friends would like to come with her. Xander paled, and said he thought he'd just be supportive from the waiting room. Willow grinned, and agreed to go with Buffy.

Once inside the little exam room, the nurse looked over Buffy's chart. "Ms. Summers, you're scheduled for another ultrasound today. So we'll be taking another picture of your baby today. Would you like for us to video it?"

"You can do that?"

"We sure can. I'll just go and get a tape and have it set up for when we do the procedure. Also, I need to know if you want to know the sex of the baby, providing we can tell."

"Yes, I'd like to know."

"Ok then. You just sit back and relax. Dr. Birch will be in shortly."

Buffy sat back on the exam table, and Willow noticed that Buffy's eyes were clouding up with tears. Buffy looked over at Willow, and said, "I can't believe he's gone, that he's missing all of this."

"I know, Buffy. But you're getting a tape of the ultrasound today, so he can see it when he gets back. And we have all of the information from the prophecy, so you'll have that to show him so he'll know that you're telling him the truth. It will all work out Buffy."

"Do you think he would have stayed if I'd told him I was pregnant that night at the Magic Box?"

"I don't know Buffy. But I do believe that he loves you. And I know he'd do anything in his power to protect you."

Dr. Birch walked in just then, a little worried to see the tears on Buffy's face. "Buffy, are you alright? Nothing's wrong, is it?"

"No. Just hormones, I guess. I could feel the baby moving this morning."

"Well, that's good, Buffy. Let's get started on this sonogram, now, shall we?"

Dr. Birch set up the ultrasound machine and started the procedure. Buffy smiled as she heard the sound of her baby's strong, rapid heartbeat fill the room. The doctor turned the monitor toward Buffy and Willow, and pointed out to them where the baby was on the screen. Buffy and Willow ooh'd and ahh'd over the little image on the screen, and Buffy was totally lost in the moment of seeing her baby on the little screen and hearing its heartbeat when the doctor said "Do you want to know the sex? We can tell today.. the baby is turned the right way."

"Oh, yes, please. I want to know."

"Well, Buffy," she started as she pointed to the baby on the monitor, "you're going to have a little girl."

~~~~~~~~~~~

A few days later, at the Magic Box

Buffy sat, staring at the newest sonogram picture of her daughter. Her daughter. She could hardly believe it… it was all so real to her now. * I have to snap out of this depression *  Buffy thought. * It can't be good for the baby, and I have to do everything that is best for her *  "Will, I've been thinking about something."

"What's that, Buffy?"

"Now, don't get all wiggy on me when I tell you this. But, this baby…this little girl, is Spike's, and I was just thinking… do we even know what Spike's real last name was? I mean, I want her to be connected to him as much as she can, you know? And I was just thinking that she should maybe have his name."

"Are you sure, Buffy? Because you know that the only way to do that is to change yours. When she's born she has to have the same name as you."

"I know. I mean, I think I'm ok to change my name. I just think it would be good for her, to have some connection to her father. Since I don't know when or if he's coming back." Buffy got a faraway look in her eyes, wondering just where Spike had gone and what he was doing, and if he ever thought of her.

"Well, if you're sure Buffy, I can do some research. I'm sure that with all of the information on Spike that we have in Giles's books, I should be able to trace down his human family, to find out what his last name was. But you know- there's probably a much easier way. I mean, I'm sure Angel knows his history…"

"NO!"  Buffy said before realizing how harsh she'd sounded. "I just don't want to bother him with this. We're sort of trying to stay out of each other's way, you know?"

"I know. Like I said, I'll do the research. It'll be good…give me something to do. I've been a little bored lately with the lack of Hellmouth research and activity" Willow grinned.

She immediately plugged in her laptop and started plundering through the books on vampire histories that Giles left behind. It didn't take her very long to track down the information on Spike's human family. He'd been so notorious as a vampire that it was relatively easy to track his history. She found information on some genealogy sites that had basic information about his whole family, his parents' names and even his siblings. She rushed into the training room, finding Buffy on the floor doing some yoga stretches that her doctor had recommended. "I found it, Buffy! I found it! Did you know Spike had a little sister?"

+ + + + + + + + +

"So" Buffy told Spike "I decided that I wanted our baby to have your name, so Willow found out what it was, and I changed my name so that when Maggie was born she'd really be a Sinclair."

Spike didn't know what to say. He was shocked. "I just can't believe you did that Buffy."

"You're not upset that I did, are you? Oh, I never even stopped to think that you might have a problem with it, I just thought that it would be better for Maggie, and it would make me feel a little more connected to you while you were gone, and…"

"Buffy, no. I'm not the least bit upset. I just can't believe that you wanted our baby to be connected to me in any way, after I left like I did. You have no idea what that means to me."

She smiled at him, sighing with relief that he was ok with what she'd done. "I named her after your little sister, you know. When Willow told me that you'd had a little sister named Margaret, I knew right away that it was the perfect name for our little girl. So I named her after your sister and gave her my middle name."

Spike swallowed the uncharacteristic knot that had formed in his throat again. "Thank you Buffy. I loved her, so much. And when I was turned, I couldn't stand to see how it affected her. Of course, Mum didn't tell her that I had been turned, just that I'd died, and she was so sad. She was the most precious child I had ever met. Maggie carries her name well." He looked at Buffy and smiled- a real, genuine smile that reached his eyes, and she could tell that he had accepted that she was telling the truth.

Spike noticed how late it was, and even though she wouldn't admit it, he could see how tired Buffy was. "Love, it's late. I should probably get going. You need your rest."

"But Spike, there's so much more I want to tell you. Don't go."

"I'll come back, Love, I promise. Tomorrow if you want. I have some things I need to tell you, too."

"Ok." Buffy said, as she followed him to the door. "Tomorrow night. You'll come back, and we'll do some more catching up. Come over before dinner, if you want, and you can spend some time with Maggie."

"That sounds like a plan, Love." Spike turned to leave, but then turned back suddenly, placing a kiss on Buffy's forehead. "I love you." He said, then turned and walked down the front steps and toward the street.

"I love you, too, Spike," Buffy whispered, wondering if his super-sensitive hearing had picked it up.

He heard her, and smiled, but didn't turn back. There would be plenty more opportunities for her to tell him again, and having heard her whispered declaration, he knew he could wait for the next time.

(TBC…)

A/N: Thanks again for all of the feedback. You all are spoiling me with your reviews (but don't let that stop you from leaving them….grin)   Sorry if anyone thinks that my "prophecy" is too cheesy, but I was really going for the happy-ending sort of prophecy, so that's what I went with. Oh, and I have no real basis for Spike's last name, other than the fact that I've read several fics where they used Sinclair as his last name and I liked it. So if you are one of those authors who used it as his last name, I hope that you don't mind that I borrowed it. I honestly saw that name used in like 4 stories, and couldn't remember all of them to get permission from the authors. I'm going to be out of town this weekend, so the next update won't be up until at least Monday, but don't worry…this story is far from over, and I have every intention of finishing it.