Buffy hurried around the kitchen, trying to decide what to cook for dinner. Her mind was in a thousand places all at once and she felt like she was going on auto-pilot as she moved around the kitchen. Her thoughts were suddenly pulled out of nowhere when the phone rang.

She was a little relieved to hear Willow's friendly voice on the other end of the line. After chatting for a few minutes Buffy decided it was time to tell Willow about Spike. Willow reacted as only Willow could…she started babbling on, reminding Buffy of everything Spike had done in the past, and wondering why he'd picked now to come back, and wondering where he'd been for the last five years.

Buffy interrupted her babbling. "Willow, stop. How many times have I said that I wished he was here, that he wasn't missing so much of Maggie's childhood?"

"Well, a lot of times but, Buffy, but are you really sure that this is a good idea? Have you told Maggie yet?"

"No, I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to tell her yet. But Will, she already thinks the world of him. I'm going to talk to him and see how he thinks we should tell her."

"Well, I'm sure that you'll do what's best for Maggie. This still seems a little weird, Buffy. I mean, you don't even know where he's been or what he's been up to…"

Buffy sighed. "Will, I know you have reservations. I do too. But I'm asking him to trust me in all of this, and I think that trusting him is the least I can give in return. I just need your support."

Buffy could tell that Willow was getting choked up when she started to speak again. "Buffy, I'm sorry. Maybe if we had all been more supportive of you in the beginning none of this would ever have happened. He might never have left and Maggie wouldn't have spent all these years not having her father in her life…"

"No, Willow. Please don't do this. None of what happened was your fault, and what's done is done. But now I have to focus on what I can do to make this right. And this feels right."

"Well, then, I'm happy for you. If there's anything I can do you'll tell me, right?"

"Of course I will." Buffy reassured Willow. "You're still coming for Maggie's party next week, right?"

"I'm going to try. We've had some weird stuff come up at the school, but I'll know for definite by the weekend. You'll give her my love?"

"Sure thing Will. Listen, I've got to go. Talk to you soon. Bye."

Just as Buffy hung up the phone and went back to her dinner decision, she was interrupted again by a knock on the front door. She didn't even have to look at the clock to know that it was time for Spike to arrive.

She went to the door and swung it open with a grin. Spike was standing there holding a bouquet of flowers; tiny sterling roses, sweet Williams, freesia, and stargazer lilies, all tied with a simple purple ribbon. Buffy's smile grew even wider as she exclaimed "Oh, Spike! You didn't have to bring those flowers for me."

Spike smirked. "Actually, pet… I didn't. These are for Maggie." He watched as the pout that he loved so much replaced her huge grin.

"Oh," was all she could reply.

Spike then brought his other hand out from behind his back to reveal a bouquet of blood red roses. "These, love, are for you." And there was the smile he loved even more. Buffy blushed as she took the flowers and closed the door behind him. She led the way to the kitchen, and Spike followed, noting how quiet the house was.

"So, I was just getting ready to cook dinner. Any suggestions?" Buffy grinned as she went about gathering pots and pans from the cabinets.

"Um, what do you know how to cook?" Spike looked away when Buffy shot him an evil look. "What? I never knew you to cook much of anything, except for that one Thanksgiving that you insisted on making a big feast. And even then I wasn't allowed to eat, so how do I know you're any good at this domestic, Betty Crocker bit?"

Buffy smiled. "Ok. Point taken. But I'm actually not bad at the Betty Crocker bit. Maggie actually eats most of what I cook for her."

"Probably just 'cause she doesn't know any better" Spike joked. "Where is Bitty Buffy anyway?"

"She's upstairs taking her nap." Buffy told him over her shoulder. "I had the hardest time even getting her to go down for a nap. She was afraid she'd miss your visit. Like I'd just let her sleep right though you being here or something."

"Really? So how'd you get her to go to sleep?"

"I had to promise her that you'd still be here when she woke up. When I promised not to let you leave without seeing her she finally agreed to take her nap. I was just about to go get her up when you got here." Buffy told Spike. "I guess I'd better go do that now, or she'll never go to sleep tonight at bedtime." Buffy walked around the island toward the door. When she reached the door, Spike stopped her.

"Wait, Love, can I do it?"

"Can you do what?" Buffy asked, turning to face him.

"Can I go wake her up from her nap? Unless you think it would scare her for someone different to wake her."

"No, I don't think it would scare her. If you really want to do it, you can."

Spike beamed with a genuine, happy smile that Buffy had rarely seen on his face. As he made his way down the hall toward the stairs, Buffy called after him "Just a warning, Spike… she's not really a 'morning' person."

"Neither am I, pet, neither am I" he called back, before running up the stairs.

+ + + + + + +

Spike peeked into Maggie's room and tried to be as quiet as he could be as he went into her room. He watched her sleep for a minute. Spike thought back to his first impression of her when he found her the day before, he's thought she looked like an angel. And he thought she surely looked like a little angel when she slept. So peaceful and pretty, without the slightest hint that she had a worry in the world.

He sat down on the edge of her bed, and leaned over to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. Maggie's hand came up to swat at her forehead, trying knock away what ever was bothering her in her sleep. "Maggie… it's time to wake up" he cooed softly.

Spike watched as her eyes fluttered open and she squinted to look at him.

Suddenly she opened her eyes all the way and a smile spread across her face as her eyes started to twinkle. "Will-yum!" She jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck in a huge hug. Spike hugged her back "Mommy promised that you would be here when I woke up. Did she tell you that you were in my dream?" she asked.

"No, she didn't. Why don't you tell me what happened."

Maggie told him about her dream and how he saved her from the monsters. Then she went on to tell him about her picnic at the park and everything she'd done that day. Spike just sat there, holding her in his lap and smiling at all of the things she thought of to tell him. She finally ran out of things to tell him about and laid her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad you came back, Will-yum. Will you tell me a story later? And can we color pictures and watch tv?"

"Well, Bit, we'll see what your Mum says about all of that. But now we need to go downstairs, because she'll start to worry about us if we don't get down there soon. And, I think you might find a surprise with your name on it in the kitchen."

Maggie's eyes lit up as Spike swooped her up in his arms to take her downstairs. As they went into the kitchen, Maggie spotted the flowers on the counter. "You brought my Mommy flowers," she said to him.

Spike reached out with one hand and grabbed the small bouquet. "Yes, I did, but not these. These are for you," he said as he handed her the flowers tied with the purple ribbon. She tightened her arms around him again.

"Thank you Will-yum." She turned to look at Buffy. "Mommy, did you see? He brought me flowers and they are purple. I love purple!" she exclaimed.

"I know baby. William is a very nice friend to bring you such a sweet surprise. Do you want to watch some TV with him while Mommy finishes dinner?" She could tell by the look on Spike's face that he didn't mind, although she would have to make sure he didn't try to let their 5 year old watch Passions.

The two retreated to the living room to watch tv while Buffy stayed in the kitchen, preparing dinner. A little while later, they heard a crash in the kitchen, followed by a loud "Spike, help!"

Spike told Maggie to stay where she was, as he ran into the kitchen to see what Buffy was yelling about. Spike found her standing over the sink, clutching a dish cloth in her hand. There was a large knife laying in the sink, and blood was dripping from her hand. "Good Lord, pet, what did you do?" He asked as he unwrapped her hand and wiped up some of the blood dripping down her fingers.

Tears started to leak from Buffy's eyes and she told him "I was just slicing some lemons, and the knife slipped and I cut my hand. It really hurts, Spike."

"I'm sure it does, pet. You probably got lemon juice in it. But I don't think it's as bad as you think it is… here, look at it" he told her as he turned on the faucet to wash out her cut. Once the blood washed away she could see that it really was only a tiny cut, one that with a band-aid would probably heal over night. The sound of little feet made them turn their attention to Maggie as she entered the kitchen.

"Mommy, why did you call Will-yum Spike?" the child asked, not being phased a bit by the blood on the towel that Buffy still held onto.

"Um, because that's kind of his nickname, sweetie. You know, like Auntie Dawn calls you Lil'Bit. When we were friends a long time ago I called him Spike." Buffy explained.

"But *why *?" Maggie asked again.

Buffy looked at Spike, knowing that she couldn't tell her the real reason his name was Spike. Spike decided to intervene. "Well, Bit, see how my hair is kind of spikey? Well, it was like that way before you were born, too, and some people just started calling me Spike because of it."

"Oh." She said, and frowned a little. "I thought you called him Spike because he had spikey teeth, like the count has. You do have them, don't you? Can I see them?" she asked innocently.

Buffy paled, and Spike lost what little color he had to begin with. Buffy looked from Spike to Maggie, not really sure what to say. Finally, she croaked out "Maggie, what are you talking about? What kind of a question is that?"

Maggie looked like she might cry as tears welled up in her eyes. She didn't know she'd said anything wrong, so she said "I'm sorry Mommy. I thought all vampires had fangy teeth like the Count. Will-yum's not a vampire like the Count?"

Buffy and Spike's eyes flew wide as they contemplated how to answer this most observant question from their daughter.

TBC… (Hopefully tomorrow) :)