Chapter 30.
Spike didn't return that night, she hadn't expected him to really, and to be honest she didn't really mind. She loved the way he was with his daughter, so protective, just as he was with her. She was his whole world, Buffy knew that, but she also knew that she came a close second, and at the end of the day that was good enough for her. She pulled the covers over herself and slipped into a dreamy sleep.
She awoke to the sound of her name being called.
"Buffy, Buffy," Molly bounced on the bed a few times, finally rousing the sleeping blonde.
Buffy rubbed at her eyes, and rolled over, trying to work out exactly where she was.
"Buffy!"
She shot around, remembering she had slept in Dawns room.
"Mmm Hi Molly," she slurred, "What's up?"
Molly continued to bounce on the bed, which juggled Buffy's brain in her head.
"Can I have some juice, Daddy won't wake up!" She asked. Buffy smiled, she knew what Spike was like, he could sleep through an earthquake literally. She pulled back the covers, thankful that she had gotten into her pyjamas after he had left her.
"Sure thing Molly, come on, let's get you sorted out," she smiled, taking hold of the little girls hand and leading her into the kitchen.
She could hear Spike's soft snoring coming from the bedroom and smiled, pulling the door closed so that he wouldn't be disturbed. There was no sign of movement from Faith's room either, and Molly was obviously up for the day, so after fixing her juice they went and sat in the living room.
"You wanna watch some cartoons?" Buffy asked, turning the TV on and searching for a kiddie's channel. Molly bounced up and down on the sofa, so Buffy took this as a yes. 'Do all children bounce this much?' she wondered as they settled down to watch Pooh Bear and Tigger. She must have dozed off again, because she was awoken again by banging on the door. She stood up and shook her head, trying to remove the cotton wool feeling that had taken residence there. Molly was still next to her, transfixed by whatever it was she had found to watch. Buffy dragged her feet as she slowly wandered to the front door. 'What sort of person comes knocking here, at 8am on a Saturday' she moaned quietly.
She pulled open the door, to be nearly knocked off her feet by Willow. "Hi Buffy! Did you miss us? I hear you and Spike are all loved up? What else did we miss? Come on give us the news!" Willow bombarded the sleepy blonde with questions, so fast she thought her brain was going to explode. She stared back with a dumbfounded look on her face.
It was then Willow noticed the gash on her head. No one had even thought to tell them what had happened, it had sort of slipped their minds.
"Buffy what happened to your head?" She asked as they entered the living room.
"It's a long story Will, a very long story, but I'll tell you about it when my brain wakes up, promise."
Willow looked on, concerned. It was then Molly chose to poke her head over the back of the couch.
"Hello, I'm Molly, I like your hair, it's red!" She grinned, before returning to watching her cartoon.
Faith had been woken by the banging on the door too, and sent Gunn to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. He entered the living room in just his boxers, coming face to face with Willow. He offered a quiet 'hello' before hurriedly making his way to the kitchen.
Buffy could do nothing but laugh, she didn't think she had ever seen Willow look quite so confused, ever.
"Willow, this is Molly, Spike's daughter.Molly this is my friend Willow, and her friend Tara." Buffy thought maybe the best way to start was with introductions. However Willow still stood like a goldfish, mouth open, with a dazed look on her face.
"Spike has a daughter?" She asked.
Buffy nodded, and as Gunn tried to sneak back through she decided it was his turn too.
"Willow this is Gunn, Faith's Boyfriend, Gunn this is Willow and Tara." Gunn nodded and scurried back to Faith.
"Faith has a boyfriend!!!"
Buffy couldn't help but laugh, it was more unbelievable to Willow for Faith to have a boyfriend.
"So Spike is."
" In my bedroom," Buffy interrupted. Willow nodded her head, taking in the information.
"And Dawn?"
"Dawn is at her boyfriend's house having sex," Buffy continued.
"Oh boy, I gotta sit down," Willow leant back on the couch.
Only a week had passed, but so much had happened, and Buffy seemed to be taking it all in her stride. Willow was impressed, even if very confused.
"Ok Buffy, did we just walk back into some weird alternate reality or something?" She laughed.
"You know what Wills, that would explain a lot, it really would!"
She let the girls settle in, before filling them in on the intricate details of the week's affairs. Needless to say both girls were shocked and upset by what they heard.
"Is she ok, Molly I mean?" Tara asked.
Buffy nodded, "She seems to be coping pretty well, it's hard to tell though, and the doctor said she may just be blocking it all out in her head."
"Or maybe she didn't feel safe before, and now she does," Willow added.
Buffy secretly hoped this was the case, she anticipated that the little girl was coping so well, because she was happier with her and Spike, but she knew that this probably wasn't the case. They had some difficult months ahead of them, she wasn't afraid to admit that.
Spike finally roused from his deep sleep around midday. He wandered sluggishly into the living room in just his boxers and a t-shirt, stretching his arms above his head. Molly jumped up from the sofa and ran to hug him, he picked her up giving her a big squeeze.
"Morning Daddy!" She squeaked.
"Morning pumpkin," he replied, hugging her tight.
Buffy coughed to attract his attention and his head flew up, to see Willow and Tara staring back.
"Um, just gonna go get more.decent!" He smirked, before leaving the room, returning moments later fully dressed.
He sat onto the couch and was immediately pounced on by his daughter.
"Daddy, Buffy and Tara and.. red hair lady are gonna take me to see Santa!" She grinned.
"Is that right," he smiled back, "well then you are a lucky girl aren't you!" He turned to Buffy.
"Are you ok taking her yourself, I should probably get to work and close everything up, we kinda left everything unfinished didn't we."
He was interrupted as Faith slipped into the room.
"It's all sorted, after you guys were done at the hospital I went over. I picked up everyone's numbers and told them they didn't need to come in till after New Year. Security is all sorted, and I posted all the mail." She beamed at the two stunned workmates, before skipping to the kitchen to get a coffee.
"Did she just skip?" Willow almost fell off the chair in hysterics. "Come on, where's Faith? What have you done with her?" She joked.
Buffy leant back into Spike, "I guess that means you can come and see Santa after all then!"
He scrunched his face up in a 'do I hafta' kind of way, and was about to speak when Molly butted in.
"Uncle Gunn is coming, aren't you?" She said, staring at him. He shuffled on his feet.
"Sure he is," Faith said, handing him a cup of coffee, "I need to see if he has been a good boy!" She pinched his ass before returning to her room to dress.
"Yay!" Molly exclaimed, jumping around the room.
"Well if I have to do this then you better call Nibblet and Xander and his bird, cos if I am doing Santa's grotto we all are!"
Buffy made the calls and Spike made himself some breakfast. Willow and Tara retreated to their bedroom for a while to rest after their journey. Spike came back into the living room to find Faith braiding Molly's hair, and putting red and green tinsel in the ends.
"Hey you make a wicked elf!" She laughed.
He turned to Buffy. "She's been abducted by aliens hasn't she!"
Molly jumped down off Faith's lap.
"I'm ready, let's go!"
He couldn't argue with that, nobody could. They collected their bags and headed out to the mall, each marvelling at how one little girl could make Christmas real.
Spike didn't return that night, she hadn't expected him to really, and to be honest she didn't really mind. She loved the way he was with his daughter, so protective, just as he was with her. She was his whole world, Buffy knew that, but she also knew that she came a close second, and at the end of the day that was good enough for her. She pulled the covers over herself and slipped into a dreamy sleep.
She awoke to the sound of her name being called.
"Buffy, Buffy," Molly bounced on the bed a few times, finally rousing the sleeping blonde.
Buffy rubbed at her eyes, and rolled over, trying to work out exactly where she was.
"Buffy!"
She shot around, remembering she had slept in Dawns room.
"Mmm Hi Molly," she slurred, "What's up?"
Molly continued to bounce on the bed, which juggled Buffy's brain in her head.
"Can I have some juice, Daddy won't wake up!" She asked. Buffy smiled, she knew what Spike was like, he could sleep through an earthquake literally. She pulled back the covers, thankful that she had gotten into her pyjamas after he had left her.
"Sure thing Molly, come on, let's get you sorted out," she smiled, taking hold of the little girls hand and leading her into the kitchen.
She could hear Spike's soft snoring coming from the bedroom and smiled, pulling the door closed so that he wouldn't be disturbed. There was no sign of movement from Faith's room either, and Molly was obviously up for the day, so after fixing her juice they went and sat in the living room.
"You wanna watch some cartoons?" Buffy asked, turning the TV on and searching for a kiddie's channel. Molly bounced up and down on the sofa, so Buffy took this as a yes. 'Do all children bounce this much?' she wondered as they settled down to watch Pooh Bear and Tigger. She must have dozed off again, because she was awoken again by banging on the door. She stood up and shook her head, trying to remove the cotton wool feeling that had taken residence there. Molly was still next to her, transfixed by whatever it was she had found to watch. Buffy dragged her feet as she slowly wandered to the front door. 'What sort of person comes knocking here, at 8am on a Saturday' she moaned quietly.
She pulled open the door, to be nearly knocked off her feet by Willow. "Hi Buffy! Did you miss us? I hear you and Spike are all loved up? What else did we miss? Come on give us the news!" Willow bombarded the sleepy blonde with questions, so fast she thought her brain was going to explode. She stared back with a dumbfounded look on her face.
It was then Willow noticed the gash on her head. No one had even thought to tell them what had happened, it had sort of slipped their minds.
"Buffy what happened to your head?" She asked as they entered the living room.
"It's a long story Will, a very long story, but I'll tell you about it when my brain wakes up, promise."
Willow looked on, concerned. It was then Molly chose to poke her head over the back of the couch.
"Hello, I'm Molly, I like your hair, it's red!" She grinned, before returning to watching her cartoon.
Faith had been woken by the banging on the door too, and sent Gunn to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. He entered the living room in just his boxers, coming face to face with Willow. He offered a quiet 'hello' before hurriedly making his way to the kitchen.
Buffy could do nothing but laugh, she didn't think she had ever seen Willow look quite so confused, ever.
"Willow, this is Molly, Spike's daughter.Molly this is my friend Willow, and her friend Tara." Buffy thought maybe the best way to start was with introductions. However Willow still stood like a goldfish, mouth open, with a dazed look on her face.
"Spike has a daughter?" She asked.
Buffy nodded, and as Gunn tried to sneak back through she decided it was his turn too.
"Willow this is Gunn, Faith's Boyfriend, Gunn this is Willow and Tara." Gunn nodded and scurried back to Faith.
"Faith has a boyfriend!!!"
Buffy couldn't help but laugh, it was more unbelievable to Willow for Faith to have a boyfriend.
"So Spike is."
" In my bedroom," Buffy interrupted. Willow nodded her head, taking in the information.
"And Dawn?"
"Dawn is at her boyfriend's house having sex," Buffy continued.
"Oh boy, I gotta sit down," Willow leant back on the couch.
Only a week had passed, but so much had happened, and Buffy seemed to be taking it all in her stride. Willow was impressed, even if very confused.
"Ok Buffy, did we just walk back into some weird alternate reality or something?" She laughed.
"You know what Wills, that would explain a lot, it really would!"
She let the girls settle in, before filling them in on the intricate details of the week's affairs. Needless to say both girls were shocked and upset by what they heard.
"Is she ok, Molly I mean?" Tara asked.
Buffy nodded, "She seems to be coping pretty well, it's hard to tell though, and the doctor said she may just be blocking it all out in her head."
"Or maybe she didn't feel safe before, and now she does," Willow added.
Buffy secretly hoped this was the case, she anticipated that the little girl was coping so well, because she was happier with her and Spike, but she knew that this probably wasn't the case. They had some difficult months ahead of them, she wasn't afraid to admit that.
Spike finally roused from his deep sleep around midday. He wandered sluggishly into the living room in just his boxers and a t-shirt, stretching his arms above his head. Molly jumped up from the sofa and ran to hug him, he picked her up giving her a big squeeze.
"Morning Daddy!" She squeaked.
"Morning pumpkin," he replied, hugging her tight.
Buffy coughed to attract his attention and his head flew up, to see Willow and Tara staring back.
"Um, just gonna go get more.decent!" He smirked, before leaving the room, returning moments later fully dressed.
He sat onto the couch and was immediately pounced on by his daughter.
"Daddy, Buffy and Tara and.. red hair lady are gonna take me to see Santa!" She grinned.
"Is that right," he smiled back, "well then you are a lucky girl aren't you!" He turned to Buffy.
"Are you ok taking her yourself, I should probably get to work and close everything up, we kinda left everything unfinished didn't we."
He was interrupted as Faith slipped into the room.
"It's all sorted, after you guys were done at the hospital I went over. I picked up everyone's numbers and told them they didn't need to come in till after New Year. Security is all sorted, and I posted all the mail." She beamed at the two stunned workmates, before skipping to the kitchen to get a coffee.
"Did she just skip?" Willow almost fell off the chair in hysterics. "Come on, where's Faith? What have you done with her?" She joked.
Buffy leant back into Spike, "I guess that means you can come and see Santa after all then!"
He scrunched his face up in a 'do I hafta' kind of way, and was about to speak when Molly butted in.
"Uncle Gunn is coming, aren't you?" She said, staring at him. He shuffled on his feet.
"Sure he is," Faith said, handing him a cup of coffee, "I need to see if he has been a good boy!" She pinched his ass before returning to her room to dress.
"Yay!" Molly exclaimed, jumping around the room.
"Well if I have to do this then you better call Nibblet and Xander and his bird, cos if I am doing Santa's grotto we all are!"
Buffy made the calls and Spike made himself some breakfast. Willow and Tara retreated to their bedroom for a while to rest after their journey. Spike came back into the living room to find Faith braiding Molly's hair, and putting red and green tinsel in the ends.
"Hey you make a wicked elf!" She laughed.
He turned to Buffy. "She's been abducted by aliens hasn't she!"
Molly jumped down off Faith's lap.
"I'm ready, let's go!"
He couldn't argue with that, nobody could. They collected their bags and headed out to the mall, each marvelling at how one little girl could make Christmas real.