1630 Revello Drive
"Angel?" Dawn called out softly. Angel entered the hall from the kitchen and stopped when he spotted Spike. "Spike." He said calmly. "Angel." The blonde replied. "Is Will asleep?" Dawn asked her brother-in-law. "Yeah." "Any problems?" "A few. He was still pretty upset when you left. Didn't want to go to sleep. He wanted to wait for you to get back from patrol." He told her. "I'll just go up and check on him. I'll be right back." She said as she headed to the kid's room. "Mommy." William said as he shook is mother. "Mommy."
Dawn opened her eyes and saw her son. "What's wrong honey?" She asked. "Why are you crying?" She asked sitting up and pulling him onto her lap.
"I."
"Shh. Honey whisper." She told him remembering Spike who was sleeping next to her. "Now tell me what happened?"
"I dreamed of daddy. He was alive and we were a family." He said crying.
"Shh." She whispered as she tried to calm him but failing as tears of her own flowed freely down her cheeks.
"Why'd he leave, mommy? I miss him. I want my daddy back." He cried.
Dawn pulled his head to her chest as he cried. She kissed his head as she too cried over the lost of her best friend, the father of her child.
Spike had woken up at the sound of the door opening but remained quiet. When he heard the young boys words of sadness followed by cried. He sat up and noticed Dawn cry8ing too and his heart broke. * What'd she do to earn this kind of pain? * He wondered. Spike shifted closer to her and pulled Dawn to him and held her as she and her son cried.
Soon after Will fell asleep, Dawn laid her son on the bed and moved closer to Spike. She looked him in the eyes "Thank you Spike." She said and turned back to her soon. Spike laid back down and held Dawn as she held her son. Dawn returned five minutes later and found Angel and Spike sitting in the living room.
"Was he asleep?" Angel asked when he noticed her.
"No. He had another dream about John." She told him sitting next to Spike on the couch.
"He will for a while. Remember what we went through with Joyce?"
"Yeah but it's different. At least Joyce got to see you and Buffy together. At least she got to see her everyday."
"I know. It'll be okay though. We'll get through this together. Just like we get through everything else." He said giving her a smile.
"I know. Thanks." She turned to Spike. "So what you been up to?"
"Well after I left I went to Africa. Went there with the intentions of getting my chip out, come back here and killing the slayer for making me fall in love with her. Things didn't exactly work out that way."
"What happened?" Dawn asked.
"I got a soul." He stated.
Dawn and Angel just stared at him in shock. "You what?" Dawn asked.
"Got a soul." He looked at Angel. "You should have warned me. You played it off real well. Acting like everything was okay. Like it wasn't painful. You made it look easy. It's not." He said nearly in tears. "You're my grandsire. You should have warned me."
"I'm sorry Spike. I didn't.. Why? How did it happen?" Angel asked still reeling from the news.
"Damn demon says that, that's what I wanted. That I've wanted my soul. I just didn't know. After that I went crazy. Literally. I'm pretty sure Dru would have thought I was the crazy one." He stopped. "I wanted to come back. Apologize to Buffy. Try to make it right. I couldn't. The guilt was to overwhelming. I, there were days I wanted to kiss the sun. I didn't because that would have been to easy for me. I didn't deserve to go out like that." He told them.
"Why'd you come back?" Dawn asked him.
"Figured it was time to be a man and apologize. Besides I missed you lil bit." He said the last part with a smile.
Dawn reached over and took his hand in hers. "She knew you were sorry."
"I should go. I need to find a place to stay for the day." He said standing up.
"Why don't you stay here?" Dawn suggested standing up.
"Are you sure?" Spike asked looking at Angel.
"Yeah." Angel replied.
"Okay."
"You can sleep upstairs with me." Dawn told him.
Angel looked as though he was going to protest but one look at Dawn's face and he knew arguing would get him no where. "I'm going to sleep. Good night Dawn." He said giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Night Spike." He said nodding to his ex-childer.
"Night Angel." Dawn said.
"Night." Spike replied with a nod. As he watched his ex- grandsire climb the steps.
"Come on Spike." Dawn said moving up the stairs to her room.
Dawn's Room
Dawn entered her room and grabbed her clothes, then turned to Spike. "I'll be right back. Get comfy." She said as she headed out of the room.
When Dawn re-entered her room she spotted Spike sitting on her bed shirtless. * Still gorgeous as ever. * She thought to herself.
Spike looked up when he heard Dawn enter. She was dressed in a pair of gray shorts and a white tank top that read '10% Angel, 90% devil'. * She's so beautiful. God how she's grown. * He thought to himself.
Dawn moved into the room and sat next to Spike on the bed. "Tired?"
"Yeah better get some sleep." He said getting off the bed. "Hand me a pillow bit. I'll sleep on the floor."
"No Spike. You can sleep with me in my bed." She told him. "Now come on, I'm tired."
Spike climbed into the bed with her and they both fell into the most peaceful sleep either had had in a long time.