Expecting The Unexpected

Chapter 7


Getting back home with all the gifts , flowers and balloons was an exercise all on it's own, yet alone with a three day old baby. Spike took Buffy and Katherine into the house and got them settled. Once Buffy was sat with Katherine cradled in her arms she was mobbed. Nobody offered to help Spike . He came crashing into the hall, arms laidened with the packages and flowers, balloons trailing behind him. The heads of the flowers brushed against the door frame as the balloons caught around the door, their strings wrapped around his throat and yanked him backwards and onto his butt.

"Bloody hell!"

Katherine's bottom lip started worrying and then she started crying

"Did you have to shout?" Buffy stuck her finger into the babies mouth and effectively calmed her down.
"Sorry pet but I was nearly decapitated by the soddin balloons , I swear their hexed, bet Giles had Red curse them."
"Overreact much"
"Weren't your bloody neck was it?"
"No, here , take your daughter and let me sort it all out. " Buffy handed Katherine to Spike and set about picking up the gifts and flowers,she watched as the balloons floated off into the night sky.

Willow helped Buffy put the packages into the kitchen, then made her way back into the lounge to make a fuss of the tiny girl that now rested in her Fathers arms.

Giles stood back watching the vampire cradle this new life . He had often wondered what would happen once the baby had been born and how Spike would react to it. The one thing he wasn't expecting was the devotion and love that any human Father had for his child. Years of conditioning from the Watchers Council had instilled him with the view that vampires and demons could not and did not love. That emotion was something that they just did not have . Spike was either a rarity or he was proving the views of the Council wrong And yet Angel felt the same way about Buffy. The two vampires had their souls, so maybe that was the difference .


The baby was content, she watched as different faces peered at her and turned her head to hear Buffy's voice from the Kitchen. Giles frowned and watched as the baby then turned to watch Spike.

"She's due a feed soon Spike, don't go hogging her. Let Dawn have a hug before Katherine gets cranky"

Katherine looked straight at Dawn

Giles wasn't the only one to notice. Spike called Katherine and she looked back at him and he raised a brow.

"Okay things may have changed since I was a bloody mortal, but babies don' do that yet do they?"
"No, Katherine does seem to be forward for her three days " Giles answered.

Buffy came into the lounge, followed by Willow.

"What's going on? What's wrong with her?"
"Nothings wrong Buffy" Giles reassured her "Katherine is just showing signs of forward behaviour, for her age"
"Such as? " she took Katherine's hand in hers and stroked the back of it gently
"She seems to know who you are talking about and she follows peoples conversations"

Buffy shrugged "She's inquisitive, like her Daddy" Buffy smiled.

Giles raised his brows and allowed the matter to drop. He would keep an eye on the baby though, to see what else seemed unusual about her.
Dawn took the baby and walked her around the room, telling the baby what different articles were and showing her the different toys that they had gotten her. The baby sighed at the cuddly vampire teddy that Xander had got for a joke. Dawn held the toy to the baby and she reached for it. Katherine held onto the toy and fell asleep.

"She really likes it Buffy, look"
Buffy raised a brow at Spike and he laughed "S'not my fault, kids got good taste "
"Yeah, just like me huh? She likes to snuggle with a vamp at night" Buffy smirked
"So long as that is the only one" Spike answered with a growl.
"Come on Dad . let's get her settled into her room. I don't know about you guys but I think I'll probably quit now as well, I have no idea what time she'll have me up for a feed, so"
Buffy kissed everyone goodnight and waited for Spike to follow her. Spike grabbed a bottle of formula and said his nights. They retired with their baby, leaving Giles with Xander , Dawn and Willow.

Giles poured a scotch and slumped onto the couch. Willow looked at Dawn and smiled . Xander sighed and looked at everyone

"Okay spill, what's wrong?"
"I think we need to talk to Angel and find out if his son was 'normal'. With Katherine showing signs of being forward, who knows what else is different about her"
"Surely if she was part demon, Buffy and Spike would pick up on it and let us know" Willow answered
"Would they though?" Xander looked at Willows face and saw the worry "She is their daughter, maybe they wouldn't say anything because they would be scared or maybe they're blinded by the joy that is their kid"
"Good points Xander , I feel it would be the fear that would stop them from being truthful about the child's origins, perhaps you could do a spell Willow, nothing to obvious "
"Giles I couldn't, Buffy trusts me"
Xander smiled. "How about ..."
Before he could finish his sentence Dawn interrupted them
"She's not human, she's not a demon either. She's old, like me old. "

The occupants of the lounge stared at Dawn

"She's like some kind of protector and judge, or she will be. She will restore the balance between good and evil. That's why Buffy and Spike were drawn together. Buffy's the good, Spikes the evil, or was"

Giles was astounded "How do you know all of this?"
"Because Katherine told me"
"Dear Lord" Giles poured another scotch
"That's not all, I'm still the key, I'll be Katherine's way of getting where she is needed " Dawn sighed "Connor, Angels son, he's going to be the Knight and Destroyer, it's his job to kill all those that Katherine decides are evil and or threaten us"
"Bloody hell" Giles opened his eyes wide "Do they know this yet?"
"No, she , Katherine wants me to tell them tomorrow. "
"I can't believe this, she's a baby, and how the hell does she talk to you?" Xander asked
"Telepathy, she'll be able to talk to us all like that soon, she needs to get stronger first"

Willow smiled "What do I do?"
"Your a goddess now Willow, she'll call on you to do pretty much what you do now, Xander will be her General, you'll be in charge of her army. "
"Cool, it won't be an army of vamps will it? Cos unno, not of the good"
"Her army will consist of the slayers and the demons for which evil has no hold"

"Okay, anyone here getting wigged out by the grown uppiness that is Dawn?"
"Hey! I can't help what I was told"

Giles stood again "What of Buffy and Spike? Will she grow at the same rate as a normal human child? Does Angel know?"
"She will grow faster than human children , No Angel doesn't know yet, and as far as Buffy and Spikes future , they are the Guardians , they will watch over her and protect her. They will also stand beside her and be judges. We need to find Dru, she's the Seer"
"Oh that will please Spike and Buffy no end" Willow rolled her eyes

"That's quite a future that we all have, what of me?" Giles asked
"You will be the Mentor" Dawn yawned "You will teach her and council her. Now if you don't mind I need to go to bed" she smiled at them all and left.

Willow blinked and looked at Giles and Xander "You know Buffy and Spike will freak out don't you. They thought this would be the start of their fairly normal life together"
"I can't wait to see Spikes face " Xander sniggered
"Looks like we will be needing a bigger place if Angel and his team will be joining our ranks" Giles sighed "I'm glad I have the Councils assets"


Upstairs Spike and Buffy laid curled around their daughter, all three sound asleep, and unaware of the future .

The morning was hectic, Katherine was screaming for a bottle, Dawn was busy trying to get breakfast sorted for the houseful, Giles was on the phone talking quietly, Spike was trying to keep Katherine quiet while Buffy got her a bottle.

"She likes it if you put her up on your shoulder and purr, and don't tell me you don't purr, I've heard you" Dawn said to Spike.
Spike scowled at Dawn "How'd you know what Katnip likes?"
"Katnip? Oh she'll love you for that one!" Dawn said laughing "She told me "
"Told you eh? Somethin' your not sharin' Bit"
"Tell you later, for now just quit going on at me and do what I said or else all our ears will start bleeding from the noise"

Spike did as he was told, low and behold, Katherine stopped crying and nuzzled into her Dads neck.
"Cheers Bit" he ruffled her hair

Giles put the phone down and called Xander and Willow to join him in the hall. Spike watched them go and frowned.

"Angels on his way here now, I suggest we all tell Buffy and Spike before he gets here"
Dawn came and joined them "Katherine says to tell them together, they need to get Angel away from Wolfram and Hart and it will be a team effort."
"Oh bloody hell" Giles said as he rubbed his forehead
"Lets get this over with " Xander watched as Buffy gave Spike the bottle and he fed Katherine, Buffy curled up by his side, smiling down at her daughter and stroking the babies head .

The four of them walked into the lounge and stared at Buffy and Spike.It wasn't unnoticed .

"Okay spill, is it a new apocalypse or something?" Buffy didn't bother to look up.

Giles shuffled on his seat "It's about Katherine actually, Dawn maybe you would care to explain"
Dawn gave Giles a 'cheers ' look and stood up , then she sat back down.
"Jus' come out with it Bit, an' stop shifting abou', you look like you got ants in ya pants" Spike looked up and winked at her.

By the time Dawn had gathered her courage to tell them Angel had arrived.

Giles let him in and escorted him into the lounge. Angel sat the other side of Spike and looked down at the baby, then frowned . He looked at Dawn and smiled.

Dawn proceeded to tell everyone about Katherine and the legacy that they all held in the future . The room was now full of shocked faces and the house fell into silence , the only noise was the hungry suckling baby, that seemed completely oblivious of the chaos that she was bringing to the lives of the room full of people.

Angel agreed to go back to L.A and work at extracting himself from Wolfram and Hart, and to get Connor to come back with him. The difficulty would be that Connor now had a new life with new parents. He knew that they weren't his biological parents but he honoured the chance that Angel had given him. Angel had his team work on the cases while he busied himself with the Connor problem and finding Dru. As much as he hated to have to do it, he had more control over the insane vampire and would be less at risk from her.

As everyone adjusted to the news , the house became busier. Angel returned with Connor, but as of yet , had not found Drucilla . The team from Wolfram and Hart arrived and had stayed on whilst Angel continued to work for them. His reason being that he could use their resources to find Dru faster


3 MONTHS LATER


The Watchers Council funds had meant that they could afford a large Manor house with acres of land, on the outskirts of town. This was needed as the house that Buffy had bought originally was packed with Slayers, vampires and regular guys that worked round the clock.

Katherine was now crawling and appeared to be a healthy ten month old baby. Her connection with everyone in the house was strong and she would talk to them all telepathically.

The day she had started to talk to Spike through the link was a source of laughter and embarrassment.
He had been making love to Buffy , when her voice came through and told him to quit it as she needed her favourite toy. Spike ignored her and she then threatened to cry as loud as she could until he gave in and did as she had asked. He replied that if she was so soddin clever she should do it herself. Katherine sniggered in his head and said don't try being cute with me Daddy, I can scream loud enough to deafen your vamp ears for a week. Spike groaned and had given her the toy and had proceeded to put in some earplugs that Buffy had gotten him. He poked his tongue out at her and then returned to his lovers arms.


Buffy still found having a supernatural child weird. She had hoped that she would be able to watch her grow at the normal rate and enjoy every second. Katherines accelerated growth meant that she would be five years old by the time she was eighteen months. This caused problems with her Doctor and health carers. Luckily, Clem had a cousin that was a Doctor and he moved in so that he could deal with all the injuries sustained in battles and to take care of Katherines needs too.

Connor had settled in and had made great progress in the family atmosphere that surrounded them all at the Manor.He had a close relationship with Dawn and the two had become inseparable. Katherine would still spend alot of time with Dawn and would sometimes telepathically call the girl away from her studies or from her time with Connor.

Angel had found Dru , she had been in hiding from a mob in Canada. The Chaos demon had hunted for her one night and had taken a young girl. The police had been called and they traced them to an abandoned house. They had fled but Dru had been slow due to not being able to feed. The demon had left her to escape and Dru had to hid in a cemetery, often acting dead to put them off her trail. Angel had collected her and flown her back to Wolfram and Hart. Dru had been worse for wear, and so, Angel suggested that she undergo some demon psychiatric care before bringing her with him to Italy.

Spike had been anxious about Dru being under the same roof as everyone else , but mostly Buffy. He knew that Buffy and Dru had issues regarding him. Jealous vampires and jealous slayers were bad news. He suggested that maybe Angel should take her to Africa and put her through the demon trials and help her gain her soul. Who knows, he said, maybe it might help her gain some form of sanity back. The idea had be shunned though as the mad vampire hadn't the strength to go through the trials. Willow had offered to use a spell similar to the one that had given Angel his soul. The vote had been taken and it was agreed that this would be acceptable. Angel also agreed to keep Dru at Buffys smaller house until Dru came to terms with her soul.

It was only a matter of weeks after gaining her soul that Dru seemed to be back to normal, not just normal for her, but more or less sane. She had lucid moments when she was hungry or under stress, but for the most part, she was the girl that she had been before Angelus had tortured her and driven her mad. Buffy found that she was actually sweet. There was still a stake tucked in her jeans in case though.

The peace and normality of their lives had to end at some point, they all knew that. When it happened though it hit them all heavily and sent everyone into a state of panic.