Restive Nature
Rated NC-17 (Eventually)
Chapter Three
With This Gift Comes Love
The evening had been a long one and it was to Buffy’s utter relief that Angel had offered them one of the many refurbished rooms of the hotel. She slipped inside, Spike close behind her. Dawn had already been sent to bed and was residing next door to them, with Willow and Kennedy on her other side. The teen had made the most out of her solitary glass of champagne and had danced the evening away with a steady stream of guys. Buffy had been torn between warning them off and letting her sister enjoy herself. Spike was in the same boat, but he saw quickly how well Dawn had handled herself. So they let her be, finally catching her after about one in the morning and carefully suggesting that she pack it in. After all, the celebration would continue in the morning for a select group.
Buffy yawned as she contemplated the forthcoming activities. There was a lavish breakfast for all the guests staying at the hotel. Then Max and Angel would be opening their gifts. Which Buffy figured would take up most of the morning and part of the afternoon, as there were tons of them. After that was sorted out, the couple would be leaving with their daughter for a three month long honeymoon to the British Isles. Most people expected them to head for a tropical getaway, but Buffy understood that Angel wanted to visit his homeland. And Max was certainly agreeable.
"Tired luv?" Spike asked as he removed his jacket and tossed it on the sofa. She simply nodded. She pulled up her hair and presented her back to him. With ease, he gently lowered the zipper of her dress for her, placing an affectionate kiss at the nape of her neck. She shivered a little as the cool air caressed her skin. She dropped her hair and slid the straps of the dress from her arms, turning as she did so.
"What happened to your tie tonight?" she asked playfully. It was a chore getting him to willingly dress up. And she knew that he only did so for her. The tie was one that she had chosen as it mirrored the wealth of color in his eyes. With a mischievous grin, he reached over to his coat pocket and extracted it. He held it up for her inspection.
"The little nipper tried to take a piece out of it," he chuckled. Buffy grimaced at the damp end.
"Eva’s got good taste," she sighed. At least it wasn’t damaged irreparably. She’d had to scrape together the cash to purchase it. She removed her own dress then carried it over to the closet to hang up. It would have to be dry-cleaned, but that didn’t mean she wanted to just leave it lying around. "I noticed you holding her earlier," she mentioned.
"She’s a sweet l’il bit," he smiled, thinking back on the rightness of her weight in his arms. He had finally slid all the buttons free on his shirt and let it hang loose as he moved towards his lover. His arms encircled her from behind, his hands rubbing across the satiny fabric of her little white slip. "And you know," he drawled in her ear, "it got me to thinking." Buffy stiffened in his arms, holding the breath that suddenly seemed so loud in the rushing of her ears. Dare she hope that he was going to say what she thought he was going to say?
"Thinking what?" she managed to croak out. Spike rested his chin on her shoulder as his hands continued to rub across her stomach in tiny circles.
"I’m thinking, that I’d still like us to be settled," he grinned as she tensed even more. "I’d like us to have a place to live, money to support ourselves. But I’m also thinking, that even if you were to get pregnant tonight, that’s still give us months to sort it all out." He loosened his grip as she squirmed, letting her turn around in his embrace. She rested her hands on his chest, leaning back a little to look up at him.
"Spike, are you serious?" she gasped. They’d talked this over so many times. She knew that he wasn’t unwilling, just that he was trying to be practical and look at the whole picture. He nodded an enchanting glint in his eyes. "Tonight?" He nodded again. Buffy felt a little surge of lust through her, fueled by the natural emotion she felt when contemplating the natural act she’d originally been designed for. Having a child. Having Spike’s child. She calculated swiftly in her mind. She was still a few days off in her cycle for maximum potency, but that wouldn’t harm anything.
"So how about it?" he whispered against her skin as his lips caressed the sensitive area of her collarbone. "Does baby want to have my baby?" Buffy couldn’t contain herself. She jumped slightly, wrapping her legs around his waist. He caught her as she began to rain kisses down upon his face. She was grinning like a mad woman. "I’ll take that as a yes, then?" He began to shuffle towards the bed as she pushed the shirt further off his chest, words no longer necessary. The anticipation glowing in her eyes told Spike that their night was going to be a lot longer than he’d anticipated. Not that he minded. ‘Oh well,’ he thought with a mental shrug. ‘They could always skip the breakfast in the morning.’
Buffy was bright eyed and bushy tailed the next morning. Even though she’d only gotten a few hours of sleep, she still felt better than she had in a long time. She’d slipped from their bed, giving Spike a peck on the cheek as she hurried to the shower. She was ravenously hungry and wondered what was on the menu. Even so, she lingered in the shower, enjoying the heated water playing over her body. Only when she recalled that she was in a fairly full hotel with other guests wanting the same luxury, did she get out. She wasn’t sure about the capabilities of the water heaters here yet and figured that Spike would probably want a turn as well. If he ever got up. She was fully dressed, in a casual sundress by the time he managed to lift his head wearily from the burrow of blankets and pillows.
"Bloody hell woman," he groaned with a half smile. "How the hell can you not be tired after last night?"
"Residual sexual energy?" she teased, perching on the edge of the bed.
"Really?" he grunted, then pulled the blanket away from his face. "Share then?" Buffy giggled, leaning over to give him a kiss. She pulled back, but he followed, craning his neck until it became too much and his head fell back to the bed with a soft noise. "Oy," he grumbled as she remained just out of reach. "That’s not playing fair Slayer."
"And since when have you ever played fair?" she countered. He rolled his eyes, but the look soon changed to tenderness as his hand stole out to caress her leg.
"So?" he wondered, "do you suppose we…?" Buffy glanced down at her stomach, knowing what he meant.
"Probably not," she shrugged. "Even though we may have set a record. I think my body will be ready in a few days." She paused as he nodded, taking that in. "But it sure was fun trying."
"Practicing luv," he grinned. His hand continued to stroke her leg. "Cor, I’m gonna love seeing you get all big and round and soft."
"Hey, I’m soft already," she protested mockingly.
"Softer then," he amended. She leaned over to kiss him again, staying longer this time.
"Speaking of getting big," she paused to waggle her eyebrows at him, "my tummy is in desperate need of food. It needs a fill up. I’m going to get some. You going to come with?"
"Spoilsport," he groaned, dropping his hand from her thigh. He yawned once more. "Nah. If you’re not gonna stay and play, maybe I’ll get some more sleep."
"All right," she nodded. "See you downstairs then." He was already burrowing back under the covers as she slipped from the room, only to bump into someone else. She looked up and grinned. "Hey Wills."
"Oh, hi Buffy," the redhead greeted her friend. Buffy looked closely, noticing the pale features of her best friend. And somehow, she didn’t think the circles under her eyes were the result of the long night. Her great mood was dimmed a little as she contemplated her best friend’s plight. She caught the furtive glance back along the hallway and knew then that the trouble stemmed from girlfriend problems.
"You okay Willow?" she asked solicitously. The other woman nodded, resigned. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to hide this from Buffy, but she wasn’t really up to discussing it in the middle of the hallway. It seemed that her friend understood as she took her arm and led her down the hallway. "Don’t worry," she offered placatingly. "It’ll work itself out, I’m sure."
"Yeah," Willow agreed. One way or another, she’d get through this. That was part of the problem. The thought of simply getting through a break-up with Kennedy wasn’t as painful as all her other getting throughs had been. Maybe there just wasn’t enough there to care about anymore. Before she could continue down that lane of thought though, she keenly changed the subject. "So what are you so perky about this morning?" She grinned as she glanced back at the room Buffy had just come from. "As if I had to ask."
Buffy grinned at the thought of sharing her news with her best friend. She did consider for a moment, keeping this news to herself. But her closest friends knew of her greatest desire to date and were heartily approving of the endeavor, Willow foremost among them. Well, right after Dawn. The teenager was especially keen to become an aunt and have the title of "youngest-must-be-protected" passed on. "Well," she began, trying to hold back the delirious grin; "Spike and I decided last night to start trying."
"What?" Willow shrieked. There were muffled protests from behind closed doors at the amount of volume she put into her surprise and she clapped a hand over her mouth in consternation. With her other hand, she squeezed Buffy’s hand. "Oh, I’m so happy for you guys," she sniffed as tears gathered in her eyes. They hugged quickly, but Willow pulled back, a little puzzled. "But I thought Spike wanted to wait?"
"That’s what I thought too," Buffy admitted. "But he got to thinking about it."
"What changed?"
"Eva," she replied enigmatically. "And the fact that he finally cottoned on to the fact that babies take a while to arrive."
"Well good for him," Willow bounced along excitedly. This was much better news than she’d figured on. At least someone was happy, aside from the proverbial happy couple. They made their way down to the fantastic buffet spread that had been laid out before Buffy noticed that Willow had been clutching an envelope in her hand. She mentioned it as Dawn hurried over to them.
"What’s that Will?" she pointed to the paper even as Dawn grabbed their hands and began pulling them towards the table she’d been seated at.
"Letter from Xander," she chuckled. "Thought you might like to read it."
"I got one a few weeks ago," Dawn preened. "He always writes to me."
"Good for you Dawnie," Buffy remarked dryly. She smiled as she sat down. Dawn had already filled plates for them, knowing how legendary her sister’s appetite could be after all nighters… of various kinds. "Thanks," she mumbled around a bite of quiche. Willow handed the letter over and dug into her own plate of food. Buffy perused the letter as she ate, smiling at her friend’s little quips and the description’s of all his activities. A letter from Xander never failed to make her smile, then miss him terribly. And today was no exception. She passed the letter on to Dawn and turned to Willow. "He sounds like he’s doing better."
"Yeah," Willow agreed. Neither of them had thought that it would take Xander this long to get over Anya. But considering how they reacted when they lost loved ones, this was actually an amazingly healthy response. "Oh, you should see what Xander got Max and Angel!" Buffy nearly dropped her fork.
"Xander got Angel a present?" she was dumbfounded. Never had any sign of affection passed from one to the other. They’d only tolerated each other for her sake. Willow nodded as she took another bite.
"It’s absolutely gorgeous," she continued. "He asked me to pick it up at customs and we had to check and make sure it didn’t break." Spike finally strolled up to them, unable to sleep after Buffy had left. He glanced down at his dumbstruck girlfriend.
"What’s the matter luv?" he asked, frowning slightly. If he went by the look alone, he’d swear that another apocalypse was on its way.
"Xander got Angel a present," she blurted out. He grinned, understanding why she was so shocked.
"Hey, I got the poofter a present," he protested, "and I don’t see you acting all put out."
"We got him a gift," she growled, stressing the ‘we’. "And I’m not put out. I’m just surprised is all."
"I don’t see why," Dawn huffed. "Xander can be really sweet and mature… when he wants to be."
"Those’re the optional words, huh nibblet?" Spike laughed. He bent down to kiss Buffy’s forehead, then moved off to find a plate of food for himself.
After the guests had more or less sated themselves on the morning feast, the select few who were invited moved off with the O’Connor’s for the gift opening. Dawn was looking forward to it, as she couldn’t wait to see all the gifts. She was still a child in some respects, despite what she wanted everyone to believe. Everyone was touched though, when they finally came to Xander’s gift. Angel had pulled open the card and read it through silently, then handed it to his wife, a slightly suspicious misty look on his face. Max read it quickly, then with a smile, read it aloud for the group’s benefit.
"This gift is for a woman I’ve never met," she smiled, "but have heard many wonderful thing about. And it is for her husband, a man I barely know. I had the chance, but I didn’t take it. I hope that one day, that chance will still be there. So, with this gift comes love and respect and admiration of the courage it took to embark upon the most wonderful adventure that will ever come your way. Congratulations for your wedding and the best wishes for the journey ahead. Love Xander Harris."
There were many bleary eyes among the room. No one said anything for a moment until Giles sniffled. "I never knew Xander could be so eloquent."
"I did," Cordy reminisced with a sad smile. "Well," she glanced at the couple, "come on, I want to see what he got you." With a burst of laughter at her pointedness, the couple unwrapped the gift. There was plenty of awe and a satisfied look on Willow’s face as the paper fell away to reveal the hand-blown glass vase. But it was more than just that. Xander had had it personally made. With full color, it depicted a slim tree trunk, with two dark haired lovers peeking around the base at each other, their hands joined, smiles on their tiny faces. Cordy sniffled once. "Oh, that’s so beautiful."
"Yeah," Angel nodded, resting his head on Max’s. "It is." More important to him than the gift, was the sign of acceptance from the other man.
Dreams Coming True
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