Restive Nature
Rated NC-17
Chapter Nine
Bouncing Baby Boy
"This day was so great," Buffy sighed as she set the last of the washed and dried dishes in the cupboard. They’d used mostly disposable stuff, but there were still pans and some utensils to clean up. Spike glanced up from where he was seated at the table, the last ale Wesley had brought before him. He watched as Buffy folded the dishtowel and laid it over the bar specifically placed for that purpose by the sink. She stretched gracefully and he smiled.
"Tired luv?" he asked sympathetically. He’d forgotten how exhausting a full day of preparations and partying could be. Even if it was just themselves, five guests and a barbecue. She nodded and he quickly finished the bottle off, then tossed it in the garbage. He rose from the table while Buffy shut off the lights. He did his now nightly ritual of checking to make sure doors were locked and they were secure in their home. After making sure the deadbolt was locked, he waited for his fiancée at the foot of the stairs. She’d stopped at the basement door and cracked it open to listen for a moment. There was no sound aside from the soft music that Dawn occasionally listened to as she drifted off.
Buffy joined Spike at the stairs and wrapped her arm around his waist. He did likewise and they made their way to their room. "Everything okay with Red?" he asked quietly. She sighed. After the fireworks were over, the group had returned to the house. It was nearly ten o’clock by the time they’d gotten back. After another half-hour of chatter and snacking, the AI group had declared their intentions to leave. After seeing them off, Buffy had returned to the living room to see Willow distractedly cleaning up. As there wasn’t much to actually do, the blonde recognized it for the stalling tactic that it was.
She’d waited until Willow had run out of things to keep her hands busy. The redhead had finally begun with apologizing for Kennedy’s absence. Buffy made it clear that it was the other girls loss. A few jokes and nudging, teasing comments and Willow was able to open up. Spike and Dawn had wisely busied themselves elsewhere in the house. They’d talked over the problems and the feelings and at the end, were no closer to a solution. But that wasn’t what Willow needed. She and Buffy both needed to reconnect, to know that there was support for each other that they’d been missing for a while.
"She’s okay," she finally replied. "Things with Kennedy aren’t great. And she knows it. I just don’t think Willow knows how to end it. I mean, she’s never been the breaker upper. She’s always been the dumpee."
"I don’t think it’ll hurt the li’l bint any to be dumped," Spike groused. "Knock her off the pedestal she’s got herself on." Buffy giggled as she pulled away from him and rummaged through her drawers. She pulled out a slightly worn nightgown and began stripping off her clothes. Spike was ridding himself of his clothes as well. It was no secret that he’d taken a rather dim view of the girl, mostly from the way she treated other people. It had compounded after her reaction to his being alive again, as if she couldn’t understand why he was considered worthy. In her eyes, it had been Willow and the Slayers who’d saved the day, not his burning up and destroying the thousands of Turok-Han that the Slayers hadn’t gotten to yet.
Spike hadn’t admitted it out loud, and didn’t think he needed to, but Kennedy’s behavior towards Willow bothered him. For the most part, he hadn’t interfered with the others. He’d been getting better about not constantly blurting out the first thing that came to mind. The bonus of which was that people were more willing to hang with him when he wasn’t disparaging them in his insightfully devastating manner. But it was that insight that led him to caring about Buffy’s friends beyond what they meant to her. Willow had been friendly to him, if not always supportive. In a way, he also looked on her as part of their little family. So to see Kennedy treating her in the possessive, domineering way the girl had about her made him grind his teeth. It seemed to him that the young Slayer was slowly submersing Willow’s personality in her drive to be dominant in everything she did. But it seemed that Willow had a handle on her own life. He wasn’t about to interfere and knowingly risk Buffy’s wrath by going behind her back.
As Willow’s acknowledged best friend, Buffy took exception to him interfering and trying to make things better. He’d already learned his lesson when he made plans with Willow once that had nothing to do with her. He’d tried to point out that Dawn did it all the time and Buffy had gone off into the boyfriend versus sister tangent as it related to friends. Her logic truly made his head spin at times, and not in the good Exorcist kind of way. More like a triple loop roller coaster that wouldn’t stop running until you’d vomited all over the operator. Spike shook his head slightly. He was getting way too introspective for this time of night. Especially when he had better things to do. He kicked his clothes towards the closet so that Buffy wouldn’t nag him later. He slid into the bed and held back the covers for her to join him.
Buffy got into bed, fidgeting slightly to get comfortable. She ended up on her side, facing away from him. She felt his hand slide over her hip, his lips seeking the curve of her neck and shoulder. "Mmm," she protested softly. "Sleep Spike." He paused for just a moment, then continued whispering kisses across her flesh. He moved his free hand to splay across her belly, pulling her tightly back against him. She didn’t respond and he levered himself up to look over into her face. He was met with a head splitting yawn.
"You really are tired, huh?" he chuckled. It seemed rare for her to be that worn out. She normally had a spring of energy. She nodded. He tried to hide his disappointment, but obviously didn’t manage.
"You can molest me while I sleep," she teasingly murmured.
"Not as much fun," he grumbled with an amused smile, "but I’ll keep it in mind." She blinked once and rested her head on the pillow again. Spike curled his body around hers and let himself relax. T didn’t take either long to drop off.
It was a dream. She knew it was, but it didn’t matter. It didn’t have the ominous feeling that her Slayer dreams held. But neither did it have the unreal quality that accompanied dreams welling up from her psyche. Instead, Buffy realized that she was dreaming of a place that she’d loved. As she glanced around at the vaguely familiar grass carpeted field, she cocked her head. Each time she dreamt of this place, it was slightly different. As if the passage of time was taking its toll, but so slowly that months could pass between visits and very little had changed. But change it did. She wondered occasionally what this place was changing to, but knew she’d never live long enough to see it in her lifetime. Even if she lived to be one hundred.
Without aim, she began to wander, taking in the smell of the trees in the distance, carried to her by a warm breeze. She rubbed her hands together as the sunlight played over her face. That was another thing. The sun never stopped shining here. And as she was enjoying it, a faint call finally caught her attention. It always sounded to her like a rabbit squalling at first, but she’d grown used to it. When she thought at all of it, she realized that distance was distorting the sound some. What she didn’t question was that every time; the call always came from the direction she was heading. It didn’t matter which path she started on; she knew what was waiting for her at the end.
Time had no meaning for her. She’d get there when she got there and when she finally did, the familiar scene tugged at her heart. In the clearing, the grass gradually formed to a carpeted floor. The world morphed into a small room. It was just perfect, containing a rocking chair and crib. The four walls didn’t press in too close and no matter where she sat, the sun shone in through the window on her. Buffy approached the crib eagerly. She peeked over top, wondering if this would be the time when she caught the baby off guard. But it seemed as if he knew when she was close. His crying ceased and he watched for her with avid eyes. His little face broke out in a grin when he saw her. His little body wriggled with excitement. With a joyous cry, Buffy reached in to lift him up.
With tender hands, she carried him over to the rocking chair. She settled herself in; the baby snuggled in close. "Hey sweetheart," she crooned. He wriggled again and she let him, knowing that she had a secure hold on him. "Did you miss me? I missed you." The baby of course didn’t answer, but that wasn’t why she was here. She took in his little face, amazed that she had such a connection with him already. She’d read about women who had dreamed of the children they would have. But never had she heard of women who knew exactly what their child would grow to be. Knew his likes and dislikes. Knew how tall he’d be, how strong and noble and brave. But she did. It was this special knowledge of the future that she held deep within herself, to be shared with no one. Not even Spike. After all, it wouldn’t be fair to ruin the surprise for him. She didn’t mind though. If this was one of the ways she had to be different, to bond with her child before he was even born, she’d take on all the hellmouths the world over to bask in this moment with him. He was just too precious for words.
They sat together through the night. Buffy talked, hummed and rocked the baby. He on the other hand slept, woke and cooed at her in that order, continuously. She told him about what was happening in her life, not caring that he wouldn’t understand. Although it seemed in a way as if he were responding to each worry and burden. It felt good to share these things with someone who couldn’t judge her and would be a major part of her life. Of course, that would have to stop once he was in the world with her. She promised herself that her child would have a wonderful childhood, not filled with the grown-up issues that had invaded her life from such an early age.
She talked as well of her future plans, specifically what she would do with her son. How she’d hold him like this all the time, play with him, feed him, and how eventually there’d be school and sports and then dating and graduation. And she promised that she would be there for it all. He smiled up at her as she said this, as if he knew that she would fulfill that vow, as reckless as it was in her line of work. His innocent belief in her fueled her own confidence in herself. She would do anything in the world to care for this child, her boy once he had arrived. Until then, she’d dream of him, make love to Spike and eagerly wait for the time when all their dreams came true.
Too soon their time came to an end. She felt her attention fading from him. Something else was clamoring for her attention. She had grown used to this as well. Sighing, she rose from the rocker, moving him back to the crib. He was asleep again, as if he knew of her upcoming leaving and was content to sleep until the next time she came to visit. She bent over to give him a feather light kiss on the forehead. Her eyes grew misty as she contemplated leaving him again. It was getting harder, these dreams. The end of them. But as she floated back to wakefulness, she reminded herself that soon it would be reality and not just a dream.
With that in mind, she rolled over to wake her lover. It was remarkably easy, a few kisses, an intimate caress and he was awake. But the scamp that he was, pretended to still be asleep. Buffy played along, prolonging the teasing, willing to drive him utterly mad if that’s what he wanted. It was only when her mouth enclosed his increasing erection did he give a startled moan and half sat up. Buffy let him loose and smiled up at him. "Good morning," she announced cheerfully, crawling up beside him.
"It was," he grumbled, laying back and flinging an arm over his face against the sunlight filtering in the room. "Until you quit, that is." He moved his arm a bit, peering at her hopefully. She continued to beam at him, her fingers walking along his chest. He watched her with interest; after all, it was his body she was playing with. She continued her teasing until his eyes were ready to cross. This was new. Normally she could only stand so long before she moved things to the next level. He’d never really had to endure more than a few minutes before she took a more active role. But it seemed that this time was all about him. And what his threshold was. He held on furiously to the enjoyment, until it almost became painful, gasping out, "someone’s in a good mood this morning."
"You got that right," Buffy chuckled. There were no more words as she attacked him fully, intent on their pleasure. They were both shivering by the time they were done.
"Now it’s a good morning," Spike panted. He placed a kiss on her head as she lay against his chest. She nodded slightly; not capable of forming words yet. "What put you in such a great mood?" he asked curiously.
"Had a good dream," she replied vaguely.
"What was it about?" he asked softly. He knew the patterns to her dreams. Knew the pain she endured upon waking after a prophetic dream. The agony of wondering whether it would come to pass. He knew the crankiness that would come if they were dreams of her past. The good humor that accompanied the dreams that grew out of the activities of the day. Loved the dreams that coated her eyes with lust when they opened. But it had been a long time since she’d had a dream that had caused her to wake with a grin on her face, and lightness of spirit. And he wanted to know what it was, most hopefully for a repeat of this morning sometime in the future.
"This and that," she replied vaguely. She was reluctant to answer. She and Spike had just recently decided to have this baby. She didn’t want him to think that she was obsessing about the idea already, even though she was. Just a little. She watched as he raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Of course, by being vague, she ran the risk of intriguing him further. As she seemed to have done now.
"Really?’ he drawled. "And what this and that was going on?" She let out a small giggle.
"Spike, do I honestly have to explain about the birds and the bees?" she taunted. "’Cause if I do, then what the hell were we just doing?"
"The horizontal mambo?" he joked. "Playin’ hide the peter?"
"It’s wienie you moron," Buffy giggled, tickling his side.
"I’m a Brit," he defended. "It’s my peter."
"Peter is a name Spike," she rolled her eyes at him. "You named your dick?"
"Yep!" He paused a moment, looking horrified. "Don’t tell me I never introduced ya properly?"
"Oh," Buffy tried to look horrified as well, failing miserably but playing along. "All this time and I never knew its name. I’m such a slut."
"Ah, but you’re my slut," Spike grinned.
"But I don’t want to be a slut," she whined pitifully. She smacked her hand lightly on her thigh. "Well, that does it. No more hanky panky with the wienie until I’ve been properly introduced."
"Yeah, right," Spike scoffed merrily, his eyes twinkling. Buffy sat up suddenly. "Like that’ll last long." She turned to him, her face suddenly serious.
"No Spike," she shook her head. "Think about it. We could, you know, abstain awhile, like until the wedding. And then just think of how great our wedding night would be." She scooted off the bed, gathering her robe from the closet and pulled it on, seemingly unconcerned about his reaction. Which was not good at all. He’d stilled, felt as if the breath had been knocked from his lungs. She sauntered from their room, but as the door was slipping shut, he reacted. He leapt from the bed and yanked the door almost hard enough to pull it from its hinges. He marched into the hallway, to be instantly met with the slamming of the bathroom door. He banged on it and cursed under his breath as he heard the lock click into place.
"Slayer!" he growled loudly. "Open up. There will be no bloody abstaining. Do you hear me?" Silence met his words.
Buffy struggled to contain herself in the bathroom. Laughing now would just spoil her fun. She leaned against the door, listening to her fiancé ranting about idiotic women and their bloody absurd ideas. Finally she could stand no more and waited until she heard his fist thumping against the wall. She opened the door just a crack, peeking out at him. He had his back to the door and was leaning his forehead on the arm that had just punched the wall, thankfully not at Slayer strength. "Gotcha," she giggled. Spike spun around and charged at her. She opened the door wide; not wanting to see it ruined.
Spike swept her up in his arms and thrust her onto the counter so that she was eye level with him. "Never do that again!" he growled. She just laughed. "I’m serious," he continued. "Don’t even joke about it."
"But your face…" she sputtered, "…so funny…" she gasped. "And the idea…as if." Once he heard that, Spike was able to calm down. He’d endured torture at the hands of Glory and her minions. That was a cakewalk compared to thinking he’d have to wait four months to make love to her again.
"God, you don’t play fair," he complained as she hugged him close to her.
"Never said I would," she teased. "Now get out. I want to take a nice warm shower and slather myself in body wash, and then…" she trailed off as he groaned, his eyes screwed shut.
"I hope you realize one thing Slayer," he muttered in her ear.
"What’s that?" she quipped.
"Payback’s a bitch," he warned. With that parting shot, he sauntered back to their room to don some pants before venturing downstairs. More likely than not Dawn was already up. Their morning exercises had up a bit of time. Granted, Dawn was on vacation now, but she had outgrown sleeping past noon. But all was silent as he descended the steps. Shrugging to himself, he set about making breakfast. He had everything ready by the time Buffy made her way downstairs. She looked about for Dawn, but Spike just jerked his head towards her door. But it was not as he assumed. He was debating whether or not to risk the teen’s wrath by waking her up when Dawn breezed in through the front door.
"God," she grimaced, "are you two just getting up?" She took in the breakfast and suck some of the bacon Spike had prepared. "I’ve been up for hours."
"Yeah right" her sister scoffed. "What on earth would make my little sister get out of bed before eleven if she didn’t have to?" With a perky movement, Dawn spun around to grab the newspapers she’d deposited on the counter. Buffy and Spike exchanged a mildly apprehensive look as they recognized the classifieds.
"A job!"
Growing Older, Growing Wiser
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