ONE NORMAL LIFE / TWO EXTRAORDINARY LIVES

CHAPTER 69 – THE COUNT


William and Buffy awoke to the sounds of the Xander yelling, "Be quite Alex, others are still sleeping."

"Think someone should tell him that yelling to 'be quiet' is as bad as the 'original' yelling?" Buffy asked.

William snickered, then pulled her closer to him, "Go back to sleep, we don't have to be up for another half hour or so."


Angela came into the RV quietly and turned on the coffeepot. Ann was cooing happily on her mother's hip, as she warmed her bottle in the microwave.

"Morning," Dawn said, sitting up.

"Hi Dawn, sleep well?"

"Yeah, I went right out. How 'bout you guys?"

"Slept great. Even this one slept through the night. Sometimes she doesn't when we're away from home. Guess all that fresh air tired her out."

"Where's Xander?"

"Him and Alex are taking down the tent. I should go help, but I figured I'd better get Ann her bottle before she got cranky right in the middle of things."

"I'll feed her if you want to help him. Just let me go to the bathroom first."

"Thanks, Dawn."

Willow stretched and yawned, "Morning,"

"Hey Willow," Angela said, "how was your night."

"Fine, thanks. Do you want me to start some breakfast while you're helping Xander?"

"Oh, that would be great, Willow. Thanks. We still have plenty of eggs. There's also some pancake mix, some turkey bacon, sausage, juice, cereal. Whatever you feel like making."

"I'll think of something, I'm sure."

"Good. Coffee's done, so help yourself. I'm just going to get a cup for Xander and me and get a juice box for Alex, then I'll be out of your hair. Or at least out of the 'kitchen' in any case," Angela said, laughing at her own joke.

Dawn came out of the bathroom, her long tresses, perfectly combed, looking like the beautiful young woman she was.

"Okay Dawn, here she is, just let her have as much of the bottle as she wants. She'll have some food later, but she still always wants her ba-ba, first thing."

"Aunt Dawn's going to hold you for a while, Ann," Angela said, handing her off.

Ann went easily to Dawn. She was by far, her favorite 'aunt,' on the trip so far.


"How's an omelet sound?" Willow asked Dawn.

"Sounds great."

"Think we ought to wake Buffy and William?" she asked, as she started to scramble the eggs.

"I'll do it," Dawn said, smiling.

"Be nice!" Willow warned.

"What? Me? I'm always nice," she said, laughing.

"Come on Ann, let's you and me wake up Buh and W'um," she said, using the names that Buffy had told her that Ann had tried to say.

Dawn knocked at the door.

"Yes?" William answered.

"You guys decent?" Dawn asked.

"Um, hold on."

Dawn could hear the rustling of bedcovers and clothes.

"Okay," William called.

Dawn opened the door, smiling. Ann saw them and cooed happily, "Buh!"

"Hi, Pumpkin," Buffy said, smiling.

"Pumpkin?" Dawn asked.

"Buffy shrugged, "Looks like a little pumpkin to me."

Dawn put Ann down by the foot of the bed and Ann crawled up between Buffy and William.

She sat down between them, looking at one then the other. She turned toward William, "W'um!" she said, then laughed an infectious baby laugh.

They laughed, too.

"That's me, "W'um," he said.

"W'um, ba-ba!"

William looked at Buffy, then at Dawn helplessly.

"She wants you to give her a bottle."

"Oh," he said, understanding.

Dawn handed it to him.

"W'um, ba-ba!" Ann repeated.

"You want W'um to drink the ba-ba?" he asked, pretending to drink from it.

Buffy watched as Ann went from not being sure if she should cry or laugh. So many emotions on that little face. She chose laughter.

William laughed along, pretending to drink from the bottle, making all sorts of silly, slurpy noises, "Um, yum-yum-yum, mmmm good ba-ba, yum..."

Finally, he handed it to her and she helped herself, still keeping a bemused eye on him, all the while holding onto Buffy's fingers as she leaned on her, facing him.

Buffy ran her fingers through her soft, blonde locks with her other hand, while William still made pretend slurping noises at her.

Buffy looked over at Dawn, who had been staring at them with something like awe. Buffy caught her eye and gave Dawn a, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch!" look.

If William had still been Spike, he surely would have heard her heartbeat increase, when she realized what it was that Dawn was smiling at. She didn't know why, but all of a sudden the whole scene made her want to bolt.
She would not, could not, wish for this whole scene, as if it might possibly be hers someday. It was just too much! Too much had happened...might still happen or, might not happen. Too many what ifs in her and William's life. She would not hope for things that she knew, would more than likely, never be hers. Or his.

She disentangled herself from Ann's tiny fingers, announcing, "I have to use the bathroom," and brushed past Dawn, with a sideways glance.

William, totally entranced and bewitched by this small girl's attention, seemed to have not noticed Buffy's discomfort at all.

Dawn sat down on the edge of the bed and Ann crawled over to her.

"She's adorable!" William exclaimed, as if just coming to a sudden revelation.

"She sure is," Dawn said, playing a game of baby-rap with Ann. She would tap her on her mouth, all the while Ann would make a noise, hence, coming out like baby-rap, ‘wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.’

"It would be nice someday, wouldn't it?" Dawn askilliilliam.

"What?"

Dawn motioned to Ann with her eyes.

"Oh, yes, it would be," he said, smiling brightly for a moment, then shook his head adding, "I don't think Elizabeth has any such ideas, however."

"She's afraid to…afraid of lots of things,” Dawn said, just barely refraining herself from saying, ‘afraid to lose someone she loves again.’

"I know," William said, remembering Elizabeth taking off from Fullers’ at the mention of marriage.

Dawn nodded, feeling sorry for bringing the whole thing up. She rose with Ann to go. As she got to the door, she turned to him.

"Promise me something, William?"

"What's that?"

"Don't give up on her."

"Never. I never will," he said softly.

Dawn smiled then turned to leave.

"Dawn?"

She turned around.

"Thank you for your friendship."

She smiled im aim and winked, then made her way out.

William sighed. So far, it had been a peculiar way to start the morning.


As they did the morning before, they ate on the road. Xander included, this time, from his seat behind the wheel.

William had decided to just have coffee, but Elizabeth insisted that he have some fruit and toast, and, if he felt the slightest twinge, he was to take at least half a Dramamine.

Luckily, neither his, nor Alex's stomach seemed to bother them that morning.

They stopped for gas once, before heading through the rest of the state and on to Kansas, where, after getting past Kansas City, they would take their afternoon 'siesta.'

Buffy sat alone in one of the chairs, looking out as the plains rolled by. William sat across from her on the couch, studying her face. She’d quiet since earlier that morning, after Dawn had ‘invaded’ their bedroom.

William sat on the couch across from her, playing with Alex and Ann, looking over at her and smiling sheepishly, once in a while. He almost felt guilty having this good of time with the kids, like it was something that she was being excluded from.

“Wanna join in the fun?” he asked her.

She shook her head, “Not now.”

“Okay,” he replied.

Ann toddled off to go sit on Xander’s lap, who had been given a break from driving by Angela, while Alex stayed with William.

William was going over numbers with Alex, when all of ddendden Alex said, “You’re a vampire!”

Time froze and everyone with it, until the only sound that could be heard was the road beneath them. Everyone that is, except, the baby, William, and Alex.

“Alex!” Xander said, almost desperately. He had this ready to pounce look on his face, as if any minute William was about to ‘eat’ his son. He handed Ann to Willow and stood up.

“What do you mean, I’m a vampire?” William asked, innocently.

“The Count,” Alex said.

“The Count?”

“Um-hmm.”

The Count? As in Dracula, Buffy thought? Was this kid channeling, or what? She saw Xander rise and stood up, too, ready to stop him from assaulting William, if necessary.

“The Count!” Alex insisted. “You know! On Sesame Street. The Count. Von, twooo, tdree, four, five,” Alex called out, then laughed a very ‘Count-like’ laugh, “ah-ha-ha-ha.”

Dawn broke the silence, laughing. Buffy turned to her, glowering, then both Xander and Buffy looked at each other and sat down, hearts pounding.

Dawn ignored her and said to William, “It’s a children’s show on Public Television. The Count is a…well, a counting vampire, von, twooo, tdree… You were counting.”

“Oh,” William said, still not quite getting it, except for the numbers.

“So, should I count that way, too Alex?”

Alex giggled, nodding.

“Okay, let’s see,” William said, clearing his throat, “Von, twoo, tdree, four, five…” he counted in a funny voice, then put his hands up, as if he were a ‘scary’ counting vampire.

Alex screamed in mock horror, all the while falling over laughing, when the ‘monster’s’ hands became tickling ones instead.

Buffy got up and went into the bedroom and closed the door. Dawn followed a minute later.

“Buffy? You okay?”

“Yeah, sure Dawn, just peachy-keen! How do you think I am?” she asked, through clenched teeth.

“Come on Buffy, it was just a little innocent thing. Nobody is the worse for it.”

“No? No? Did you see what happened in there? And it wasn’t only Xander’s reaction; it was all of ours. Nobody is ever going to forget, ever. Until one day…”

“He finds out?”

Buffy nodded.

“You could tell him.”

“I can’t. Not now. And even if I did, I wouldn’t know how to start. What do I say, ‘Oh by the way William, you used to be a vampire and enjoyed killing people? You were the Big Bad?’ That would go well!”

“You have to one day.”

“Not now!” Buffy said, turning to Dawn. “Please don’t do what you did again this morning. Can’t you see how…? There’s too many unknowns,” she said, shaking her head sadly.

“Buffy, look, I’m sorry about that, I didn’t mean to put any kind of pressure on you, it was just cute to see you guys like that, that’s all. Stop freaking out, okay? And the thing out there,” Dawn said, motioning, “it was just a little bump in the road.”

Buffy stared at her.

“Okay, it was a little jolt in the road, but nothing that hasn’t already been forgotten. Out of the mouth’s of babes, huh?”

Buffy nodded, “Did you see Xander?” she shuddered.

“Yeah, though I was going to have to deck him one, myself. I don’t know what he thought there for a minute.”

“I do, he thought that somehow Alex could see Spike,” Buffy said, “it’s what we all thought.”

Dawn was quiet for a minute, “I know, but it wasn’t that at all. William was counting, The Count, counts, and Alex watches Sesame Street. That was what Alex was relating to! Nothing to do with Spike, what-so-ever.”

“I know.”

“William really loves you, probably as much as Spike did,” Dawn said.

“I know. Why did you just mention that?”

“Just thought it wouldn’t hurt to remind you that other people see what you only hope is true,” Dawn said.

Buffy looked at her shocked, “I don’t just hope, I know…”

Dawn shook her head, “No, you don’t, Buffy. You really don’t ‘know’ it, not like you should.”

“Then I guess I don’t know what that means, because I do know that William loves me.”

She was going to say something else to Dawn, to defend herself, but there was a knock on the door.

“Hey guys, we’re stopping for lunch soon,” Xander’s said.

“Okay,” still looking at Dawn.

Dawn opened the door and Xander stuck his head in, “Can I talk to Buffy alone for a minute Dawn?”

“Sure,” Dawn answered, slipping past Xander.

Xander came into the bedroom and closed the door, looking uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry about that, out there, Buffy.

“I know.”

“I was just shocked when Alex said that. I didn’t even know he knew what a vampire was.”

“Well, Xander, there’s lots of kids books with vampires, there’s Halloween, Sesame Street, old movies, cartoons, just to name a few things.”

Having spent a semester taking Children’s Lit, plus working with children for the past couple of years, including her own class last year, she knew just how many stories a vam vampires there were, and how much children seemed to love them; the scarier, the better, too.

“I just didn’t know he knew…”

“He doesn’t,” Buffy said, coolly, “he just knows that William was playing with him.” She lowered her voice, “William the kind-hearted man sitting out there, not Spike. And to tell you the truth, I don’t even think pre-chipped Spike ate children.”

Xander looked at her, “You may be right, but he’s my kid, and if you were a parent, you’d feel the same way,” he said, instantly regretting the words.

“I’m sorry Buffy, I didn’t mean that. I just overreacted, okay? No harm. I’ve tried to protect my family from all that’s in the past. I don’t want them to have to worry about monsters.”

She looked at Xander and nodded. They all carried the scars of the past with them. Xander only had to look in the mirror everyday to see his. A huge scar on her psyche was sitting in the other room, back from the dead.

They felt the RV come to a stop.

“Forgiven,” Buffy said. She couldn’t say forgotten, because none of them ever forgot.

Xander nodded, “Good. Let’s have some lunch.”


After lunch, Xander and his family lay down for a rest, as they had yesterday, but Buffy had other ideas. Instead of pulling off into yet another faceless, nameless rest area, Angela, had pulled off the highway, past Topeka, Kansas, into a park/RV/rest area, that just happened to be directly across the road from a shopping mall.

That decision of Angela’s had brought wide smiles from Buffy, Dawn, and Willow. It also brought a groan from Xander, who could see that the near future, clearly, would take a bit longer to arrive at. Lastly, it brought a shake of the head from William, who was clearly more aligned in Xander’s court, even if he was fascinated by the array of wares he had seen in the Wal-Mart in Niles, MI.

Buffy decided to go and look at some clothes and shoes. Willow wanted to check out the mall’s Radio Shack for a computer cable and more memory. Dawn thought that she should run into Toys R Us and buy something for Alex and Ann, now that they’d gotten to know them and what their levels of interests were.

That left William. Dawn suggested that he go with. He readily agreed, not wanting to be forced, er, coerced, into possibly trying on clothes or some other such thing, that Elizabeth had suggested.

Buffy and Dawn had held onto William’s arm, with Willow behind, as they’d practically forced him to cross the busy highway with them, to the mall’s parking lot. Angela promised to bring the RV over to that side after their naps, so that the four of them didn’t have to back over, and so she could do a bit of looking around the mall herself.

After agreeing that they should all meet at Baskin Robbins in an hour, Buffy and Willow left Dawn and William across the parking lot at the Toys R Us, while they went into the mall proper.

Buffy decided to go with Willow to Radio Shack, then have Willow accompany her to where she wanted to go. She figured it might be the only time alone she’d have with Willow for the duration of the trip, except for a minute or two here and there.

Willow had been pleased that Buffy decided to come with her.

“Are you sure?” she’d asked.

“Well, it’s not like I haven’t been inside a Radio Shack before. I even have my own laptop at home and everything,” she’d replied, smiling.

“I know, I didn’t mean that you didn’t have any knowledge of computers, Buffy,” Willow said, chagrined that maybe she’d taken it the wrong way. Well, maybe she did partially mean it. It was hard to realize that Buffy had been living and maintaining her own household, working, and had graduated from college in the past 5 years.

“I’m teasing, Willow. I just wanted to hang with you,” Buffy said, putting her arm around Willow’s shoulders.

“I’m glad you did!” Willow said, smiling at her.


Dawn watched as William got his first eyeful of the toy mega-store.

“My God!”

Dawn grinned, “Pretty big, huh?”

William shook his head, “Not big, enormous!”

“Santa shops hen thn this country.”

“I can well imagine.”

They walked down the first aisle, slowly, William looking in amazement at all the games, party favors, books.

Dawn stopped at the video game console and showed him how to play. They were only shorter versions of the real games, but William had fun trying to play anyway.

Next, they looked in the many toy aisles for children between Ann and Alex’s ages. Dawn spotted the Sesame Street section and showed them to William.

“That’s The Count,” she told him, holding up a plush doll.

William laughed, “Pretty silly looking.”

Dawn also showed him a couple of videos, a book, and a sticker book, all featuring The Count.

They decided on the a book called The Count Counts Scary Things, A Count Sticker book called, Boo. They also chose two videos, one called Learning to Count, featuring The Count, and another called, Count Duckula, The Great Ducktective, featuring Donald Duck. And of course, they just had to get The Count in plush.

For Ann, they chose a cute little blonde baby doll. To go along with it, they also got a set with things a ‘little mommouldould need, such as pretend diaper bag, baby bottles, bib, cup, spoon, dish, baby powder, rattle, etc. They also got her a plush kitty.

Before they’d decided on the kitty, William had picked up a pig and showed it to Dawn.

“Wow, that almost reminds me of Mr. Gordo,” she said, except for the little white ‘spikey’ hair on top. That reminds me of what your hair used to look like sometimes,” she teased.

“Who’s Mr. Gordo?”

Dawn told him of the pig that Buffy had since she’d been little. It had been given to her by a favorite uncle, Gordon, hence, the name.

“It got demolished, along with everything else in Sunnydale, though,” she’d said.

“Oh,” he said, holding the pig. “Do you think…? Oh, nevermind.”

“What?”

“Well, I was going to ask you if you thought that we or I should buy it for Elizabeth?”

“That’s a good idea!” Dawn agreed.

“You don’t think that it would…I don’t know, make her sad, do you?”

“I don’t think so. I think she’d think it was very thoughtful of you.”

William smiled, “Okay, then, I’ll get it.”

“But I think we have to rename him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, he sort of looks like Mr. Gordo, but he also has hair like you did, so…how about Mr. Spordo?”

“Mr. Spordo?”

“Yeah, it’s a combination of Mr. Gordo and Spike.”

He laughed, “I’m telling her you named him!”

Dawn giggled, “I wouldn’t expect anything less,” she said, playfully punching him in the arm.


Buffy and Willow had gone into some department stores, where they’d each hit the summer sale racks and gotten a few new tops. Then they’d hit the shoe department, and each found a pair of sandals on clearance, as well. The last stop Buffy had made was in the men’s department. She’d bought William a couple more T-shirts, a polo shirt, another pair of blue jeans, a blue jean jacket, a cap, and a pair of sunglasses.

Dawn and William were sitting at a table already in the food court, when Buffy and Willow walked up.

“Hey,” Buffy said, putting her hand on William’s shoulder.

“Hi,” he said, smiling at her and stood up to pull out a chair for her and Willow.

“Did you guys have ice cream, yet?” Buffy asked.

“No, we were waiting for you guys. Xander, Angela, and the kids ought to be along soon, too.”

“There they are,” Willow said, pointing.

“See you guys have been busy!” Xander said.

“Um-hmm,” Buffy said, grinning at all the bags around the table.

They took turns getting up for ice cream, so as to not lose the table.

Angela looked down at the Toys R Us bags, “You didn’t have to buy the kids anything,” she said, “they’ve got tons!”

“I know, but we wanted to,” Dawn said, patting Angela on the hand. “Wait till the kids see what we got them, they’ll love them!”

“Thank you guys,” Angela said.

“How did you like Toys R Us?” Buffy asked William, who was licking a Rocky Road ice cream cone.

He looked up with something like awe, “It was amazing!”

She laughed, “Thought you’d think so. How’s your cone?”

“Good,” he answered, “but not as good as at Fuller’s.”

She smiled at him.

Buffy and Willow showed the rest of the gang what they’d purchased, except for the things for William. She knew he’d be embarrassed. She’d give him those things later.

William and Dawn had also decided that giving the kids toys now wouldn’t be as great an idea, as back at the RV, once they got on the road. William also wasn’t about to g‘Mr.‘Mr. Spordo,’ to Elizabeth until later.

Xander said, while Angela shopped, he’d take Alex to the little video arcade in the mall, but he didn’t think there would be anything for Ann to do. Angela said she’d take Ann, despite offers by everyone else to take her. Willow decided to go along with Xander, Dawn decided to go shopping by herself for a while, leaving William and Elizabeth.

“What do you want to do?” Buffy asked.

“I have no idea,” William answered, shrugging.

“I have an idea,” Dawn said, “there was an Eyeglass Emporium when William and I walked in. Doesn’t he need some glasses?”

William shook his head, “No, that’s alright. I’ve got those ones from Wal-Mart.”

“But that’s not your own prescription,” Dawn said.

“That is a good idea,” Buffy agreed, “but how long would it take?”

“Don’t they advertise in about an hour?” Dawn asked.

“Maybe if you already have your prescription, but he’d have to be seen by a doctor first, pick out a pair of glasses, then wait.”

William was shaking his head.

“Sorry to break the vote here, but we do have to get back on the road. I didn’t even want to stop here, but Angela did.”

William nodded his head toward Xander.

“Well, we’re going to be here another hour at least, aren’t we?” Buffy asked, looking at Angela.

“I’d say, at least an hour,” she said, grinning.

Xander groaned, “Do you know how much farther we still have to go? Almost to the other end of the state, Angela!”

“Look, mom and dad aren’t going anywhere. We don’t have to pitch a tent tonight or even worry about food. It’s only a little after noon now, and even if we left at, say 1:30, we’d probably still be there by 6:30 at the latest.”

Xander sighed. He knew winning an argument with her was an exercise in futility.

“Fine, just make sure everybody is back here by 1:30pm, sharp!”

“Why don’t we just all meet out at the RV by 1:30, instead?” Angela suggested. “That way, if you and Alex get tired or if we do, we can just go back there. It’s outside of Sears,” she said, to the rest of them.

They agreed, and William reluctantly let Elizabeth take him to look at glasses.

William had his and Dawn’s bags, but insisted on carrying Elizabeth’s too, despite her protests that she could carry her own. Finally, she gave in, “I should take you with more often,” she said grinning, and taking his arm.

He groaned.

“Hey, you’re beginning to sound just like Xander!”

William grinned at her, not really minding. He was glad to have her arm through his and she seemed happier than she had since that morning. Must be the buying of things that had brightened her mood.

The got to the eyeglass place and walked in. Again, he was overwhelmed with so many choices.

“Have you ever had an eye exam?” she asked him.

“I…I think so, ”he said, remembering back to what seemed to be an old doctor looking into his eyes with a bright light.

She directed William over to the glasses, while she talked to the person at the counter. They said that William could have his eyes examined in about 10 minutes, and that the exam should only take about 20, that gave them an hour to get them back. She’d even suggested to Buffy, that they could get the exam here, pay for the glasses, then have them shipped to another store out-of-state, where they could pick them up and have them fitted.

“We’ll see how we’re running on time,” Buffy said.

“Do you have his insuranard?ard?” the lady asked.

“Um, no, we’ll be paying cash,” Buffy said quickly.

“Name?”

“Name?”

“Yes, his name.”

She thought quickly. Should she give his real name? Was there any harm? If she gave it, she could have Willow ‘erase’ it, but wouldn’t that be an abuse of power? Should she give a phony name? What would William make of that?

“William Worth,” she said, stopping short. Well, half-truthful, anyway.

“We’ll call him in about 10 minutes.”

“Okay,” she replied and went over to see what William had picked out.

There was a nice looking brunette woman talking to Williad shd showing him glasses. She had on a short skirt and a low-cut, almost see through top. By the way she was joking with him, Buffy could tell she was flirting.

“Here William, let’s try these ones,” she said, her voice sugarcoated, as she took one pair off his face and replaced them with another. “Those look very nice and they make you look quite handsome.”

Buffy had seen and heard enough.

“Excuse me,” she said, rather coldly to the woman who was practically drooling on William.

“Yes?” the woman asked, in a rather irritated voice, “I’m sorry, but if you’re needing help, you’ll have to wait, I’m with this gentleman right now.”

“Really? Because as far as I know, I’M the one with this gentleman!”

“What?” the woman asked, confused, “you don’t work here!”

“And I’m the blonde one? I am with this man, I am with William, I am William’s… " she turned to look at him. What exactly was she to him? Although she'd told everyone concerned at The University of Chicago that she'd been his wife, and even gotten papers to prove it, but that had been an emergency. She'd also changed her name years before and let others think she was a widow. Yet, when William had mentioned marriage or when Dawn, not so subtly that morning, had put her in the mindset to think of elf elf and him as parents, she'd fled. It didn't seem fair to only 'pretend,' when it suited her. Which brought her back to the statement at hand: William's what? Girlfriend? Lover? Hootchy Mama?

"I am William's," she said simply.

His eyes hadn't left hers. He had grinned at her attempt to define what she was. To him, she was more than whatever she chose to define herself as; to him she was everything he'd ever wanted.

"She's mine," he said, not so much at the saleslady, but to Elizabeth.

“Oh, oh, oh…I’m sorry. I didn’t know what you meant. I was just helping him find some glasses,” she stammered.

“Uh-huh. Well, I think I’ll just help him now, if that’s alright with you…what’s your name?” Buffy asked looking at her nametag. It said Lora Wylender. “I’ll just help him now, Ms. Wylender.”

“Of course,” she stammered, “if you have any questions…”

Buffy waved her off, not taking her eyes off of him.

He was still smiling at her and her apparent jealousy over Ms. Wylender.

“Oh, what are you grinning at?” she asked him, making a face at him and plopping a pair of glasses onto his nose.

A few minutes later, the receptionist called, “William Worth!”

“That’s you,” Elizabeth said, then shrugging, “Um, I started to give her your name, but she got interrupted before I could finish, so she just took it down as Worth, instead of Worthington.”

“Should I tell her?” he asked.

“It’s up to you,” she said, trying not to make a big deal of it, “they won’t see us again, so it really doesn’t matter one way or the other.”

He shrugged, and just decided to let them think that was his name. Sometimes, he got the feeling that, not only didn’t he really know who he was, but that Elizabeth didn’t want anyone to know who he was, either. Hadn’t she asked him, practically pleaded with him to not tell anyone the name of the town they lived at in California? Was there a reason to hide where he was? Who he was? Had he done something bad?

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief, when he didn’t question the name game. She’d felt pretty good about that little story she’d quickly come up with.

An hour later, William had a new pair of oval glasses, rimmed in a soft, brushed pewter color that, while not Buffy’s first choice, did look alright with his light brown hair.


They saw Dawn coming from the opposite direction and all hurried out to the RV.

Everyone else was already there.

“You guys been waiting long?” Buffy asked.

“No, just a few minutes. Okay, let’s roll!” Xander said, from behind the wheel.

They’d been driving for about 15 minutes, when Dawn decided it was time to give Alex and Ann their presents. Alex whooped when he saw the plush Count and hugged him to his chest. He went running up to the front to show Xander. Buffy came along, just to see his expression.

Xander laughed, seeing it, “If I didn’t know better, Buffy, I’d say Spike is laughing inside, but on the outside, I rea tha that it’s all innocent for William.”

She reached over and gave him a kiss on the cheek and things were okay.

Ann was delighted both by the baby doll and its accessories. Indeed, she made a beeline for the ba-ba, giving it to ‘W’um’ several times. ‘W’um,’ was only too happy to play along, and even Buffy got into the moment, sitting on the floor and playing with the doll’s things along with Ann.

Alex got Angela to put in The Count’s video and William got to see what Sesame Street and The Count were all about. Next came the video Count Duckula.

Buffy smiled, watching Alex sitting on William’s lap, laughing at Donald Duck as ‘ Count Duckula, The Great Ducktective.’

The scenery rolled by pretty monotonously, but they passed the time amiably. Buffy, was glad to have had this time to get to know Angela, Alex, and Ann. She was terribly pleased that Xander had a wonderful family to call his own. Nice, normal, and charming in every way.

It was apparent that Xander and Angela loved each other very much, and the kids just added to their joy. To say that his childhood family had been dysfunctional, was one of the great understatements, but his adopting Willow and then, later Buffy as his surrogate family, had led him into a world he’d never imagined; one that he hadn’t been called to, but one he loyally refused to abandon. And he’d paid for that loyalty.

They were almost at their destination. Willow had driven for a while, even Dawn, although that made everyone a bit nervous, but she'd handled the behemoth admirably. Now Xander was back at the wheel for the final hour, before they arrived at Angela's grandmother's house. She was home from the hospital and doing a bit better. Angela's parents, Betty and Edward were there, tending to her. After Xander came back next week, after dropping off Dawn, Buffy, and William, her aunts would care for her grandmother.

"We must be getting real close," Xander said, pointing to a sign for Grinnell, "another 10-15 minutes or so. Think we'll see one more sign for Campus, then it's on to Oakley."

"As in Annie?" Buffy asked.

"Ann?"

"You know, Annie Oakley, western sharpshootin' gal."

"Oh...I don't know. Geez, look at that," he pointed to another sign.

"Angelus."

Xander shook his head, "Angelus, Kansas? That can't be good."

"No, not of the good, not at all," Buffy said, staring at the sign, which told drivers to take a north road to Angelus. "I'm sooo glad Angela's relatives aren't from there! Think I'd have to pass on that!"

"You and me, both, Buffy. You and me, both," Xander said, and they rode along in silence.

A bit unnerved, Buffy joined William on the couch, where he sat dozing, after a long afternoon. Everyone was pretty tired by this time, in fact.

She leaned up against him; legs curled up underneath her and shut her eyes for a moment.

He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

"Did I wake you?"

"M'not sleeping, just resting," he murmured.

"Almost there. Angela said her mom has dinner waiting for us."

"Umm...good," he answered sleepily.

She sighed, letting herself once more, be reassured by his touch, his presence, and mos all all by the very warmth of him.

END CHAPTER 69