Title: Change
Author: MSKBSwedish
Rating: Mature
Summery: Three years have come since the fateful night that Linn was brought home safely from being held in the clutches of Angelus and Dru. Now Buffy and Spike, who have put their parenthood before slaying, have to not only battle vampires and demons but their children as well.
Note: I own nothing of the Buffyverse.

Chapter Six – Traffic Lights

"Spike, he's beautiful." Willow giggled as she looked down at the baby boy in Spike's arms.

"Third time's a charm, eh?" Spike chuckled, looking at the witch.

"I'm sure you wanted a boy from the beginning." Dawn laughed as she looked down on her nephew.

"Oy. I love my girls." Spike said, nudging Dawn with his free arm. "I just always fancied having a mini-Spike running around wreaking havoc on the world. I planned to teach the little git a lot." Spike looked back down at his son in his arms who seemed to be right where he wanted to be in his father's embrace.

"Yeah well, if Buffy has any say in how this boy is raised, there will be no havoc wreaking." Willow said as she reached over and stroked the baby's cheek softly which caused the baby to squirm a little.

"How did you two manage to have three kids, all with different hair colors?" Dawn asked. She reached over and used her finger to stroke the dark brown hair on the boy's head.

Spike chuckled and shrugged. "Their hair seemed to just keep getting darker." Spike eyed his son's head of dark hair. "If my natural hair color wasn't so dark, I'd suspect the slayer was snogging someone else."

"Oh please. Look at the jaw on that kid. He's definitely yours." Dawn wanted to punch Spike in the arm for the joke, knowing that her sister would never do that to Spike but she definitely didn't want to disturb the baby.

"I can't wait till Buffy sees him. She's going to fall in love." Willow grinned.

"Well doc said it could be hours. He said the damage to her stomach was pretty severe. Didn't know how she even managed kids." Spike admitted. He still hadn't told the gang everything.

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked curiously.

"Apparently she's got scars around her girly bits. Doc said it was a miracle she was able to even carry one child to birth." Spike explained.

Dawn and Willow looked at one another before looking back at Spike. "Well of course we know there was the prophecy but do you think that gave you the ability to reproduce? Maybe a lasting affect?" Dawn asked curiously as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Spike shrugged. "I don't know. I mean I know Linn was our prophecy kid but Em and this little guy just popped up." Spike looked down at his son and thought for a moment. "Of course, after Linn, Buffy was pretty paranoid about getting pregnant all of a sudden and started taking birth control." Spike's eyes grew slightly wider and looked up at the women standing before him. "Do you think Buffy planned them?" Spike asked.

Willow shrugged. "It's possible but she seemed just as shocked as the rest of us when she said she was pregnant for the second time and the third." Willow looked at Dawn. "Did she say anything to you?"

Dawn shook her head in response. "She just told me she was pregnant. She never said anything to me about wanting to have more."

"Well it's not a bad thing either way." Willow said following the smile that spread across her face. "You two have a beautiful family. I-I think three is the perfect perfect number of kids."

Spike smirked and looked over at Willow. "Thanks, red."

When Spike's eyes fell on the slayer laying in the hospital bed, she looked bad. Her skin color had turned pale. Her eyes were dark with circles which matched the bruises along her arms from the nurses and doctors pricking her with needles and trying to find a good vein to stick another injection into her. He was slightly angered at how it looked as though his girlfriend had been carelessly poked and prodded with needles but Spike had to remind himself that it was for her and the baby. It was for their own good.

He stood there for a little while, just watching over her. For the first time in a long time, he studied her. Her hair had grown the longest he had ever seen. It was almost down to her lower back. He was used to seeing it wrapped up in a cute braid or some cute hairdo or it was down and flowing in curls or simply straight. Buffy had always managed to look her best at all times and she took care of herself. Right now, with her hair matted and pulled in a pony tail behind her head, it showed that this pregnancy was clearly different than the last.

Suddenly the signs of pre-eclampsia were there. She vomited pretty much her whole pregnancy, she had been complaining of headaches, back pain, she kept commenting on how swollen her feet had become along with the slight swelling in her hands. She slept a lot and was constantly not feeling well. She stopped doing her makeup and doing her hair in all of the cute ways she could think of. She even stopped doing the cute things to the girl's hair too. It became easier to do the simple pony tail and that was about it.

Spike felt guilt well up inside of him. He asked Buffy to go to the doctors several times. He should have pushed her harder. If they caught this earlier, things would have turned out different. But he couldn't blame himself too much. After all, the baby and Buffy were alive and well. They were resting and Spike knew that no matter what happened before, this was it. This was their family. There was no do-overs, no take-backs. This was it. There was no other chance for children. This was his whole world.

Buffy began to stir which made Spike's eyes shift to Buffy's face. She moaned in pain while bringing her hand up to her head. The tube from her IV caught the side of the bed which tugged on the needle taped to Buffy's hand. She whimpered in pain. Spike was almost in a daze but the whimper caused him to snap from it and step over to the bed.

"Shh. Easy, love." Spike said softly. Buffy's eyes shifted upwards to look at Spike just as he leaned forward to kiss her head softly.

"Where am I? What happened?" Buffy croaked.

"The hospital. You don't remember?" Spike asked curiously as he looked down at the weakened slayer.

Buffy squinted her eyes and shook her head. "Linn... I remember... I was mad." Buffy cleared her throat but it caused pain to shoot through her and she winced. "I yelled at her." Buffy closed her eyes and put her hand over her eyes gently.

"I need to talk to you, Buffy." Spike said softly. He reached behind him and grabbed the chair and pulled it over to the bed so he could sit right beside her.

Once he was sitting, Spike leaned over, resting his elbows on the bed. He took Buffy's hand that didn't have the needle sticking in it, in his own and kissed her knuckles lightly.

"You fell and you were bleeding. I rushed you to the hospital." Spike explained quietly. "You had to have emergency surgery for the baby."

"Oh god, the baby." Buffy's hand immediately went to her belly where she found no large belly. "My baby. Is... Is..." Buffy tried to mutter the words.

"He is fine." Spike's lips widened into a small smile. "He is strong, love."

"H-H-He? We... We have... a-a boy?" Buffy asked, her features softening.

Spike nodded. "I already signed his birth certificate. Just like we talked about, I named him William." Spike's eyes glittered with tears at the realization that he had a son who was named after him. It was a man's dream, especially for a vampire who had fallen in love with being a father.

"William?" Buffy smiled. "W-William Louie Pratt?" Buffy asked. Spike nodded in return. "Thank you." Buffy closed her eyes as she felt a feeling of relief.

"I need to ask you one other thing." Spike's voice was unsure, not wanting to upset the weak slayer but he needed to know for himself.

Buffy opened her eyes and looked into Spike's.

"Did you plan Emily and William?" Spike asked curiously. "I won't be mad if you did. I just..." Spike couldn't help but smirk. "I know after Linn you started taking birth control because you were afraid you'd get pregnant again. You told me you stopped taking them three months before you found out you were pregnant with Em. Did you lie?" Spike wasn't mad and he wouldn't be mad if Buffy had planned having Emmy without his knowledge but now, he just needed to know.

Buffy slowly nodded her head. "I..." Buffy took a deep labored breath. "I know that... Linn was a... prophecy but," Buffy paused to take another deep breath. "The... The prophecy said that... y-you h-had the ability to... reproduce." Buffy closed her eyes. It was taking a lot just to talk. She was still kind of out of it but this was truth. "I... I didn't know if... if it h-had stuck. S-so I stopped... taking my... pills." Buffy opened her eyes and looked at Spike. "I got... p-p-pregnant a-almost... immediately." Buffy used her thumb to stroke Spike's cheek. "A-a-are you m-mad?" Buffy asked.

Spike smiled and shook his head. "No. No I'm not mad, sweetheart." Spike planted another kiss on Buffy's knuckles. "I just wish you had told me. We could have done it together."

"We did." Buffy joked. Even weak and on copious amounts of drugs she had a joke. "I... didn't conceive them... a-alone." Buffy smiled through the slight lingering pain.

"I love how cheeky you can be, pet." Spike chuckled softly.

Buffy let out a labored breath and closed her eyes as she felt more pain.

"Does it hurt?" Spike asked softly. Buffy just nodded and tried to adjust but she was finding it hard to get comfortable. "Don't move too much. You're going to hurt yourself, love." Spike stood up and looked down at Buffy's body laying in the bed. "Where does it hurt?" Spike asked.

"All over." Buffy whimpered. "I want to... b-be on... my... back." Buffy said honestly.

Spike took a hold of the blankets and pulled them down slowly. He was careful not to go near any of her incisions and gently took her body in his hands. Buffy winced in pain but she didn't stop him or push him away. Spike shifted Buffy so that she was on her back and not on her side. His nostrils flared when he smelled the blood.

"E-easy vampire." Buffy could see the look in Spike's eyes. She placed a hand on his arm and patted it. "You're hungry." Buffy whispered. She could see the longing in Spike's eyes to feed. "You need t-t-t-to... feed." Buffy shivered a little.

Spike simply covered Buffy back up, hoping to block the smell of the blood on her body but it didn't do him much good.

"I'll be fine." Spike smiled.

Buffy shook her head. "I... I will... p-p-put you in... t-time out too." Buffy smiled and rubbed his arm with her hand. "If I... w-won't let the-the girls g-go... without it... n-n-neither c-can you." Buffy looked up into Spike's eyes. "Go... home.. Go... feed." Buffy said before taking another painful deep breath.

Spike shook his head. "I'm not leaving you here alone." Spike said, lacing his fingers with Buffy's.

"I-I'm not alone." Buffy smiled. "W-W-William... is here."

Spike took a deep breath. He was starving and Buffy was right. The blood that Willow had fetched wasn't enough to hold both girls and himself. He was very hungry and he didn't want to suddenly go all vamped out in the middle of the hospital.

"I will return before sunrise." Spike smiled. He leaned forward and kissed Buffy's head softly. "I love you." Spike whispered while looking into Buffy's eyes.

"You are my hero." Buffy whispered, looking up into Spike's eyes. "I love you so much."

Spike smiled. It was the first time Buffy had ever called him her "hero". It touched him. In a way he was. He kept their family going, kept them alive, kept them safe.

...TBC...