Expecting The Unexpected

A/ N : Thankyou so much for the reviews and the votes. It means so much . This chapter is a little short and angsty, but from here it will get happier I promise.




Chapter Two

Spike arrived home with his arms and hands full of bags. He stumbled through the door and kicked it shut behind him, dropping a few of the bags.Buffy shifted from her reclined position and watched him, trying hard not to snigger.

"That's it bint, just sit there an' watch me while you smirk.Get off your arse an help me"

Buffy stood up and stretched her back before taking some of the bags from him.

"What have you got here, looks like you went a bit over the top for just one night"

Spike looked at her with sad eyes "I thought maybe you could stay a while longer pet. I want to find out what I missed an' make up for lost time"
"I'm not staying far from here and well , I won't be going anywhere until after the birth" Buffy took the bags into the bedroom and put them on the bed .
Spike put the others beside the bed and started to unpack them "This should keep you goin' f' a while . There's a few bits in there for the baby too"
"You shouldn't have Spike. It's sweet of you but I have most of the things I need"
His face hardened again and he left her to unpack. Realising she had done it again she growled at herself and looked up at heaven "When will I learn" she said to herself. Buffy abandoned the packages and went back into the lounge. Spike was sat playing on his Xbox.

Buffy smirked at the vampire that at that moment was beating the crap out of his opponent in a martial arts game of some sorts. When she sat down next to him he snorted and his character laid down a rather brutal attack on its nemesis , which he had named Angel.
Buffy shook her head and smirked .
"What?" he snapped at her
"You guys? Will you ever grow up?" she pointed at the screen.
"Was I gonna call it Bob the Stink Guy? No i don't soddin think so! An' I can hardly beat on the ponce now can I, he's all important CEO of Hell Inc so" he shrugged.
"Lots changed over the last six months, I'm not feeling so tired now, can we talk, maybe clear the air"
"Not in the mood" he threw the hand set to the console down though and turned the T.V off.

Buffy drank one of the soda's and went to the toilet again. This part of pregnancy was one she wouldn't miss. When she returned , Spike had set his bedding up on the couch. Buffy took the hint, said goodnight quietly and retired to his bedroom.

Both of them laid awake for hours.
Being this close to him was driving her nuts. He used to have this affect on her before but add in pregnancy hormones and the shock of finding out he was alive again, well it was causing her no end of emotional trouble.
He heard her sigh for about the tenth time and he put a pillow over his head. All he wanted to do was go in there, spoon behind her and hold her against him, and feel his baby kick. He felt like a prize idiot. If he had kept his insecurities under wraps and just talked to her, he might have been doing just that by now.
The baby kicked up a storm in her belly and Buffy couldn't get comfy now, plus the babies movements made her need the bathroom again. She opened the bedroom door quietly and peered at him. He looked as though he was asleep. Buffy tiptoed across the lounge and opened the bathroom door.

"You might have made it across there if you weren't three stone heavier "
She froze and closed her eyes
"Oh n' if I could sleep, of course" he continued
"I'm sorry, I need to go again" she rushed in , shut the door .

Spike put the lamp on and waited for her to return. He nervously chipped away at his black nail varnish.

Buffy came out of the toilet and stood nervously waiting for him to say something. It was pretty obvious that he wanted to.

"Sit down and listen to me. "

Buffy sat on the edge of the couch and leant against the arm.

"I was trapped in that soddin' amulet for months before it got mailed back to Wolfram and Hart. I don't remember where I was thank god, so I cant tell you if I was in hell . I was nothing but ashes and had to go through the pain of being made flesh again. I thought that was it, I was back, first things first , find Buffy. I was disoriented and came face to face with the Poof. Was gonna attack 'im and ended up knee deep in his desk, as in standin' in the middle of it, I was a soddin' spook Buff. I couldn't ring you or let you know I was back.Fair enough I s'pose I could have got one of the pricks at Wolfram an' Hart to get hold of you but I wasn't thinkin' straight.Fred was goin bloody loopy trying to get me back to normal , then a box came in the post an' a flash of light an' there I was, solid again. It was then that we went to Italy n saw you with the Immortal. If you knew the history there you'd understand why I stayed away after that."
"Tell me"
Spike looked at her through his lashes "K then , he trapped me n Angelus, chained us up by our wrists then defiled Dru n' Darla. Made it a personal thing through the years, never did get the wanker back for it. Thought he heard bout you n' me and was doin' it again, I wasn't going to stick around for the torture scene luv" he lit up a cigarette.

Buffy waved the smoke out of her vision and sat closer to him. Spike put the cigarette out and sat back. "So you gonbna tell me your story then pet?"

"We got out of the hell mouth just as the cave started to collapse. Everyone that survived got on the bus, I .... I waited a while longer to see if you came up after me. The school started to fall into the pit and I ran up the stairs and out onto the roof. The bus was speeding away by then so I ran across the roof tops to catch up. I just made it onto the buses roof. We came to a stop just outside Sunnydale. It was then that I knew"
Buffy started crying and Spike took her into his arms. He was always a soft git when it came to tears.

"Knew what luv?"
"You were dead, gone" she sobbed.

It took a while for Buffy to compose herself so that she could carry on.

"The guys didn't know how it happened but , I told them it was you. I think Giles said something like 'bloody typical' " she laughed " We stayed at some motel in the middle of nowhere. The last few demons that had escaped made it there over the next few days so, I slayed, but my heart wasn't in it. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat. I kept hearing you saying ' No you don't but thanks for saying it' . You didn't believe me, and I did, I do love you I mean. It hurt that you died without knowing it.Dawn grieved for a while but once we made it to France she seemed better. Willow took us to London and we stayed there while Giles tried to sort out the new Watchers Council. From London we went to Spain and stayed there to recharge and relax. We were there for three weeks before we got a call and then we went to Italy. So you know that I worked with the Immortal for a while . We found out that he was in league with the Italian Wolfram and Hart and that he had set out to keep me occupied while some demons tried to take out the group of girls that I had taken there with me. Giles stayed in London , Xander was in Africa and Kennedy and Faith were in Cleveland.Dawn enrolled in school there and Andrew lived with us as he was training to become a Watcher to the girls in Italy. It was then that I started to suffer from morning sickness, course I didn't know that's what it was. Once I knew, the girls took over the nightly patrols and Dawn looked after me. Willow and Giles came back to Italy so that they could help. Do you know how boring Italy is when your alone and pregnant? I got to twenty six weeks and the doctor said that if I was going to go back to the States then I had to come back then as the long flight wouldn't be good on my blood pressure. I made the choice to come back then and I stayed with a few potentials, though I guess I shouldn't call them that now. I went back. To Sunnydale. alone. They said it was a localised earthquake. They dug for a while, then gave up. While I was staying at the next town over I went to a ... I had a headstone made for you. It's on the roadside as you approach Sunnydale. It was something a I had to do. I needed to do it. I got a call saying that a crazy slayer was loose and had cut up a vampire and that they were sending Andrew and some of the young slayers to deal with it and I would receive the report, so I sat around on my butt , bored. I tanned, I read, I advised but I kept out of the slaying circle. Giles said once I started to show, demons would come after me. They falsified reports and hired look a likes to fool any enemies into believing that I was anywhere but here. So, I'm safe for now. I have doppelgänger and fake sightings keeping them away from me. I heard that Angel was having a crisis of some sort and I came to help him. I turned up and well, here we are "

Spike was holding her so tight by now that breathing was becoming an issue. He kept one hand on the bump.

"I want to go see it" he said quietly
"See what?"
"My headstone Buffy" he sniffed "No ones ever done anything like that for me"
"How long til dawn?" She looked around the apartment for a clock , but couldn't see one
"We can make it if we go now, but the cars got nechro glass, so it's safe for me to drive in daylight"
"Nifty " she stood up and went into the bedroom. "Are you going to help me unpack then?"

Spike and Buffy unpacked the clothes and she changed into a dress that he had bought her.

"I'm ready when you are. Are you sure you want to do this?" she cupped his cheek
"Lets go"

Buffy slept most of the way there and Spike listened to the babies heartbeat , he laid one hand on the bump and could feel all the little kicks and punches and somersaults it made while she slept. The baby was definitely a strong lil thing. As he approached Sunnydale he slowed down. He started breathing fast and shallow. If he could sweat, he would be soaked.
Buffy stirred and reached down for his hand. Spike felt the panic wash away with her simple gesture. Maybe they were more in tune with each other than they realised.
He pulled the car over and put it in park. Buffy woke up and wiped her mouth and eyes.

"Could have told me I was drooling"
"Thought it was cos you were sat near me pet" he smirked "C'mon, we're here"
They got out and walked hand in hand to the spot that Buffy had picked.

It was black and red, his favourite colours, under a tree so it was shaded from the sun , it was understated , like him. Buffy knelt and cleared away the weeds and dead flowers. Spike put his hand on her shoulder and closed his eyes, trying hard to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. Once he felt as though he had gained control, he read the inscription.

William
To Live On In My Heart
Is Not To Die
To Save The World
Took Just One
All The World
Will Never Know
Most Of All
You Saved Me
May Your Soul
Rest In Peace

He ran his shaking fingers over the engraving . Tears flowed down his cheeks. The sentiment in the words felt like they were crushing his unbeating heart. He didn't doubt her love for him now.Buffy took his hand in hers and stood beside him.

"Its beautiful Buffy"

No words were exchanged . They stood in silence .