Buffy stalked the graveyard, stake in hand. It had been a week since Wesley had shown up at her door with baby Connor, and already she was incredibly behind on her slaying. Willow had offered to forgo a night at the Bronze to look after him while Buffy patrolled.

A noise behind her made Buffy spin, stake raised.

"Evenin' to you too, Slayer."

It was only Spike. She lowered her stake.

"Spike," she nodded cordially.

"Haven't seen you out in a while, pet," said Spike. "Busy…" he sniffed the air. "Fryin' hamburgers?"

Buffy scowled. Her new job left her smelling like grease no matter how many times she washed.

"Shut it, Spike," she said. "Got to pay the bills somehow."

Spike took a step forward.

"You must have been busy," he said, his voice soft. "You haven't come to see me in a while."

Buffy sighed.

"Look, I told you, Spike. That's over."

"You say that every time," Spike reminded her. He stepped closer to her again, so now he was right in front of her. Buffy shivered reflexively. As wrong as her relationship with Spike was, a part of her still wanted it, wanted him.

"This time I mean it," she said, her voice a little unsteady.

Spike smirked.

"You really sound like you mean it, Slayer," he taunted.

Buffy took a step back.

"Look, Spike, I'm really exhausted right now. The last thing I need is another man keeping me up all night…"

Spike reacted instantly, jealousy painted all over his sharply angled face.

"Another man? Another man, Slayer? You got another willin' slave?"

Buffy realized her mistake.

"Not… not like that. He's not... it's not what you think. He just cries all night. And all day too…" Buffy ran a hand through her hair, then turned back to him. "Please, Spike. I'm at the end of my rope. Please leave me alone." She began to walk away.

Spike fell into step beside her.

"Let me get this straight. You got a new bloke who keeps you up every night, but it's cuz he's cryin'? What'd you want a nancy-boy for anyways? Thought you had your fill of those."

"It's hardly his fault," Buffy replied. "Willow and I think he's teething."

Spike stopped walking for a moment, and then jogged to catch up with Buffy.

"A baby? You got a bitty baby in the house, Slayer? Where'd that come from? Cuz last time I checked – and it was only about a week ago – you weren't knocked up."

"Certainly not by you," Buffy shot back.

Something very like a flicker of pain flashed across Spike's face. And then it was gone.

"No," he said, "Not by me. So who? Red's kind of out of the game, and…" he paused. "Not Little Bit. Surely."

"No," said Buffy. "Not Dawn. Thank God. And not me neither. Connor's adopted."

"You thought, well I came back from the dead and my life is a mess, why not adopt a baby into the mix?"

Buffy's anger flared. Spike always knew how to get under her skin.

"It wasn't exactly a choice. He's just an innocent baby, and Angel needed my help, and…"

"Ah," said Spike. "Here we come to it. Angel. The great Poofter called in a favour from the girl he doesn't even talk to any more."

Buffy sighed.

"This wasn't about Angel."

"Bollocks," replied Spike rudely. "With you, it's always about Angel."

"I just got dumped a baby in my arms. I'm not happy about it!" Buffy said loudly.

"Where'd Peaches get the kid, then? Someone he saved, doin' his usual white knight in black leather routine?"

"It's his son," Buffy said, lowering her voice.

Spike opened and shut his mouth several times.

"But he can't… we can't…"

"I know!" Buffy said sharply. "I know. All I know is that Wesley brought me Connor a week ago, and I've got to protect him. And that somehow, it's Angel's child." She wasn't looking where she was going, and she stumbled.

Spike automatically reached out and caught her, setting her on her feet.

"Woah there Slayer. You're knackered."

"Tell me something I don't know," Buffy replied wearily. "I haven't had much time for patrolling lately."

Spike looked thoughtful.

"I'll pick up your slack. I don't mind a spot o' violence now and then."

"Are you sure?" Buffy asked skeptically.

"Sure," Spike said. "Why not?"

A rush of gratitude spread over Buffy.

She leaned up, and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you."

Spike opened his mouth, and Buffy shook her head automatically.

"But not tonight, Spike. I have to go home, I left Willow with the baby." She started to walk away.

"Buffy?"

Buffy stopped when he called.

"Hmm?"

"Can I come see the little spawn sometime?" Spike asked. "You know, drop in some night? I like children."

"Yeah, with steak sauce," Buffy replied automatically. Then, she considered his request. "I guess. Dawn will be glad to see you again."

"And you? Will you be glad to see me again, Slayer?"

Buffy turned on her heels and walked away without answering.

It was dusk several days later when Spike strolled into the Summers house. It was becoming routine for him to drop in, now. As he entered through the kitchen door, he listened closely, his vampire hearing picking up two heartbeats, both in the living room.

" 'Lo, Little Bit," he said, depositing his coat on the stair railing as he walked past.

Dawn, who was sitting on the floor with a book, looked up.

"Hi Spike."

"Came to see the spawn. He here?"

Dawn blinked.

"Oh! Connor! Yeah, he's over there," she indicated a bassinet in the corner, and then went back to her book.

Spike walked over. He peered down at the baby, trying to discern some resemblance to his own grandsire. But to him, Connor just looked like every other baby.

"So you're the one who's caused all the trouble, are you?" He asked. He reached down and scooped Connor up, carefully supporting him as he remembered he was supposed to.

"Watch his head," Dawn instructed.

Spike moved over to the couch, sitting down with Connor in his lap. Dawn abandoned her book, and sat down beside him.

"I guess you heard the whole story, huh?" Dawn said.

"He's Angel's babe," Spike said. "And he's been dumped in Buffy's lap."

"Not just hers," Dawn grumbled. "He's such a pain the butt, and he's got to be looked after all the time!"

"That happens, with babies," Spike replied.

"As if my life didn't suck enough, and now I've got to add babysitting duty to the lot." Dawn scowled.

"Your life isn't the only one that's been changed, Bit," Spike reminded her.

"Yeah, I know," Dawn replied, chastised. "Buffy's has, too. She's a mommy now. But it's so unfair that he gets dumped on us, even if he is kind of cute."

"Bet he'll grow up to be a poof, like his sire. It's in his blood"

"Angel doesn't know he's here," Dawn fixed him with a patented Summers glare. "So don't tell him!"

"Thought it was Angel who brought him here."

Dawn shook her head.

"It was Wesley. Apparently it's dangerous for Angel to know even where he is. Cuz there's a bunch of crazy cults after him for being some sort of promised one or something. It's for his own safety."

Spike weighed the look on Angel's face with the wrath of Buffy, and then nodded.

"I won't tell."

"Good."

"So where is everyone?" Spike asked, after several moments of silence.

"Willow's in class. Buffy won't be back from work till midnight. It's just me and Connor."

"Bet that's puttin' a cramp in your style."

Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Me? Social Life? No, not at all."

Spike grinned.

Connor opened his eyes, and seeing an unfamiliar face, began to wail.

"It's ok," Dawn assured Spike. "He does that a lot."

She offered the child a blue teething ring, which Connor threw back at her.

"Guess he doesn't want that."

"Hey there munchkin. Don't cry," Spike said, his voice surprisingly gentle. "Uncle Spike here won't eat you."

"Only cuz he's not allowed," Dawn snorted.

Spike rolled his eyes, and proceeded to make faces at the whimpering baby. Dawn laughed at his antics, but it failed to sooth Connor.

Spike sighed.

"I've only got one face left, kid. And you're not going to like it."

"You'll scare him!" Dawn objected, but it was too late. Spike had already vamped out.

Connor regarded his twisted face for a moment, and then broke out into a wide, toothless grin.

"Well, what do you know," Spike said around his vampire teeth. "The little guy likes it."

"Well," said Dawn, considering. "He is the son of a vampire."

When Buffy came home from work at midnight, completely drained and bone weary, she was surprised to hear laughter coming from the living room. It was a sound she hadn't heard in that house in a long time.

Cautiously, just in case it was a laughing demon, or another case of hyena possession, she peeked her head around the living room door.

Willow and Dawn were grouped around Spike, who held a sleeping Connor in his lap. They were sniggering as quietly as they could at a story he was telling.

"And then, outta nowhere, in sweeps the bloody queen herself!"

"What'd you do?" gasped Willow.

"Well, I did what any self respecting British vampire would do. I hightailed it out of there! I'm not going to bite the bloody queen!"

Willow and Dawn leaned against each other, sagging with laughter.

Buffy felt her first genuine smile in a very long time begin to form on her face.