Part 6: Once Upon a Time
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"Tell me a story, dad."
"What you wanna hear?" Spike asked as he tucked his son in, good and tight.
Alex shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno, tell me a story about you and mommy."
Alex never grew tired of his dad's stories, especially, when it was about his parents. After all, who didn't love stories with evil bad guys, heroic good guys, monsters, vampires, mystical beings, battles, heroes, witches, and most especially, the Slayer Queen and the Vampire Champion, fighting by her side? Alex loved the fact that his parents were heroes.
"Hmm... okay then, but first, take a sip of this purple potion that your mum and I got just for you."
"What'll it do?" Alex asked. He was just about to wipe his runny nose with the back of his hand, but his dad got to it first.
Spike held out a tissue to Alex's nose. "Blow." When Alex finished blowing, he explained. "This'll make you feel better and rest easy."
"What's it called?"
"Dime-a-tap," Spike said, sounding out the syllables.
"Uohh..." Alex's eyes widened. "Sounds like magic."
"Tastes like too. Now, open up."
"Hmm taste like grapes." Alex licked his lips after he sipped the medication. "Oh, must be magic grapes!" Alex's exclaimed.
Spike chucked as he put the teaspoon on the bedside table. Then he sat himself on the side of the bed to lean on the headboard. "So, let's see… what's a good story? Oh, I got just the one, right perfect for the battle we have to face today."
"Why's that?"
"Well, this is a story of when I got married to your mum. As you already know from other stories, the journey to get there was very long; and the most difficult I ever faced. And let me tell you, it was painful in more ways imaginable-"
"But when Mommy learneded that she loved you, it got easier, right?"
Spike chuckled. "That's learned," he corrected. "And that it did. So yes, it got easier. When your mum said 'I do,' it was the greatest, most happiest and sweetest victory conceivable."
"Wow! How 'bout... how-abou' when you fought Uncle Angel, and and won him daddy? Happier than that?" Alex's eyes grew wide with curiosity.
Spike went to tickle him, and laughed along with him as Alex giggled from torture. Spike couldn't believe the things that his boy said. "Well, I didn't 'win' your Uncle Angel, but I did win the fight." Spike grinned at the memory of beating Angel to the cup. "And yes, my boy, marrying your mum made me, by far, happier."
"Like, how much?" Alex asked as his giggles calmed down.
"Like, this much," Spike said, as he stretched his arms out as wide as it could go. "And then some."
"Wowww!" Alex said in awe.
Then the phone rang.
"Be right back, it's probably your mum."
"'Kay dad."
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"'Lo? ... Hey, baby...We're fine... Yeah ...You wanna talk to him? ... Hmm-mmm, he's getting better. Just telling him a story... hmm-mmm... Yeah, babe? ...'kay... Hold on." Spike held the phone out to Alex so that he could talk to Buffy.
Several yeahs, 'kays, and hmm-mmms, escaped his son's lips as he talked to his mother. It's a wonder how he could pick up words so easily. It seemed like only yesterday he was crawling around the floor and only using monosyllables to express himself. When he saw Alex hold out the phone to him, indicating that he was done talking, Spike grabbed hold of the phone again.
"So, how's things over there?... Really? ... Well, let me know how it goes... Is that Rupert? ... Tell 'em to wait... Yeah, I know... 'kay luv...Love you, too...See you in a few, babe."
When he finished talking, he laid the cordless phone onto the bedside table, not wanting to leave the room. He settled back into his spot, near Alex. "So, where were we?"
"You were telling me about you and mommy."
"Right. Okay, so this wedding happened three and a half years ago," Spike said, 'and two weeks, three days and about ten hours, but who's really counting?' he thought to himself.
"How old was I?"
"You were seven months old then. You just learned to say your first real words not a week before the wedding."
"Really?"
"Hmm-mm, you knew how to say 'dada' and 'mama.'"
"Cool." Alex's eyes lit up.
"So, on with the story then?"
"On with the story." Alex said with a look that said, 'like, what are you waiting for?
Spike chuckled and shook his head. "So, it was still dark out when your mum told me-"
"No, wait dad."
"What... What is it?"
"Tell me the way you tell me like you always do," Alex instructed.
"Oh, right, sorry, I don't know what came over me." Spike took a moment to get settled in. "The day of the wedding was on the third of April. It was spring time then, so the weather was just right. Birds. Bees. The scent of flowers and sunshine was in the air..."
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TBC...