A/N : Thanx for all the latest reviews; kargrif, freezyboncoolipants, naiya-isis, ForeversEnough, Lady Savage, Shania Maxwell, Arisluv, Faint Hate, katie, Bakaman, Amandamanda3, Screeching Dragon, letitia, Moluvsnumber17, Lindsay, Ape18, MaidenRo, Slayergirl1212, pixiecorn. I'm so glad this sequel is doing so well. It even got nominated at VK awards! Okay, who was it that nominated me? Thanx to whoever it was! :-) Here's the next chapter, sorry if it's short but the next one is coming soon...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 4

When Rebecca had finally calmed down and gone off to bed, Buffy and Spike went back to their own room, but neither could sleep. The vampire was imagining a few choice ways he could teach one Ryan Thompson a serious lesson about how to treat a lady, whilst the Slayer was having almost as violent thoughts herself. Buffy knew she could never actually do that to a human being and despite the fact he'd done it in his past, Spike knew he couldn't be that person anymore either.

"I feel so bad for Becky" Buffy sighed, as she lay in Spike's arms in their bed, "I remember too well how dating at her age can be"

"Well, some of us don't have that insight" the man beside her pointed out, "but at least we brought her up decent" he reminded her, "No piece of scum is gonna take advantage of our Little Bit" he said, giving Buffy a squeeze and kissing the top of her head.

"Morals are good but it helps that she has the strength and skills to defend herself" Buffy considered, "In some ways I'm glad she's like me"

"You weren't at the time!" Spike scoffed, "You went bleedin' apoplectic!"

"I was not that bad" she said indignantly as she pulled away to look at him.

"I'm sorry, luv" he shook his head not looking anything like apologetic, "but you really were that bad. You don't remember the huge falling out you had with your Scooby mates, the day they realised what they'd done?"

- - - - - - - -

"Hey Buff" Willow smiled nervously as the front door of Revello Drive swung open to reveal herself, Xander, and Giles.

"Hey guys" the Slayer smiled as she hefted her six month old daughter higher on her hip and pushed her hair up off her face with the other hand, "Er, come in" she told them moving aside so they could enter. Rebecca watched the three people in fascination as they traipsed into the living room and sat down along the couch.

"Spike!" Buffy called up the stairs, also attracting the attention of her mother from the kitchen.

"Oh, Rupert, Willow, Xander" she smiled as she came into the room, drying her hands on a dish-towel, "What a nice surprise"

"Good evening Joyce" Giles greeted her with a too bright smile that made the others share a glance but the moment soon ended as Spike thundered down the stairs.

"Oh God, not another bleedin' apocalypse" he said as he stopped abruptly in the living room door, spotting the whole gang there.

"No, no" Willow shook her head as Buffy took a seat in the armchair and put her child on her knees, "Nothing end-of-the-world-y, we promise"

"Actually, what we've discovered has to do with Rebecca" Giles told them, removing his glasses and polishing the lenses as Spike sat down on the arm of Buffy's chair, wrapping a protective arm around her and his daughter.

"What about her?" he asked warily as Joyce sat down in the other armchair and braced herself for whatever kind of nasty shock was coming.

The three new arrivals were silent and Buffy looked pointedly at each, desperate for an answer to her partners question. Xander was the first to crack.

"It's, well, it kinda has to do with a spell" he said nervously, two pairs of eyes boring into him, making him feel very threatened, "Y'know the spell we did to defeat Adam?"

"Course we bloody remember, it was the day Becky was born" Spike rolled his eyes at the boys ignorance.

"Right, well, it had to do with the Slayer and..." Xander swallowed hard and bottled out, turning to his witch friend for help.

"We summoned the power of the First Slayer" Willow explained, glancing between her hands in her lap and the faces of Spike, Joyce, Buffy and the baby she held to her, "The power was for Faith to make her powerful enough to beat back Adam, but you were...are the Slayer too Buffy, so you got it too"

"The vision, luv" Spike said, looking down at the blonde, "Back in Santa Monica you knew your mates were in trouble, you said you saw it like a vision"

"I did" Buffy nodded warily, "This power shot through me, the true power of the Slayer I guess but...what does that have to do with Rebecca?" she wanted very much to know. It was Giles that revealed the main point.

"Buffy, unborn children are affected by their mothers" he told her as simply and calmly as he could, "Whatever she does, be it eating damaging foods, drinking alcohol, smoking, it all affects the child inside her"

"Rupert, I think we all know that much" Joyce pointed out rather agitated by the situation.

"Indeed Joyce" Giles nodded once, "but it appears we did not think about it at the time of our spell. We did not consider the implications of summoning the First Slayer's power for Faith's use"

"Oh my God" Buffy gasped, tears in her eyes as she suddenly realised what he was saying, "When Faith got that power, so did I" she swallowed hard "and so did Becky" she added glancing up and Spike who frowned in confusion.

"But when the spell ended, it went away, the extra power, right?" the vampire looked around the room, hoping for further explanation and it was Willow who spoke up.

"It left Faith and Buffy, but children work differently, especially not-born-yet ones" she shrugged slightly, "Rebecca held onto the power...she's a Slayer" she said finally and Buffy closed her eyes, wishing it all away as she pulled her baby close to her body and held her tighter.

Spike's arm went further around Buffy, and he kissed the top of her head. He had no idea what to say. His daughter was a Slayer, his supposed enemy, not that it made a huge difference in that respect because Buffy was a Slayer too and it didn't stop her loving him or him feeling the same about her. Still, he knew Buffy had wanted a relatively normal life for their child, instead of which the girl was not just a look-alike of her mother, but it seemed she had her strength and skill and destiny too.

"Are you alright, sweetheart?" Joyce asked her daughter, reaching out a hand to her arm.

"No" Buffy shook her head, her tone cold as her eyes opened again and she observed her so-called friends before her, "I want them out of here" she said firmly. Xander looked astonished.

"Buff, it wasn't our fault, we just..."

"You heard the lady" Spike ground out, demon face rippling beneath the surface of his human guise, eyes sparkling with flecks of gold.

"I think it might be best if you all went home for now" Joyce said carefully, standing up and encouraging the Scoobies to do the same. Giles went for a tactfully quiet exit, and Xander was too rattled by Buffy's icy tone and Spike's struggle to stay out of game face to argue anymore. Willow was the last one to file out of the house. Looking back at the little family huddled in the armchair, she felt horribly guilty.

"I'm sorry" she said softly as she walked out of the front door and Joyce closed it behind her.

As soon as they were gone Buffy broke down into noisy sobs, rocking her baby back and forth on her knee as Spike held onto them both.

"Ssh sweetheart, it's okay" he tried to calm her. Though he was stunned by the revelation of Rebecca being a Slayer, he didn't hate the idea as much as Buffy seemed too.

"It's not okay, Spike" Buffy cried, and Joyce left the room, unable to bear seeing her girl so upset and knowing she and Spike needed to be alone right now.

"So the little one'll be a Slayer" he said calmly as he rubbed her back, "Didn't do you any harm, did it?"

"You have no idea" Buffy continued, shaking her head, "I wanted her to be normal, to have friends and dates and fun" she explained, "My life revolved around vampires and demons and weapons for so long Spike, and it still does to some degree" she cried, "I don't want her to go through that, I don't want my little girl to have that destiny"

Tears streaked down her face and the baby on her knee looked up at her with wide innocent eyes. She had no idea what was going on, except Mommy didn't look happy about it. She cried for a long time, tears dripping down onto Rebecca's arm and making her squirm.

"They've ruined by baby's life" Buffy said sadly when she had no tears left to cry, "I won't ever forgive them for it"

As much fun as it might have been at one time for Spike to hear that the bloody Scooby Gang wouldn't ever be bothering him and his Slayer again, he'd come to realise lately what an asset it was to have friends and allies. More than that he knew they were like extended family to Buffy, and he couldn't just let her throw all that away. Besides, there were advantages to the situation they just found themselves in.

Spike sighed, moving to crouch down on the floor in front of Buffy. Rebecca grinned as she turned and found him there, reaching a hand out to his face. She giggled when he pretended to bite at her fingers, and made a fuss until he lifted her from her mother's lap.

"Buffy, luv" he said softly, "You and this little one, you two mean the world to me" he told her as the girl in his arms played with the collar of his shirt, "I'm going to love you and her no matter what happens, and you know we never would've had a normal life anyway" he reminded her, "Surely it's better that she can defend herself against the things we know are out there, than have us constantly worrying about protecting her"

"I always want to protect her" Buffy said softly, her throat hoarse from crying. She reached a hand out to the little girl, fingers running over light blonde curls of hair.

"Me too" Spike agreed, "but it'll be a comfort to know, as she grows up, that she has some way to protect herself too, won't it?" he asked with a tilt of his head. Buffy smiled as Rebecca turned to look at her with a big grin on her face.

"I guess it will" the Slayer agreed, leaning forward to kiss her daughters head.

"Any chance of me getting one of those?" Spike asked with a smirk and Buffy placed her lips to his. Rebecca grinned wider and clapped her hands together as her parents kissed.

- - - - - - - -

"I did tell you it'd all work out, didn't I?" Spike reminded his Slayer who nodded in agreement.

"Yes, okay, you were right again" she sighed, "Can we please go to sleep now?"

"Sure thing, luv" he smiled, turning out the bedside lamp, and saying good night.

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : Scientific fact : Reviews makes authors write faster. Okay so maybe it's not so much a scientific fact but it does tend to be true! ;-) Also, do keep mentioning in your reviews what you want me to cover in the flashbacks. I have several ideas of my own but if you have any others I'll certainly consider them. I know the age issue is something you all want to see dealt with and I promise that is coming, I just have a couple of other things to get through first :-)