A/N: After I get this chapter out of the way, I can get into the nice family dynamic and/or a tell all. Hm…I know what I can do… oh sorry. What was I saying? Okay so here it is and btw, thanks for all your kind words of encouragement.

Contemplation

Buffy pushed open the doors to the kitchen at the inn. She could barely walk she was so tired. Her hair, she was sure, was a mess. Her clothes needed some ironing and she wasn't even sure if she took a shower this morning.

She'd been up all night thinking of William's words. Had her father really been that much of a jackass? Would he ever really wanna hurt her to that level? What was she going to tell her little girl? 'Jenny, guess what? You know the daddy you never met? Well he's here and wants to send time with you.' oh yea, that would go over well with her. (me: I'm fairly sure that I made Jenny ten but if I didn't…she's ten. Lol)

"Wow Buffy, you look horrible" commented Willow who came around the table to walk over to Buffy.

"Coffee" she demanded. "I need coffee." Willow already had a cup in her hands and therefore only had to hand it to her best friend.

"What happened? Did something happen? Is Jenny okay?" a million different scenarios raced through her head. Buffy has almost never looked this drained, broken.

Downing the entire mug in one gulp, Buffy said "I'll tell you later. Now, I have to think."

"Okay, no problem" she nodded as a true friend would.

Buffy walked back into the reception hall and plastered a fake smile to her face. "Dragonfly Inn, Buffy speaking" she answered the phone.

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Apparently, trying to work had been completely futile. Buffy instead went home and decided that sleeping would be good. Jenny wouldn't be home for another couple of hours so maybe she should sleep while she could.

She wasn't even able to make it up to her bedroom so she crashed on the couch, well couch bed. Pulling it out into a bed, Buffy plopped down. She laid an arm across her eyes.

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An hour later, Spike mentally cursed himself as he retraced his steps to Buffy's house. How could he forget his lighter there? After such a dramatic ending and him storming off into the night, that whole thing was broken by his return to meagerly ask for his lighter back.

He rang the doorbell a few times but no one answered. He tried his luck at the doorknob and jumped slightly as he realized that it was open. Spike crept in, trying not to make a sound. That's when he saw her, his angel. (me: that can be taken so wrong)

Buffy laid there peacefully, her blonde locks acting as a halo around her life. Her skin was perfect and flawless. In her sleep, she looked so peaceful, so at ease. Spike didn't turned away. Stop torturing yourself mate he told himself. You can't have her. With that, he went in search from his damn lighter.

It took him about ten minutes but he found it, under the chair by the wall in the kitchen. He tried to creep back out of the house when Buffy's voice called out to him. "Will, I mean Spike…what are you doing here?" Spike jumped.

Buffy sat up slowly, her hair a complete mess. She ran a hand through it before pulling it up into a messy ponytail. "Oh um…" Spike dug into his pocket for his lighter. "I forgot this." Though Buffy looked at him doubtingly, she said nothing. "I rang the bell repeatedly but no one answered so I tried my luck at the door. It was open."

"Okay." Buffy was too tired to argue. A moment of very awkward silence passed between the two.

"I guess I should…" Spike pointed at the door. "Yeah." He was about to walk out when Buffy called back again. "Spike! Wait!"

Spike walked back to his previously occupied spot. "What?"

"Come sit." She patted the spot next to her. Hesitating, Spike made his way over to her and sat on the couch. Buffy turned to him, silent at first.

"I've been thinking about what you said last night about the decision being mine." She stopped. "I don't want it to be in my court."

"But it is lu…Buffy."

"Don't call me Buffy."

Spike cocked an eyebrow. "What?"

"I don't want you to call me Buffy. Call me what you used to: luv, pet, and stuff like that."

"I thought…"

"Yeah" she interrupted. "I thought so too." She paused again, playing with her fingers. "Spi…"

He intervened. "William." She looked up at him and smiled.

"William" she amended. "I want you to know your daughter. You deserve to be in her life as much as I do." Another pause. "As far as us…" She stopped and looked up, staring him dead in the eye. "Do you love me?"

"You know I do."

"Well, I've missed you more than anything and every time I see our little girl, I think about us. I guess we can try this, take it slow."

Spike was grinning from ear to ear. "So in that case. Elizabeth, may I have the honor of escorting you to the movie theaters this Friday?" Spike's words mimicked the words of his younger self when he first asked her out. God he was such a loser.

Buffy played along. "My dear William, you may." She smiled.

A/N: okay so next chapter some spuffyness, a fight, and a scandal I revealed. Well I'm not sure about the scandal part but everything else will happen. Lol. Okay, I guess that's it. I'd also like to thank Spuffy6 for catching my mistakes.

FACT: Joss Wheddon is coming out with a new movie called "Serenity" at the end of September.

FACT: Sarah Michelle Gellar is married to Freddie Prince Jr. (although me and friends think that she's having a secret love affair with James Marsters)