Disclaimer: I only own Buffy's family not including Joyce.

Previously: As Buffy and Spike started to get along, the second wave of Buffy's family has arrived...

(---)

Buffy found Spike was having no trouble controlling the kids. And everyone, except Kevin, seemed to be having a good time with him. This only served to creep her out more. Not wanting another headache, she ignored her thoughts and moved over to scoop Erin off the floor.

"Hey Cupcake!" Buffy said, holding the giggling Erin.

"Hi, Buffy," she replied just as the three other girls pig piled on Spike, pinning him to the ground. Buffy couldn't contain a laugh as he struggled to sit back up. The Slayer knew Spike could easily toss those girls into the walls with a flick of his wrist if he really wanted to. But he seemed to have more fun letting them attack him instead of trying to get them away from him.

Boy, Buffy thought, for someone who complains about kids all the time, he sure does have fun with them. She shifted Erin to her other hip before giving Spike a hand off the floor.

"Thanks Pet," Spike said gratefully.

"I don't know, you looked like you were having fun," Buffy joked, putting Erin back on the floor now that her cousins could play again.

"Yeah, don't let the facial expression fool ya. I really do despise kids," Spike assured her.

"Yeah, right," Buffy replied--leaving him to be attacked by the girls again- -walking over to Kevin.

"So...yeah...you should have fun here," Buffy guaranteed quietly. Kevin looked at her, slightly annoyed.

"Right. What the hell does Sunnydale have that L.A. doesn't?" Kevin asked skeptically.

"Walking Happy Meals," Buffy said automatically, before realizing she'd actually used the phrase Spike had not too long ago.

"What's a 'Walking Happy Meal'?" Kevin asked, turning to Buffy completely and dragging his attention away from Spike.

"Nothing," Buffy quickly said, praying Spike's vampire senses hadn't heard her use one of his references.

"Oh," Kevin replied before reverting his attention to Spike and the girls. The young man's frown increased when Spike picked up his little sister and carried her over to drop onto Buffy's--who had taken a seat on the bed-- lap. If it was possible Kevin's scowl darkened when Buffy and Spike exchanged a smile after passing the child over.

"What's up mate?" a voice said quietly close to his ear. Kevin turned and jumped--discovering Spike was standing behind him.

"N-nothing. How'd you do that?" Kevin asked.

"Do what?" the vampire asked, his mood seemed light.

"Move that fast."

"I'm light on my feet."

"No one can move that fast."

Spike's eyes flashed, as he suddenly didn't like this kid much. There was just something about him--a mix of Angel, Xander, Riley and Giles--all in their hating of the blonde vampire--which Spike didn't trust. Thank god Buffy hadn't told him about the whole vampire thing--that would probably make him hate Spike more.

"Buffy! Spike! Kevin! Girls! Lunch!" Mom's voice just has the ringing thing down today, doesn't it, Buffy thought. Handing Erin over to Kevin before picking up Celia and making sure Spike was okay with carrying Jackie and Sarah again.

Trotting down the stairs was a hell of a lot harder when everyone was worrying about one or more kids falling from their arms while also fearing for their own balance on the narrow steps. At one point Kevin slipped but Buffy's Slayer reflexes grabbed the back of his shirt before he toppled head first down the stairway.

When they reached the bottom, the four girls were squirming to be released from their captors. When Buffy put Celia down, she, her three sisters and Erin all ran down the hall screaming at the top of their very squeaky lungs. Buffy laughed only to hear a low--very sexy--chuckle from behind her. Tossing a look over her shoulder confirmed Spike was extremely close-- again--to the back of her neck. Damn, Buffy thought, doesn't he know about personal space? Not that I completely mind the close proximity! Buffy shook her head, clearing her judgment as she finished the walk to the dinning room, praying that nothing like last night would happen again today.

"Joan," Judy started, "Joyce and I were thinking, maybe you'd like to come to the tree lighting tonight. The festivities start at dark. We could bring the kids."

"Certainly, that sounds like fun," she turned to her parents, "Mom, what'd you say? You wanna see the tree lighting?"

"Joan, she's not two and she not ninety--yet--you don't need to talk to her like she's either," Grandpa Jack said. Joan glared at her father but didn't reply; instead she turned her attention on Buffy and Spike--who'd been exchanging glances throughout Grandpa Jack's reprimand.

"Buffy, you never told us. How did you and Spike meet?" Joan asked, her voice as stuck up as she looked.

"A couple of years ago. Spike helped me with something," Buffy replied, playing with her vegetables.

"He ex was bein a bit of a stalker--so to speak--I helped get rid of him," Spike answered, taking a fleeting look at Buffy before returning his gaze to Joan.

"How awful! And so you stayed here--in Sunnydale--and ended up going to school with her, how romantic," Joan wiggled her eyebrows at Spike. Buffy's head shot up and she looked at Spike, her mouth a gape.

"No, no," Spike tried to confirm, "Buffy and I, we're not, not together. We're just friends."

"If that," Buffy agreed.

"Then why's he staying here, darling?" Joan inquired. Buffy sent a begging look to her mom.

"My dorm's being fumigated," Spike spit out.

"Oh," Joan nodded.

"Yeah. Termites. Nasty buggers," Spike added.

"So, Spike, what classes are you taking at the college?" Uncle Rob asked.

"Not again," Buffy said, covering her eyes.

(--)

Thankfully, the lunch conversation about Spike didn't get very far. Joyce seemed intent on keeping everyone off the topic and onto more Christmas/Holiday stuff. Buffy couldn't thank her mother more. She'd have to find her a really nice gift for Christmas--something special.

She'd already gotten a lot of the presents for her family--she had intended to send via mail to all her relatives--but as fate would have it she wasn't going to have to spend the postage. Yippee! But for her mom and Will, Xander, Anya and Giles, she hadn't even started looking--well, okay, she had gone to look but she'd ended up finding a shoe sale instead.

In fact she found the very same pair she was wearing at that moment at the sale. She wasn't going to even bother with presents for Cordelia or even Angel, since she felt very sure--after her last visit which lasted all of five minutes that were full of tension--that they hadn't thought to send her anything. Too bad, Cordelia would've probably sent her a nice new shirt or something and Angel's presents were usually cool.

She'd been thinking all this while beating the crap out of her punching bag in the basement. Spike was surprised it hadn't split yet. He could tell-- from his seat at the top of the stairs--that Buffy was venting a lot of anger--and he was thankful she wasn't beating him instead of the punching bag.

Things had been increasingly weird for Spike since the cemetery the previous night. And Buffy had been pretty tight-lipped when he brought the topic up earlier. After she hit him in the nose, he'd dropped it. All he wanted was to know if she felt something weird. Something different. He'd tried to help that morning at breakfast. He'd assisted in putting all her clothes away--and she'd only barely hit him when he made that joke about her thong--.

They had shared a smile when they were playing with the kids--Buffy never smiled at him, unless she was threatening him--. And now, instead of physically hurting him she was releasing her anger and frustration on the bag. And that was the thing that got him the most. He thought she liked to beat on him. Thought that was how she got her kicks but apparently not. There something inside Spike that felt surprisingly like disappointment at that thought. No! Spike declared I do not have a problem with the fact that the Slayer no longer needs me to get her kicks. Even though he knew that wasn't true.

"Spike," Buffy said through punches.

"Yeah, Pet," Spike replied, there was no point in hiding from her so he stood up and stretched.

"How about instead of sitting there and watching me like I'm tonight's entrée, you could come and hold the bag for me?" Buffy said landing a spinning kick to the bag and sending it twirling around on its hook.

"Actually, I thought of you more as the appetizer," Spike walked on the opposite side and held the punching bag in place while Buffy continued to kill it.

After a few minutes Spike started to feel the Slayer's strength lessening. She was getting tired.

"Don't work yourself all out, Pet, we've still got patrolling to do, before the tree lighting tonight. Since the bloody thing isn't going to be until midnight," Spike said.

"I'm not tiring myself out. I'm fine," Buffy fibbed.

"Liar. Pet, I can feel it," Spike countered.

"Fine. I'm a little tired but nothing too bad," Buffy snapped, stopping her advancements on the bag.

"Oh, well, if you say so," Spike said sarcastically, "bloody hell, if you're tired then some nasty could take advantage."

"That's why you'll be there," Buffy replied, sitting down on his cot, "to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Right. Excuse me," Spike turned, "I have to find the white hat that I don't wear!" He spun back at her, "I'm not good, Pet. I'm evil and I could careless if you died cause you were bloody exhausted!"

"If I died on your watch, Giles wouldn't be very happy. I doubt he'd let you into his house without a good dusting first. And I don't mean for finger prints," Buffy barked.

"How the bloody hell did I get saddled with you bloody people!" Spike roared--game face in place--skyward, "I should've just stayed away from Sunnydale! Bloody Hell!"

"That's right! And I should've staked you when I first saw you lingering around campus!" Buffy retorted.

"Then go ahead!" Spike stepped up to her, arm back and chest open.

This wasn't Spike testing her boundaries like he had that morning. This was Spike--a very angry Spike--offering her the chance to actually do what she'd threatened so many times before. But Buffy couldn't take that offer. She stepped away from him and fell back to the cot again.

Immediately, Spike was at her side (game face subsided), worrying if the exhaustion wasn't taking a very large toll on her. She leaned against the wall behind her and closed her eyes.

"You okay, Pet?" Spike asked gently.

"Yeah, I just need to take a nap," Buffy replied, moving so she was comfortably lying on her side. Spike picked up the blanket at her feet and put it over her, but Buffy was already asleep.

(--)

When Buffy woke up she discovered Spike was situated against the cot, reading. She smiled at the back of his head, knowing he could sense her awaked status. She sighed contentedly, before tossing the thin blanket away from her.

"Good, you're awake," Spike said putting his book down, "Sun's just started setting, we've got about an hour to patrol before you're little tree- lighting festivities start."

"Yup. I'm a fresh new Buffy!" the Slayer smiled happily, stretching her arms above her head.

"Then lets go," Spike suggested grabbing a few stakes that were sitting on one of the various open spaces in the basement.

(--)

They reached the park a little after dark. The band had already set up and had started playing a few sets. It seemed everyone who was left in town had showed up for some dancing and fun.

It took a few minutes for Spike's vampire senses to pick up Joyce's scent.

"This way," Spike said, pulling her along through the crowd.

"Need I mention that is so creepy," Buffy said softly as they reached her family.

Spike glanced at the people on the dance floor that had been set up in the middle of the park. He turned back to Buffy before dragging her away.

"Let's dance Slayer," he--once the family was out of earshot--said.

"I don't have a choice, do I?" Buffy joked.

"Guess not," Spike replied.

The pair laughed and joked throughout the song. Dancing was a lot more fun when it wasn't just you and your two best friends. Although, she really wished Willow and Xander could have been there. She turned around in his arms so her back was too him as they swayed to the music--which, by the way, was Christmas music.

After about two more songs of faster paced music, a slow one started--"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, if you wanted to know--and Buffy began to head back to her family. And then something stopped her. That something being Spike's closed hand on her wrist. She turned around to gaze at him with one eyebrow raised in a fashion that mimicked Cordelia. But the vampire simply pulled her close to him.

He hadn't really thought to dance the slower songs with her but when she had assumed, he got a bit mad. Not too mad, just enough to compel him to pull her back to dance again. Her temple rested against his cheek and he feel the quiet relaxation flowing through the Slayer's veins. The sigh was just too much for him. That quiet, calm, barely audible sigh that came from the Slayer was because of him and really couldn't handle that. He had to take a deep breath to calm the nerves that snuck up on him.

"Spike," Buffy whispered, close to his ear.

"Yeah, Pet?"

"I'm having fun, are you?"

"Yeah, Pet."

"Good."

She leaned her cheek on his shoulder making him pull her closer. And sending shivers up Buffy's spine that she hoped he couldn't feel. Too bad he did, since he pulled her even closer and wrapped his arms around her back. She closed her eyes and sighed again.

"Pet," Spike started delicately.

"Yeah?" She looked up at him.

"N-nothing," he replied gently. He'd fully intended to ask her about their current situation--everything that had happened--but when she'd looked at him with those big hazel eyes he'd gotten lost.

"Spike."

"Yeah?"

"Nothing," she smiled, mocking him.

"Very funny, Pet," Spike replied. His voice dropped to a whisper and the tip of his nose just about touched hers.

She breathed once before leaning up towards him. He bowed his head, his lips in millimeters of hers. She was about to capture his mouth with hers when a familiar voice reached her ears. Even over the noise of the music and people talking she could hear it.

"Oh, god," she pulled away, leaving Spike just a bit more mad.

"What Pet?" he asked as she took hold of his hand and pulled him through the crowd in the direction of her family.

They stopped short when he turned to them. Buffy squeezed Spike's hand and he had to glance at her, reading the emotions on her face. His suspicions were confirmed when he spoke.

"Hey, Buffy, come give your dad a big hug."

TBC in Chapter 5: It Came Upon A Midnight Clear...