He looked into her eyes seriously and swallowed hard. "Kitten? You know there's no going back now, right?"

"I know," she said softly.

"That's good because if you were to..."

She silenced him with a finger to his lips.

"Shh... Spike... I want you... Now!" she whispered seductively.

"Buffy could we?... Um... Can I just hold you tonight?" he looked at her seriously.

"Of course, there's always time for... the other thing later," She told him, a little confused. Doesn't he want me?

As if reading her thoughts he replied "It's not that I don't want to Luv, because God! I sure as hell do! It's just... I want to hold you and the baby. I want us all to be together tonight... I want to be with my family," he told her sincerely.

She leaned over to him again and brushed her lips against his in a chaste kiss. He lay down and pulled her into his arms with their daughter nestled comfortably between them. Spike trailed his fingers up and down Buffy's arm and she idly drew patterns on his chest through the fabric of his shirt.

"Don't you want to take off your shirt and get more comfortable?" she asked.

He reluctantly broke the contact with her and the baby, while he pulled his black t-shirt over his head. He lay back down and snuggled back into Buffy's arms. He kissed his daughter on the forehead gently.

"I love you so much," he told her. "You're the most precious thing in the world to me."

"Hey! What about me?" Buffy teased him.

"Oh you too Kitten!" he kissed her on the top of the head as well. "I love you, Buffy."

"I love you too Spike."

He didn't think that he'd ever get tired of hearing her say that. He held his girls tightly and watched over them as they slept. He was woken up at seven am by his daughter screaming at the top of her lungs. He had only managed to get two hours sleep.

"Bloody..." he muttered.

He promptly received a sharp smack on the head from Buffy.

"No swearing in front of your daughter!"

Spike awoke fully with a jolt and looked happily at Buffy and his baby.

"My daughter? It wasn't a dream?" he asked with joy.

Buffy laughed "No Spike, it wasn't a dream."

He sat up and pulled Buffy, who was now feeding the baby, onto his lap. He watched with wonder.

"Does it hurt?" he asked curiously.

"What? Oh. Not much, sometimes," she said, concentrating on the baby.

She finished feeding.

"So what are we going to name her? I didn't want to pick a name without you, in case you didn't like it," she told him.

"Thanks Kitten, but I'm sure I would've liked whatever you picked out."

"Yeah, but now we can pick it out together."

He smiled. "Ok Luv! Let's pick a name," he said happily.

He lay back, so he was half lying down, propped up by the pillow. He moved Buffy next to him and placed the baby on his chest. She waved her arms about excitedly.

"How about Doris?" he said teasingly.

"Ugh! What an ugly name!" Buffy said. "Does she look like a Doris to you?"

"Not really Kitten, but you don't really look like a Buffy..." He moved quickly to avoid another smack to his head.

"OK Spike, be serious now."

"Alright. Um... Let's see... er... Jess?"

"No."

"Emily?"

"No."

"Sasha?"

"No."

"Rebecca?"

"No."

"Joanna?"

"No."

"Kerry?"

"No."

"Lucy?"

"Ick! No!"

"Ok Luv I was joking with that last one... How about Anne? It's your middle name and my mum's name."

"Anne... I like it!" she said thoughtfully. "She looks like an Anne."

They both looked at Anne who was wriggling around happily whilst lying on her daddy's chest.

"That she does, Kitten."

Spike lounged on the bed watching Buffy get dressed.

"What you doing today, Kitten?" he asked, not really wanting her to go anywhere without him.

"I need to go shopping to get Anne some new clothes," she said.

"Oh," he said, a little disappointed that they couldn't spend the day together.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, sitting down next to him on her bed.

"No Pet... It's just... I want to go with you, but I can't. I can't take Anne to the beach, or go with her on her first day of school or follow her on her first date... If it's during the day anyway, which it will be because she'll have to be home by five... I can't do anything," he said sadly.

"Honey! That's not true. You'll be able to do the things that matter to her the most." She stroked his hair softly.

"I just want to be with you both." He buried his face in her neck and cuddled into her side.

After a while, she reluctantly stood up and finished getting dressed, and went into the bathroom leaving Spike to dress Anne. He dressed her in a lilac babygro and put little baby socks and trainers on her feet. When he was finished he felt quite proud of himself.

"There you are baby! Daddy dressed you."

She put her fingers into her mouth and sucked them.

"Now let's go see what's taking Mummy so long."

He carried her into the bathroom where Buffy was just finishing applying her mascara.

"Come on Pet! We thought you'd fallen down the loo or something" he came up behind her, wrapping his free arm round her waist.

She jumped, having not been able to see him in the mirror "Spike! Don't do that! You made me smudge my mascara!"

"Sorry Luv," he apologised. "Look what I did!" he held up his daughter proudly.

"Er... Yes Spike. I guess you did make her..." she said, confused.

"I dressed her, you silly bint!" he laughed.

"Oh! Congratulations," she smiled at him and gave Anne a once-over. "A good job you did too! Except... you put her shoes on the wrong feet."

"Oh! Bloody hell! Give a bloke a chance would you? I've only been a dad for a day!" he exclaimed in frustration.

Buffy covered her mouth with her hand and tried not to laugh. "Aw! Sweetie, you'll get the hang of it."

"I'm left handed," he defended himself. "I got confused!"

"Hmm... I think all that bleach has gone to your head," she gave him a wink. "Buffy, I was thinking."

"That's never good!" she teased.

"Ha bloody ha! No I was thinking that Dawn might feel out of the loop when she finds out that we're back together and have named the baby."

"Yeah. What do you suggest we do?" Buffy asked worriedly.

"Well... Why don't we let her pick Anne's middle name?"

"That's a great idea! good thinking!"

"You don't only love me for my great body," he smirked at her.

"Full of yourself much?" That evening, Buffy carried Anne and her purchases into the house, kissed Spike, who was engrossed in the TV, on the top of his head, took Anne upstairs for a nap and put away her new things.

"Buffy! I'm home!" Dawn called from downstairs.

Buffy went downstairs to greet her sister. "Hey Dawnie! How was the sleepover?" she asked cheerfully.

"Woah! What have you done with my sister? She's usually so miserable," Dawn teased.

"Dawnie, there's a lot I have to tell you..." Buffy started.

Passions finished and Spike walked into the kitchen.

"Hello all."

"Spike!" Dawn exclaimed and went to hug him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well... You see... he sort of lives here now, so he can be with his family," Buffy explained hurriedly, looking at her sister to gauge her reaction.

"Really? Does that mean you told him about...?"

Buffy nodded happily. "I told him that the baby is his, ours."

"And you guys worked things out? You're back together?" Dawn asked excitedly.

"Yes Nibblet," Spike said, pleased that she was happy about this.

Dawn squealed. "Oh my god! This is so cool! I love you guys." She wrapped them both in a big hug. "This means we can all sit down and pick a name for the baby!"

"Well... actually Dawn, we already picked a name for her," Buffy said.

"Oh... OK. What did you pick?" Dawn asked, sounding disappointed.

"We named her Anne, after my mum and it's Buffy's middle name, so we thought it'd fit," Spike told her.

"Anne...I like it." Dawn was upset that they hadn't waited for her to choose a name for the baby. "What's her middle name?" she inquired.

"Well, as you didn't get a chance to help us pick out the first name, we decided that you could choose the middle name," Buffy smiled, knowing that her sister would be thrilled at this suggestion.

She didn't disappoint.

Dawn squealed again "Really! Yay! Yut give me some time to think about it, I want to pick the perfect name. It needs to suit her."

"Ok Sweetie. Do you guys want to order pizza and watch a movie tonight like we used to?" Buffy asked.

"Sounds fun." Dawn agreed. "Let me just dump my stuff upstairs first."