Chapter 23

I woke up to another phone call. I groaned and leaned over to pick up the phone

"Hello, who's this?"

"Your baby's daddy" Spike said smiling

"Oh, Jeremy, I was wondering when you were going to call"

"Har de har har, very funny, luv" he replied

"I thought so," I said sitting up in bed. "I've missed you so much" I went on, pouting.

"Missed you too baby"

"I really missed that sexy body of yours," I told him flirtatiously.

"Read my mind. And those sexy comments are nothing?"

"They're just a bonus," I told him playfully.

"Well, I myself have been spending quality time with my shower" he informed me

"I know your pain baby, "I giggled.

"Ugh, all day I had to clean. Faith really should have hired someone.

"Speaking of Faith," I cut in "How is she?"

"Well... um" he hesitated

"Spit it out Spike," I ordered.

"Well, firstly, she and Darla are scratching each others eyes out, Glory keeps threatening to kill them both and she keeps hitting on me"

That pissed Buffy off "Go Darla," she said with mild enthusiasm "I hope she does scratch her eyes out.

"Yep, but don't worry, I'm all yours baby. Darla and Glory have been making sure of that," he told her with a laugh.

"And how is that?"

"It's weird. You'd think they were demons, the practically maul anyone who comes within 5 feet of me.

Buffy couldn't help the laugh that escaped "Well they are my girls."

"They sure are"

Spike paused for a brief moment. "What are you doing today?" he finally asked.

"Well" I started "I planned on looking for a job today. In a few, I'll get the paper and search for something"

"That's good"

"Yep, I hope I end up getting one soon. How did you end up becoming a policeman?" she questioned.

Spike thought for a second. "When I was younger, I started dating this girl named Dru. Well she was a basket case. A badass. The fear of every boy's mother. She took a fancy to me and she took me under her wing. She had so much control over me. I could be having sex with someone and she would just snap her fingers and I would run to her. We started breaking the law. Basically doing stupid things. We smoked pot, committed minor felonies. Well, one night we got very drunk, and we went driving..." Spike paused; taking a deep breath to settle his nerves before going on, I could tell this was getting emotional.

"Spike, you don't have to go on" I wanted to give him an opening to quit. To not say anything else but he didn't take it.

"When we were driving, a van came out in front of us. And I didn't hit the brake soon enough. There was a woman and her son in the car. The kid was only five years old and the mother almost died."

I could hear tears flowing from the other end and my own eyes started to water.

"She pulled through" he continued "but it hit me that because I decided to drink and drive I could have caused this little kid to grow up without a mother. My mother died only a few years ago and that was hard enough on me. Think about how that kid would have felt knowing his mother might have died because someone decided to take a little drive. That was enough for me to dump Dru and train as a police officer. For me, it's a road of redemption."

We both were silent. Until Spike was the one to break it

"I love you Buffy. More than anything"

"I know baby, I love you so much," I cooed soothingly to him. I think he just needed a comforting word after reliving that memory.

After I finished talking with Spike, I went to get a paper. After getting back I ended up circling three ads. One was a drafting job. My mom did that and she had taught me. I could work from home and make about two hundred dollars per draft. The second job was as a waitress, like at a restaurant I worked at before. The last was a teacher's aid. I figured that drafting would be a fine job for now.

I walked into the brick building with confidence; walking through the double doors. The first thing I saw were a lot of tiny little desks and people working away at their tasks. I walked up to the secretary and asked

"Where can I see the boss?"

I didn't really know what to call him, so I guess 'boss' would be a good enough term. The secretary pointed down the hall "Third door on the left"

I smiled and thanked her before heading down the hall. I came to a stop at the door and knocked.

"Come in" called the person from the other side of the door. I opened the door and there sat an older man in his 50's. "May I help you?" he asked turning to me.

"I um, I saw your ad in the paper and I wanted to see about the job."

He motioned for me to sit in the chair in front of him. I did and he started to talk about the position.

"Why do you want this job? I mean this specific job."

I thought for a minute before answering, "well, my mother before she died, she taught me how to draft, because she used to do it for a living. I liked how I could do it from home because I'm pregnant and I think it'd be easier on me and on you."

I hoped he's like the answer I provided.

"What's your name?" he asked, realising he hadn't yet asked me.

"Buffy Summers" I answered proudly.

"Well Buffy Summers, I like you. You've got the job. In a few days I'll send you your first project as an audition."

I smiled and shook his hand "Thank you so much" so happy that not only had I gotten a job, but that I could work from home.

A/N: I know, a short chapter and I'm sorry but... and yes there is a but, this chapter was a huge influence that is a while away. Darla