Author's Note: Thanks for all the great reviews. I appriciate it all very much. These next couple of chapters are gonna be based on reveals and on getting to the deeper plot. Hope you enjoy. Please Review. Thanks.
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"Daddy?" A little girl with dirty blonde hair and piercing blue eyes hopped down the stairs in the Hyperion Hotel. With her petit figure and sparkling smile, Hope Summers was a beauty at age five.
"Over here, bit." Spike smiled warmly at his daughter and scooped her up in his arms. "Ready to go to Aunt Willow and Uncle Oz's house?"
"Yes." The little girl was dressed in a little green sundress and her hair in pigtails. Today was the birthday party of her aunt and uncle's twins, Molly and Mathias. They were turning five. "Is Auntie Dawn gonna be there. She's been at school too long."
Spike almost laughed at the pleading look in Hope's eyes. "Yeah, Dawnie's gonna be there. I talked to her last night and she can't wait to see you."
"Yay!" Hope hopped down and ran to her Uncle Wesley and Aunt Fred as they walked down the stairs. She proceeded to talk their ears off.
It had been five years since Spike had brought Hope home from New York. The news had hit everybody hard, but Dawn the hardest. She finished high school early and earned a scholarship to Oxford. Everyone had been proud, but sad to see her go. Giles had eased some of their fears by offering to go with her and let her live with him in London.
It had been five years since light had burst into Spike's life in the form of one little blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl. Hope had been just what Spike and the other scoobies had needed to finally move on and be happy. His thoughts drifted to one day a couple of weeks after he had first brought Hope home.
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"Bloody Hell!"
"Don't swear in front of the baby." Dawn couldn't help but giggle as she walked into Hope's nursery in the house she and Spike shared with Willow and Oz. Spike was changing Hope's diaper and looking like he wanted to cut off his nose.
Dawn couldn't believe how well Spike had taken to being a father. It was as if the paternal instinct had always been there. Just hidden behind the blood and cocky attitude.
"I know." Sighed Spike as he cleaned his little girl up. Hope gurgled up at her father, her baby blues shining with delight. "How's daddy's little girl today?" Spike button her jumper and picked Hope up.
"Buffy would be proud."
Spike looked over Hope's head at Dawn. The teenager's eyes were shining with tears.
"I hope so. I try. I know Buffy would be doing ten times a better job if she were here. But she's not, instead I have this little bundle." Spike grinned down at Hope as he rocked her. "Looking back, even now, it's hard to imagine life without her. Hope has changed me."
"I know." Dawn ran her hand over Hope's soft baby hair. "She's changed everyone. Angel and Cordy have finally gotten together, Xander met someone new, Gunn found a honest he loves."
"Spike! Dawn!" The two's moment was interrupted as Willow came running into the room. "Good you're both here." The red head was out of breath her cheeks were glowing.
"What is it, Red?" Spike smiled at the young woman. Hope gurgled as Willow kissed her forehead. "Yeah, bit. That's your Auntie Red."
"I've got big news." Willow took a few deep breaths. "Guess what?"
"You're pregnant." Spike laughed at Willow's face as he put Hope down in her crib. He tucked a light blanket around her small form and kissed her forehead. "Sweet dreams, lil'bit."
Spike ushered a pouting Willow and a giggling Dawn out of the nursery and down into the kitchen. He leaned against the island and watched Dawn prepare tea for the three of them.
"How'd you guess?" Whined Willow. She sat down next to Spike in a huff.
"You're glowing more than usual. Expectant mothers always have a different smell."
"Did Buffy?" Dawn looked up from the kettle.
"Not sure." Spike silently thanked the ex-slayer's little sister as she passed him a mug full of tea. Some special blend Oz had brought back from Tibet. "I guess I wasn't really paying attention, thought never occurred."
"It's okay." Willow put a hand on Spike's arm, comforting him. "She wanted to tell you. She was so excited."
"I just don't get why she waited three months." Spike sighed and looked up at the two women in front of him. He had so many questions but the only person who could give him the answers he needed was gone.
"Well, congratulations on the pregnancy Willow." Dawn hugged her old friend.
"Thanks Dawnie." Willow grinned. She let go of Dawn and turned to Spike.
"You'll make a great mother, Red." Spike hugged the small witch. "If the way you are around Hope is any indication, you'll be amazing."
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"Spike."
"Angel."
Angel walked up to the platinum haired vampire and handed him a beer. The two sat beside each other on a picnic table in Willow and Oz's backyard. Hope, Mathias, Molly and the other second-generation Scooby children chased each other around the yard. As shrieks and shouts of glee permeated the air, laughter and chatter of the Scooby and fang gang, now all part of Angel Investigations and the New Council filled the air as well.
Angel glanced out of the side of his eyes, studying Spike. Fatherhood seemed to have taken a toll on him. Even though Spike would remain the same forever, he seemed changed.
"Who would have ever thought back when we were massacring whole villages, that we'd be fathers someday." Spike turned to Angel and smirked. "How does Connor like being a big brother?"
"He loves it." Angel chuckled. "He takes Annie out all the time. She adores him, I swear she's in love with her brother."
"Yesterday Hope asked me if she could have a little brother." Spike's face had a smile on it, but his eyes were filled with sadness.
"What's you tell her." Angel sipped his beer and let his eyes settle on Cordy. She was holding their two year-old daughter, Anne. She was laughing at something Fred had said. God, he loved her.
"I was speechless. Luckily Lorne walked in and Hope ran over to show him a picture she had drawn him."
"How often does she ask about Buffy?"
"All the time. I tell her what I can. Bedtime has turned into story time. Every night she wants a different story about her mother. She eats them up. Hope loves her mother."
"What does she know about how she died?"
"What we know…or close enough." Spike put down his beer. Hope stopped running and turned to look for him over the heads of the other children. Her face lit up as she spotted Spike. Hope waved frantically and then ran back to the other children. "I told her Buffy died giving birth to her."
"What do you think really happened?" Angel picked a stray fibre off his sweater and turned to look at Spike. They had both loved the same woman, only Angel had moved on because he could never give Buffy the life she deserved…Spike could, and did.
Though, the odds had changed after the final battle in LA. The powers had changed Angel into a human and offered Spike the same. Spike had admitted he liked himself as a vamp, so instead the powers gave him the Gem of Amarra.
"I ask myself that question everyday." Spike let his eyes drift to the rest of the gang who sat across the yard on the patio, eating and laughing. His eyes caught on a tall brunette and an old Englishman in a leather coat. "They made it."
Angel looked up and smiled. Dawn and Giles made their way into the backyard and began greeting their friends. While Angel got up to go and greet them, Spike stayed behind, waiting. After a few moments, Dawn walked over to him.
"Hey, Niblet." Spike stood up and hugged Dawn. They embraced tightly. A rush of memories flooded back to both of them as they hugged. Finally letting go they sat down beside each other. "It's good to see you."
"It's really good to see you, Spike." Dawn took a deep breath in. "I need to talk to you."
"Is something wrong?" Spike's face turned anxious. "Did something happen in London?"
"Spike, I…"
"Auntie Dawnie!" Hope came running across the yard having spotted her aunt. She flung herself into Dawn's arms and grinned. "I've missed you!"
"I missed you too, Hopie." Dawn hugged her little niece and settled her on her knee. "You're getting so big. Last time I saw you, you were as small as a bug."
"I was not." Hope playfully slapped Dawn's hands as they tickled her. "Auntie Dawn, come with me, I wanna show you something."
Hope mercilessly pulled Dawn away from Spike. Dawn gave him a "I'm not done with you yet" look and followed her niece.
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"Spike." Faith walked into the living room, not surprised to find her old friend sitting on the couch, flipping through an old photo album.
She sat down beside him and lifted it off his lap, looking at the picture that had captivated his attention. Not surprised at the face looking back up at her, Faith sighed. She closed the book on Buffy's grinning face and looked at Spike, pity heavy in her eyes.
"I should move on, I know." Spike put down his glass and turned to look at Faith. "Hope needs a real mother, not some figment of one that I keep holding on too."
"We understand, Spike." Faith put an arm around his shoulders. "Remember, you weren't the only one that lost B."
"Hey!" The two looked up as Dawn came into the room. She hugged herself nervously and smiled the best she could. "Faith, would you mind if I spoke with Spike alone?"
"Sure, Dawnie." Faith hugged Spike. "I'll be outside, find me later."
"Okay." Spike watched the old slayer go and turned to Dawn. He was surprised to see her eyes rimming with tears. "Hey now, Nibblit, don't cry. What's the matter?"
"Oh, Spike." Dawn hugged his middle and smiled into his chest. "These are happy tears. I…I think I found something in England."
"What do you mean?" Spike drew back from Dawn. A dark frown took hold of his face. The two had gone through this before and Spike was always left heart broken.
"This is for real, Spike." Dawn looked up at his with shining eyes. "I was doing a patrol with Giles one night and we witnessed something in an alley. Spike, Buffy's alive."
