A/N : Okay, so we're headed for an ending on what may very well be my last Buffy story. Usually as I end one, I have a new idea or even several new ideas for the next fic(s) I want to write, which is true of this time too, except those new stories aren't for the Buffyverse. If anyone is interested I do intend to return to the Smallville-verse and the VMars-verse in the near future. Anywho, in the meantime, here's the ninth chapter of this story, with a tenth to follow later this week, and that'll be all from me for this one.
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 9
"So in the end we realised that it wasn't really down to us to decide where you should be or who you should stay with" Buffy explained to Connor and Annaliese, as they sat at the breakfast table, curtains firmly drawn since Spike and Angel were also present, as well as Cordelia, "We all talked about it, and we realised, you're young adults, and you should be allowed to make the decision for yourselves"
"What kind of decision?" Annaliese asked, pushing another piece of pancake into her mouth, having discovered it was one of her favourite things to eat here.
"About where you're gonna live, pet" Spike told her, "You and Connor, we don't want to split you up or anything; we know how close you are" he explained, "So it's alright with me and the Slayer, if you want to stay here, and… I s'pose it's alright if you want to go to LA with Peaches… with Angel" he amended off Buffy's scathing look.
"The third option would mean Connor coming home with us, and Annaliese staying here" Cordelia said carefully, "but obviously we don't want to upset either of you in all this"
"What do you think, son?" Angel asked Connor as he and Annaliese shared a look.
"Well, I do want to get to know you better," he said with a nod, "We've both waited so long to be here, to meet our fathers and… I guess if it means we have to be apart for a while… I guess, we could do that"
"You alright with that, pet?" Spike checked with his daughter who nodded slowly.
"Of course" she assured him with a smile, "I'll miss Connor but it's not as if we'll never see each other again, is it?"
"Of course you'll still see each other" Buffy promised them, "All the time. Connor is always welcome here, and I'm sure you'd never be turned away from the Hyperion"
"There'll always be room for Annaliese" Angel agreed, as the four adults all turned their gaze on the teens.
"Okay" the raven-haired girl nodded, "I'll stay here"
"And I'll go home with you" Connor told his father, "but… we don't have to go right away do we?"
"Of course not, honey" Cordelia assured him, "We can stay in Sunnydale a while, right, Angel?" she prompted him.
Neither he nor Spike looked impressed with the idea of sharing digs and keeping each others company for any length of time, but for their kids they would do it.
"Sure" Angel forced a smile, when Cordelia swiftly kicked him under the table – she would not have him messing this up, any more than Buffy would allow Spike to do the same.
"Wow, I thought that was going to be much worse" Buffy declared, as she stood up and began clearing the table.
"I'll help" Annaliese smiled, jumping up too.
"Hey, don't leave me with these guys!" Cordelia protested with a jokey smile as she grabbed a couple of dishes and followed the other two to the kitchen.
Once firmly in the the next room, away from the men, Annaliese turned to the two older women.
"I have a question" she said uncertainly, looking decidedly childlike.
"Okay" Buffy promoted, wondering where this was going.
She was convinced the whole 'living apart' thing had gone too smoothly. Somebody had to have an objection, there just had to be a fight involved somewhere, there invariably always was!
"It was something Cordelia said" Annaliese explained, making the brunette swing around fast from the cupboard where she'd been putting things away.
"Me?" she checked, "What did I say?"
"Last night" Annaliese reminded her, "You referred to Connor and I as Romeo and Juliet. Who are these people?" she checked.
Buffy smirked, an expression worthy of Spike on her face as she faced the girl.
"Romeo and Juliet are characters from a play, y'know, like a story?" she explained, thinking how weird this was, but then having been brought up in a hell dimension from just a few weeks after birth, there was no possible way for Annaliese to understand any of this.
"They were young people who were in love" Cordelia threw in, "but their families were at war"
"Oh" Annaliese frowned, shaking her head, "Then I still don't understand. Surely we have the same family? Yourselves, my father, Angel…"
"Well, you're not exactly blood related… are they?" Buffy checked with Cordelia who shook her head, a little baffled by the whole thing.
With Angel being Drusilla's sire, and she being Spike's creator, it would almost make the two males grandfather and grandson, if taken in the way of human family. That would make Connor and Annaliese some kind of twice removed cousins or some such, but it was all so complicated, and vampire families really didn't work the same as humans. Since these two were walking miracles, it seemed safe to say that two human children born of four inter-related vampires could be blood-related, but how exactly would be unfathomable.
"It's complicated" Buffy admitted, "I guess you have a special bond, something beyond love in the being in love way, and probably stronger than most families would have" she shrugged, assuming her theory to be correct, but knowing she had absolutely no way at all to prove it.
"Yeah, that sounds good" Cordy agreed with a smile, glad she'd been let off coming up with an explanation herself.
At least now she had something to say to Connor if he ever asked a similar question.
"I do love Connor" Annaliese nodded, "but it is strange. I feel differently for him than for you or my father or anyone" she explained awkwardly, "I depend upon him as he does me"
"Well, that's what matters" Buffy told her, "You don't have to try and define what you feel for him right now"
"That usually works itself out, given time" Cordy assured the girl, as she and Buffy shared a look.
They'd both started out with different feelings for the men they now loved. In the end, these things had a habit of surprising you, working themselves out when you least expected them to. One minute you hate someone, or maybe just like them like a friend. Next thing you know they've swept you off your feet, and you're helplessly, hopelessly, head-over-heels in love, despite the fact you make one of the most awkward matches imaginable.
"Slayer?" Spike called to her and the blonde hurried back through to the dining room to see what was up, after all it wasn't as if he could come into the brightly lit kitchen to find her without being burnt to a cinder.
"Everything okay?" Buffy asked warily, realising what a mistake they could've made leaving Spike and Angel in a room together, with no supervision but the latter's son.
"Just think it's time I got some shut-eye, luv" her boyfriend told her, "Was wondering what you girls were up to"
"Actually y'know we should probably take Annaliese and Connor shopping" she considered as the girls emerged behind her from the kitchen, "You guys need some clothes of your own if you're going to be staying here"
"I should get some sleep too" Angel said suddenly obviously not up for the trip, besides he'd have to run through the sewer tunnels just to get to the mall, and all for the sake of carrying bags and boxes, and being asked twenty times over if people's butts looked big in various items of clothing.
"Honestly, vampires!" Cordelia declared, "Can't live with them, can't get them to take you shopping!"
"This is bloody ridiculous" Spike sighed, "Why do you have to put everything on to show us?" he called up the stairs to where his daughter, plus the Slayer and the Cheerleader, were putting on the new clothes they'd bought to show off to the two vampire men.
"You can't get the full effect if it's on the hangers" Buffy yelled back, "Now stop being a pain and go sit with Angel and Connor" she demanded.
The young man had been let off the fashion parade, after all he was a man and quite happy for his clothes to be viewed in the boxes, just as they came. Girls were different of course, apparently their clothes only looked good on them, and there was nothing they loved more than showing off in them, even girls who were more likely to be seen covered in blood and slime, than anything from Dolce & Gabbana or Prada.
"Okay, here we come" Cordelia announced as the three women trooped down the stairs, her first followed by Buffy then Annaliese.
Though their girlfriends looked appropriately stunning, Annaliese was the most obvious vision out of the three. She'd been battle-ready right down to the outfit when she'd arrived in this world, and had worn nothing but old sweats that Buffy leant her until now. To see her now, she was like a different girl, beautiful in a flower print sundress, her hair brushed out and hanging prettily around her shoulders, blue eyes shining as she stood before them.
Connor's eyes were perhaps widest of all at the sight of this beautiful girl that up to now had always been his battle partner and best friend. Now she was different, she was gorgeous, she was…
"You're a vision, luv" Spike filled in the thought for him as he looked upon his little girl in wonder, "Absolutely bloody gorgeous, all of you are"
"For once, Spike, I gotta say, I agree" Angel smirked, pleasing the girls but also causing them to giggle madly, after all the two vamps were legendary enemies these days. An agreement of any kind between them was somewhat miraculous.
"I think I could learn to love shopping" Annaliese declared, much to the amusement of everyone, and the particular delight of the girls, who always loved a good excuse for a trip to the mall.
"I think maybe I gave your daughter too much of a love for shopping" Buffy said guiltily as she sat on the couch with Spike, waiting for the girl to appear in her latest outfit.
It was now two weeks since the tear in space and time had appeared in the main street of Sunnydale, spitting out first a demon and then Connor and Annaliese, now young adults instead if the babies that had been lost to Quor'toth.
Today was the day when Connor had decided he was finally able to leave Annaliese's side and go home with Angel and Cordelia, which was both a good and bad thing as far as Spike could see. He was glad to not have his grand-sire hanging around, and to get a little more alone time with both Buffy and Annaliese. Still, he hated to see the tears that formed in the young girl's eyes as her best friend and confidante was driven away from her.
That was when he'd offered her the chance of a shopping trip, very grateful when Willow and Tara had jumped in and said they would be happy to take her with them to the mall, since they were going anyway. It had saved Spike a trip to the God forsaken places known as women's clothes stores, but his wallet had taken a severe hit.
"Honestly, luv" he said to Buffy, smiling in spite of the money he'd lost today, "She could buy the whole bloody town if she wanted, if it makes her happy" he explained, "Sell my bloody soul, if I still had one, to see you and her smiling"
"That's actually kinda beautiful" Buffy sighed as she leant in closer and kissed his lips.
They parted a moment later when Willow and Tara appeared, announcing the entrance of 'the one, the only, Annaliese'
Though he did wonder just how much cash the dress his daughter wore had set him back, Spike couldn't help be in awe, once again, at the sight of this girl, his precious little pet. In all his days, man and vampire, he'd never been so proud as he was now, staring at the young woman that he and Drusilla had managed to create, and that he and Buffy would always be there to cherish and protect.
Appropriately kind and complimentary words were spoken of Annaliese new outfit, and the girls were soon gossiping about clothes in general. It seemed only Spike caught the knock on the door with his finely tuned hearing and as it was daylight out he dispatched his daughter to answer it.
"Oh, Xander, and Anya" she greeted the pair she recognised from so many visions, and of course the photographs she'd seen since she was back here.
"Er, hi" Xander said nervously, "Is, er, Buffy home?" he asked, checking the numbers at the side of the door and seeing that they were indeed 1630 as they should be.
"Of course" the young woman smiled, despite the fact Anya was frowning hard at her, "Are you okay?"
"Well, frankly, no" the pregnant woman shook her head, "I for one would like to know who or what you are and why you're in Buffy and Spike's house, and also how you know our names when I have no idea who you are" she rambled as she was prone to doing sometimes, a trait she shared with her new husband, who was shockingly silent right now.
"I'm Annaliese" the girl smiled sweetly, "Spike's daughter" she prompted when they continued to look blank.
"But you were... and... how?" Xander asked, before his legs gave way from beneath him and he fell to the floor in a dead faint, the shock mixed with too many hours on a plane and so forth having finally taken their toll.
"What's going on?" Buffy asked as she hurried to the door.
"I think you should be telling us that" Anya snapped, "Just as soon as we wake up Xander. Honestly, I thought it was the woman who was prone to passing out during pregnancy" she huffed, "Did I read the book wrong again?"
All Buffy could do was bite her lip, stifling a laugh as Xander came to and looked up at her from the floor.
"Hey, Buff" he half-smiled, "Could you maybe tell good old Xander what on Earth is going on?" he asked her.
"It's kind of a long story" she admitted, as she helped him up, knowing any plans she'd had for the afternoon had just gone out of the window.
This really was a long and complicated story, but she didn't mind telling it. It seemed it was going to have a very happy ending.
To Be Continued...