A/N : Thanx so much to funkydevil206, Brunettepet, EMBER91, Sandra, Mary, and Moluvsnumber17 for the fab reviews. This story actually gets less reviews than my other WIPs but I love writing it and will continue to do so as regularly as I can, so don't anybody start worrying that I'll give up just cos this is the least popular of the four - so not gonna happen!
(For disclaimer, etc., - see chapter 1)

Chapter 12

When Dawn and Andrew arrived home quite late, they found Buffy and Spike curled up on the couch fast asleep. The boy knew of the ex-vampire's return in human form as the Summers' women had told him before. He'd been over-joyed to know one he looked up to so much was back again, but on some level he said he knew he'd be back. Like Tomorrow, he will Never truly Die, he'd said, earning a double eye roll from his girlfriend and her sister, but it was starting to look as if it were true.

"That's so sweet" Dawn smiled as she looked at the couple, asleep in each others arms, "I guess the talk with Davy took a little turn somewhere"

"He's a good guy and all" Andrew told her, "but fate can't be changed. Buffy and Spike are each other's destiny"

"I'm not gonna argue with that" Dawn replied as she watched them a while longer, leaning back into her boyfriends embrace as he wrapped his arms around her.

"The champions deserve their happiness" he sighed, "Though I feel a little sorry for Davy, he is a man of honour"

"He is" Dawn agreed, "but he's not the one for Buffy"

The young couple headed to bed a while later, as the other two slept on where they were. It had been a long and complicated evening, they both needed their rest. Tomorrow things would only be more difficult. Buffy would have to face Davy again at some point, and the gang would have the results of their research to share, meaning a demon to fight and badness to deal with. Still, it would be so much easier now that they were back together, both Buffy and Spike were certain of that fact.

Spike awoke to a busy scene. As his eyes adjusted to the bright sun that streamed in from the window, he caught sight of Buffy alternating between feeding the kids and running back and forth across the room. Dawn was going around the room with a cordless phone to her ear whilst Andrew darted through the middle with a bowl of cereal in his hand.

"It's unnatural for people to be so bloody active this time of the morning" Spike groaned as he attempted to stretch out the crick in his neck. Since he'd become human he was a lot choosier about the type of surface he slept on, but then he'd have happily rested anywhere if Buffy was at his side as she had been last night.

"You're human now, Spike" Dawn rolled her eyes as she hung up the phone, "You're awake during the day, right?" she smiled.

"The day, yes" he agreed, sitting himself up, "but this is barely sun-up, not day yet"

"Come on, Spike" Andrew said, giving him a playful shove, "Look at the glorious day that awaits you and your beloved"
Spike looked at him strangely, wondering when the uncomfortable hugging would happen, heartily relieved when it didn't.

"Andrew, 's been a while" he nodded cautiously.

"It's great to have you back, bro" the boy said, apparently thinking he was cool as he offered a hand to Spike. The ex-vampire shook the offered hand, always very wary of being pulled into an embrace. When the boy disappeared into the bedroom a moment later he gave Dawn a questioning look.

"He's with me now" she explained, "No touchy feelies with anyone else"

"You and him, eh?" Spike mulled over the idea with a thoughtful expression.

"What do you say, big brother?" Dawn smiled as she came to sit beside him, "You approve?"

"'S not really for me to say, pet" he told her, putting an arm around her shoulders and hugging her to him, "But if you want my opinion, he's harmless enough I s'pose, but not really good enough for my Little Bit"

"He's a nice guy" Dawn pleaded her boyfriends case, "And he loves me, and I kinda love him too" she admitted.
"That's all that matters then" Spike told her, "Still, nobody'll ever be good enough for you in my eyes, pet" he smiled, kissing the top of her head.

"I'll second that" Buffy agreed as she came over, and Spike was immediately on his feet, "Hey you"

"Hey yourself, luv" he smiled, "Y'know I'm fairly certain when I fell asleep I had you there with me. When I woke up alone I thought maybe I dreamt you" he said softly, his hand at her cheek.

"Nope, not a dream" she told him, her smile echoing his own, "I kinda wondered the same thing about you though" she admitted.

"Dada!" Ellie called, her arms out-stretched in front of her.

"When did she...?" Dawn said in wonderment as she went over to the child.

"Last night" Buffy grinned, "All this time trying to teach her Mommy, and her first word is about you" she rolled her eyes at Spike who looked stunned.

"That was her first word?" he checked following the two women over to where the kids sat in their high chairs, Ellie still yelling for her father and Chloe reaching for him too by now.

"First and only" Buffy confirmed, "and you're so loving this" she realised with a laugh as Spike looked at the two children with apparent amazement. They were his kids, he was their true father and they knew it too. Without a word he picked Ellie up out of her chair and held her close, feeling even more over-whelmed when she put her little arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

The scene almost had Buffy and Dawn in tears, as Spike held Ellie in one arm and made sure Chloe wasn't left out.

"Hey there, baby" he smiled, stroking her blonde hair, "You know how to say Dada too?"

"Oh no you don't" Buffy shook her head as she came over and lifted Chloe from her seat, "This one's going to learn Mommy first" she said firmly, though she was mostly joking.

"I don't care what she says, luv" Spike told her honestly, "Still getting over the fact that you and me made these Little Bits"

A knock on the door interrupted the family moment but not enough for either Mommy or Dada to bother moving to answer it. It was Dawn that went to see who wanted in and was stunned to find it was Xander.

"Oh my God" she gasped as she hugged him almost too tight, "Xander, what are you doing here!"

"I'm guessing it's still early enough you didn't talk to your sister yet, Dawnster" he smiled, hugging her back before paying attention to the scene in the living room, "Check this out, it's all Happy Families in here"

"Hey Xand" Buffy greeted him, before looking at the child in her arms, "You met Chloe last night, remember?"

"Sure I do" he grinned, tickling the baby's chin til she giggled.

"And this is Eloise" she said looking over at the child Spike held, "Say hello to Uncle Xander, Ellie"

The brunette gave Spike a look before saying 'hi' to the child in his arms.

"Slayer told you they're mine, I s'pose" the bleached blond asked with a tilt of his head.

"Not so much" his old enemy shook his head, "Giles filled me in. I didn't know the Little Buffys existed til a few days ago"

"Xander?" Andrew gasped as he returned from the bedroom, "Every time I turn around there's another person here!" he said, happy about it but also feeling kind of out of the loop, "It's like a Sunnydale gang reunion" he realised suddenly, looking almost tearful. Dawn went over to him and gave him a hug.

"Gotta say I'm kinda confused" she admitted, "Is there something going on that we don't know about?"

"Kinda something going on that we all don't know about, or that we don't know enough about" Xander told her.

"We need to start from the beginning" Buffy realised, taking charge in true Slayer style, "Andrew, Dawn, put the breakfast things away" she told them, "I'll fetch the kids some toys, we can keep an eye on them while we talk"

An hour later they were all around the table and all on the same page with what was happening. Andrew had been right, it was kind of like old times, huddled around a makeshift research table, discussing demons and strategy.

"I left Giles and Illyria under a pile of books" Xander told them, "I can only read for so long before my head starts to pound these days" he admitted, "Not easy when you only got one eye to read with"

"They anywhere close to findin' somethin' useful?" Spike wanted to know, one eye always on the children playing across the room.

"Not when I left" Xander admitted with a shake of his head, "Your friend Illyria seemed more interested in talking to me than doing much research"

"Yeah?" Spike smirked, remembering a previous conversation with his companion about love and what it meant, not to mention how she'd snogged him just to see what it was like. The fact she seemed to have an interest in Xander had not escaped Spike's notice. Now that'd be an interesting situation to watch.

"We need to find this demon" Buffy said, tapping her fingers impatiently on the table, "I need this thing dead before it has the chance to come after my kids"

"We'll find it, Buff, and we'll deal" Xander assured her.

"Always did before, didn't we?" Spike agreed, putting his hand over the Slayer's and stopping the infernal tapping that was driving him round the bend, "Relax, luv, we'll fix this. Powers put me back here to save the innocent. Think those two kids of ours count on that score"

"This demon" Dawn said suddenly, "You said it had a diamond in it's head?" she check, finding it all very odd.

"I dunno if it's a real diamond" Xander told her, "Kinda looked like one though. All clear and shiny and sparkly, maybe it was like it's power source, I dunno"

Spike still held Buffy's left hand in his, thumb stroking across her knuckles. It was as Xander was talking something occurred to him, and his thumb stopped next to the engagement ring the Slayer wore.

"A diamond" he said softly, lifting up Buffy's hand, "Bloody hell"

"So Buffy has a diamond" Andrew shrugged, "She's not the demon"
"I know that you daft git" Spike rolled his eyes, "but Lyri's other vision was of this ring, that was why we were originally coming here to Rome"

"You think the demon is connected to the ring Davy gave to Buffy?" Dawn frowned.

"Seems like a bloody strange coincidence if they're not, Bit" Spike told her, "Seems to me your man 'Davy' isn't all he seems"

"No" Buffy shook her head, pulling her hand away and looking down at her ring, "No, Davy loves me, he gave me this ring because he wants to marry me. Things might have changed now you're back, Spike, but it doesn't mean he is evil"

"Gotta admit, luv, it's kind of your type" her ex-lover told her, earning a truly nasty look from the Slayer. Seeing the fight that was doubtless about to erupt, Xander muttered something about escapage and a moment later Dawn and Andrew were offering to take the kids out for a walk, maybe go and find Giles and Illyria and see if they'd found anything useful yet.

Spike and Buffy silently glared at each other until the apartment was empty, neither wanting to upset the children or anyone else, but this needed settling now.

"I can't believe you said that to me" Buffy said incredulously, "How could you?"

"Just stating fact, luv" Spike told her as if it were obvious, "Me and Angel were both vampires when you first jumped our bones"

"That's not fair" she snapped, "I loved you, both of you and you loved me"

"Doesn't change the fact you tend to need a little monster in your man" he reminded her, "I mean for God sakes Buffy, you even dated the bloody Immortal!"

"What!" she gasped, "You think I dated... that!" she yelled, gesturing emphatically as she got to her feet, unable to believe what she was hearing.

"I saw you, Slayer" Spike yelled back, getting up also, "Angel too, in that club last year, gyrating like it was going out of style, and your boy Andrew told us how you were staying in nights, all cosy as you please"

"I was playing him, you moron!" Buffy shouted, getting in his face, "I double crossed him so I could kill him"

Spike wasn't sure what to say then. He wasn't often rendered speechless but Buffy was one person who sometimes had the ability to astound him into silence, for a while at least.

"Well, you seemed like you soddin' enjoyed it" he said grumpily and Buffy rolled her eyes.

"It's called acting, Spike" she told him, "I was never interested in dating the Immortal, I was with Davy then"

"Another bleedin' demon apparently" Spike shot back and Buffy made an exasperated sound.

"For the last time, Davy is not a demon!" she yelled, "You think I wouldn't notice if he were? Slayer here, with the spider sense that tingles around demony types, remember?"

"Too easy to fool you, luv" Spike shook his head, "There are spells and trinkets that'll block signals and the like... it cannot be a bloody coincidence that Illyria had a vision about this" he said, grabbing Buffy's hand and showing her the engagement ring on her finger, "and at the same bleedin' time, the Whelp's seein' a demon with a diamond-type stone in his head!"

Buffy pulled her hand free from Spike's grasp and looked down at the ring on her finger with tears in her eyes. She found somebody to love her, a real man that wanted to be with her forever, and it could all too easily turn out to be a lie. Of course it was wonderful that Spike was back, and if the fates were kind perhaps they could have a bright future together, the two of them and the kids. Still it hurt to think this man she'd found, that she would've married if not for her ex-lovers return, might never have cared about her at all.

"I thought he loved me" she said in a small voice, glancing up at Spike and laughing humorlessly, "I should've known better" she cried, looking back at the floor.

"What're you talking about, you silly bint?" the bleached blond sighed, coming towards her and lifting her chin with his fingers, "You still think nobody could love you that much? Even though I'm standing here, wondering how the bloody hell I went without seeing you for so long" he told her, looking into her eyes, "I did wrong Buffy, I know it" he admitted, "I should have told you when I came back, both times actually, and hiding from you wasn't fair, I see it now, but I never stopped loving you, not once, not ever" he swore.

"I missed you so much" Buffy cried as she hugged him, "and I love you. I'm sorry I yelled"
"Steady on, Slayer" Spike teased her, "Apologising to me now, are you? Must be love"

"It is" she nodded solemnly as she looked up at him, "It really, truly is"

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : Everybody seems to be thinking that just because we have an abundance of happy Spuffyness occurring that it means the fic is almost over - not even close! Much mayhem still to come, with much Spuffy mixed in, plus another pairing that'll occur later which I hope you will all approve of. Okay, so in the meantime you know what you need to do - reviews make the author smile :-)