A/N : Thanx so much for the continued support on this story. A few of your questions should be answered in this chapter!
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 5

"Bloody hell" Spike gasped as he looked his sire over.

She appeared to be pregnant, but she was still a vampire, he could tell by her scent, by the non-descript feeling that tingled down his spine. She was the same Drusilla that'd walked away from him almost nine months ago and... Nine months. The phrase rang in his ears despite the fact nobody had actually said the words aloud.

"How did you...? Is this real?" Buffy asked, eyes wide with shock as she stared at the cackling vampire in the red and black lacy dress, both hands pressed to her rounded belly.

"One was in sorrow, and two found joy" Drusilla sang, "Made a pretty little girl or boy" she giggled, looking down at where her baby resided within her.

"I don't understand this" Buffy said, shaking her head, "Vampires can't... Spike, tell me I'm not wrong about this"

"We're sterile" the bleached blond agreed with her, though his eyes remained on his sire who still stood several feet away, her back to the opposite wall of the crypt, "Body's dead. Can't make new life out of death, you can't just..." he was frowning hard as his brain tried to process the situation that ought to be impossible.

"Life and death are all full of twists and turns, like worms wriggling a path in the dirt" Dru said as she swayed back and forth to the rhythm of some music only she could hear, "Books say it's impossible but books are written by human fools" she told them, "We did something special, my William, made a special little one" she came towards him, one hand still on her stomach, the other held out to him.

Spike couldn't take his eyes off his sire's swollen stomach, as a hundred thoughts and feelings shot through him. This ought to be impossible he knew that, but he and Dru had been together almost nine months ago, it would certainly add up if they were human but they were vampires and this just wasn't an option for them, they couldn't make children, the laws of the universe just didn't allow it.

"Oh my God" Buffy gasped suddenly, alerting Spike's attention to the fact she was still there. He turned to look at her and saw how pale she looked as her hand covered her mouth, "You and Drusilla, you..."

It was obvious what she meant though the words wouldn't come, and tears did instead. Buffy tried to blink them back but found it was harder than she expected. It shouldn't matter that Spike had slept with Drusilla, at any time at all. Though he professed love for her she could never love him, or so she tried to tell herself, now more than ever. Still it hurt to think that just hours before telling her for the first time how much he loved her, he was getting his pleasures in the arms of his sire.

"Buffy, it's not how it sounds" Spike said, looking awkward and pained, "I didn't mean to..."

"I don't wanna know" Buffy shook her head, "It's not important" she lied, as she attempted to regain her composure.

Looking at each other, Spike and Buffy had momentarily taken their eyes off Dru who was now back in the centre of the room, holding her head and swaying more violently than before.

"I see it all" she moaned, "All dark... She doesn't know like I do"

"Are you talking about me?" Buffy frowned, when she received no answer she let her sadness turn into anger, "Hey, I asked you a question"

"Don't, pet" Spike said, getting between Buffy and Dru and reaching out to his sire.

He knew how to deal with her moods and visions better than anyone, with the possible exception of Angelus of course.

"Dru, luv, what do you see?" he asked her gently as he took her hands in his, "Wanna tell me what it's all about?"

"My little Spike" she smiled suddenly, and he saw something different in her eyes, something that had never been there before, not the whole time he'd known her.

"Bloody hell" he cursed, the words barely leaving his lips before Drusilla pitched forward into his arms, out cold.

"What the hell is going on?" Buffy wanted to know as Spike hooked his arm under Drusilla's legs and lifted her up into her arms like he had so many times in the past.

He carried her over to the stone sarcophagus he had slept on many times and laid her down.

"She's different, Slayer, she... Buffy, she has a soul" Spike told her looking stunned.

"No" Buffy shook her head, "This is Drusilla, Spike. The only vampire with a soul is Angel"

"Maybe once but I'm tellin' you Slayer I can see it, I can feel it" he explained as he looked back at his sire, "Don't know how or why or anything but I know she's got it, deep in their, glowing away like bleedin' souls do"

"But she's still a vampire?" Buffy checked.

Drusilla possessed two things now that ought to be impossible for such a creature, a soul and a child inside her.

"Yeah, she's still her in every other way" he nodded, "Still my black goddess from way back, no change there, 'cept... well, it'd seem she's got my bun in her oven" he smirked slightly, hand reaching out to hover over Dru's pregnant stomach.

She had a child in there, his child, a being that was half him and half Drusilla, or so it would seem. His fingers barely brushed the fabric of her dress when the dark-haired vampire jerked violently.

Buffy was startled when Dru began moaning and groaning like before, writhing around on the sarcophagus as if she were in agony, though her hands went to head not her stomach, and her eyes were still tight shut. Spike put his hands to her shoulder, tried to hold her still for fear she'd throw herself to the ground and damage the baby that appeared so far at least to be his.

"Bloody hell" he cursed as he realised something.

"What?" Buffy asked as she came a little closer, the look on his face only worried her more.

"There's nothin' of her" Spike said worriedly, running his hands over her as if checking for broken bones or some such, "She's skin and bone, Slayer, I don't think she's been feeding"

Buffy frowned at that. She hadn't considered that vampires got thinner if they didn't eat, the only vamps she knew that had a problem with biting humans were Angel and Spike and they always had a supply of animal blood to keep them well fed. She cast her mind back then to the day Spike had come to Giles' place for sanctuary. He hadn't eaten in days and he looked terrible, so thin and drawn. He'd told them tales of vampires who couldn't feed and eventually wasted away to resemble the starving kids in Africa or similar. She wasn't sure they could actually die of starvation but they could suffer.

Though Buffy didn't care at all about Drusilla and would have scratched her eyes out before staking her had she come back alone, the Slayer knew things were different with her being pregnant. There was no telling what the child inside her was like, though it seemed strange to her if it was human. Still, Spike was sensing a soul on Dru and that counted for something, she knew that.

"Earth to Slayer!" Spike yelled for the fourth time, finally getting her attention, "She's gotta eat. Need you to hold her still whilst I grab some blood from downstairs"

Buffy didn't like the idea but knew she didn't have much choice. She couldn't let Drusilla hurt herself and the baby til she really knew what was going on here, and there was no way to find out with the vampiric mother-to-be in such a state.

She put her hands where Spike's had been on Drusilla' shoulder, albeit awkwardly and Spike hurried to fetch a container of blood to feed his sire. He was at the bottom of the ladder, about to come back up to where the women waited for him when he stopped.

Realisation hit him like a Mack truck and he just couldn't move. He was going to be a father, it would seem. Drusilla was having a baby, God only knew how or why, but it was happening. She had a soul now, whatever that meant, and maybe that meant the baby had one too. He or she could be good, if they were raised right, could grow up to be an ally for the Slayer, and a credit to Spike himself...

"Spike, hurry up!" Buffy called down to him, starting t get worried about Drusilla herself by now as she didn't let up writhing around and wailing like a banshee.

Spike caught himself planning a whole future for a kid that might not even be what he thought and pushed the thoughts from his mind as he climbed up the ladder and back into the main part of the crypt.

Standing close to Buffy he lifted Drusilla's head with one arm and brought that container of blood to her lips. She drank two mouthfuls, before spitting the third back at him, her eyes opening wide and staring at him.

"Not thirsty" she protested, like a small child, and Buffy let go of the vampire as her eyes turned gold and the familiar ridges appeared on her forehead.

"Drusilla, we're tryin' to help you, luv" Spike told her, setting the blood down so he had both hands free should she attack.

He didn't want to hurt her or the baby, but he'd have to defend himself if she came at him. He knew her strength, and that all animals no matter how far from or close to human they were, they were always more ready for a fight when it came to protecting their young.

"Help me, William?" she giggled as she swung her legs over the side of the stone coffin and got to her feet, moving decidedly well for a person who was so pregnant she looked almost fit to burst, "Like I helped you? Helped you get over every girl that shunned you" she reminded him, "And look how you repay me" she said, nastily, the face of the demon making it seem even more cruel as she stared him down.

"Alright, I did a bloody stupid thing" he admitted, hoping it would calm her down, and really not wanting to piss off Buffy anymore than she already was about the whole him and Dru sleeping together thing, "Spike's a bad, nasty man, but we need to help you, luv. Gotta make sure you and baby are okay, right?" he said gently, hoping he was getting through to her.

Her vamp face slipped away and he was convinced he'd got her trust when she smiled.

"So foolish, Sweet Willy" she told him with a sigh, "When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall..." she sing-songed, finding the shocked look on Buffy's face very amusing before she passed out once again, this time onto the cold stone floor.

"Oh for bleedin' hell's sake!" Spike complained as he scooped her up from the ground once again.

He got her back onto the sarcophagus then looked back at Buffy who was stuck to the spot, still looking like a rabbit in the headlights of a large oncoming vehicle.

"Buffy?" he said, as he came towards her, not loving how vacant she looked right now, she'd done this before and it was not fun, "Buffy, pet, what is it?"

"When the bough breaks..." she muttered, eyes suddenly focusing on Spike, "We have to call Giles. We're going to need help with this, books and spells, and all kinds of stuff" she rambled, as she stared past Spike at the other vampire who appeared to sleep soundly, or possibly be dead...

"Slayer, you're not making any sense, luv" Spike told her desperately as she shook her head.

"The dream I had" she explained, "The one I was telling you about, Drusilla was there, she said the exact same thing, that nursery rhyme or whatever, she said it in my dream and now it's real"

"You think that means something?" Spike frowned, glancing between his Slayer and his sire.

"I don't know" Buffy admitted, "But I don't think I wanna wait for whatever she's carrying to come out and..." she stopped when she saw the look on Spike's face.

He wanted to think he was going to be a father to a normal child, however awkward and twisted that situation might prove itself to be. Knowing as she did her tendency to have prophetic dreams, Buffy didn't want to risk some kind of all-powerful demon thing springing forth from the womb of Spike's sire. They needed to research, check out all the possibilities, see if there were any texts about a vampire having a child or something, and it needed to be done now, before it was too late.

To Be Continued...