CHAPTER 111 - GILES

LONDON, ENGLAND

DECEMBER 24, 2008

TUESDAY

11:30PM

Giles settled back on the couch, after pouring himself another 2 fingers worth of good brandy. He'd been home since 9:00pm, after having dinner with some friends. His friends had brought along a woman he'd never met before and although he'd found her very attractive, she hadn't seemed to be terribly interested in his attentions.

He'd asked Clara back to his place for a nightcap, but she politely demurred, but in such a way that let him know that further attentions from him would be met with the same results.

Rupert sighed; it had been a long time since he'd been interested in anyone, even longer since anyone had been interested in him in other than a friendly way.

So, there he sat alone on Christmas Eve. All the slayers gone home for the holidays. Even Willow and Kennedy, who had spent the last 5 Christmases with him, had gone to New York this year.

He looked under the small tree. There were only a few presents, one each for Willow and Kennedy, and theirs to him.

He got up, a bit wobbly and bent down to retrieve the gaily-wrapped gifts. He half staggered back to the couch and plopped down. The first gift was from Willow, it was a new robe and a pair of slippers. He stood up to put the robe on and felt inside the pockets. There was a note from Willow.

He quickly opened up the robe and sure enough, there was an inside pocket. He put his hand into it and felt along the bottom. His fingers came into contact with a small metal object. He took his hand out and there in his palm was a small key.

He returned to the note.

He quickly tore off the wrapping on it. It was a polished pewter box, with a locked lid. He used the key. Inside was the Compendium of Demon Lore Throughout the Ages, which he had been looking to obtain to add to the new Council's library.

"Willow," he said, smiling fondly, wondering how she always found the impossible, did the impossible. He looked back at her note.

Willow and Kennedy were his link to the past and to his former life. Giles had no family, no love interests, and if he was pushed, he'd have to admit that his friends were more of the social, rather than of the true variety. All he had left of his former life, were these 'children' who weren't really either his, nor children. Still...Willow and Kennedy connected him to a time where his life had more meaning than it did now, despite rebuilding the council, helping the new slayers.

The new slayers, some as young or younger than Buffy had been when she'd been called, but none as bright, none as insightful, none that claimed his heart in a most fatherly way, than she had.

And yet, he'd lost her somewhere along the way, due to some very bad decisions on his part.

Giles got up to take the boxes to the trash bin in the kitchen when he saw a piece of paper stuck between the box and the wrapping. He pulled it out and read it. It was a note from Kennedy to Willow, dated last week.

I'll probably be gone (off to class) when you get home, so just wanted to let you know, that the Ginger Bread Cookies from The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop in the Lake District came for you while you were out today. I also found some Plum Pudding from a company who has also been in existence for over 150 years, and who claim to be using the original recipe. I went ahead and ordered that, too. It should be here in a couple of days, enough time for you to add it to your 'Victorian Foods Care Package' for 'William,' as you've nicknamed it. I remembered!

Giles read over the note again. Buffy was seeing someone named William. Well, good for her. Wonder why Willow had never mentioned it to him, although he had learned to quit asking after Buffy about the time Willow seemed to lose contact, also. Only thing is, he hadn't been told that she'd renewed her friendship with Buffy or that they'd seen each other this past summer.

Again he read the note. William. William who liked olde English cookies and plum pudding. He pondered the news for a moment. Perhaps Buffy had been over and had met an Englishman named William. No, that couldn't be it, surely she would have come to see him if she'd been to England, wouldn't she?

All he knew was that he had been most definitely kept out of the loop.

As Giles retired to the bed that night, his mind kept replaying the words in Kennedy's note over and over. Something in it teased at the far recesses of his brain, some little something that he knew was telling him something...but what?

END CHAPTER 111

WEDNESDAY

8:00AM

William felt the warmth of Elizabeth’s body against his before he even opened his eyes. A contented smile came to his mouth. He loved this time of morning best, when he would awaken first to lie there just reveling in the unbelievable closeness he felt for her and the love they shared.

He pulled her nearer and she murmured in her sleep, hands moving lightly over his chest, in response.

Opening his eyes, he gazed down at her peaceful form, at her golden hair, partly obscuring his vision of her. He gently pushed it off of her face, "Buffy," his mind formed the word, not for the first time, and once again, he wondered why he couldn't seem to form it aloud, why there was an almost physical sensation preventing him from saying it.

However, it was Christmas morning, the sun seemed to be shining brightly, beyond the dark curtains, the winter birds were twittering, and he truly believed he was the luckiest man in the world. And so, like the many, many other questions he’d had over the previous six months, regarding his peculiarities and strange memories of a life that couldn’t have been possible, he choose to ignore it, choosing instead to concentrate on the beauty of the now.

He leaned over and kissed the top of her head, "Merry Christmas, Elizabeth," he whispered.

Buffy opened her eyes to find William’s so very blue ones looking at her. She smiled up at him, "Merry Christmas."

She rolled over to her back and stretched out lazily, then caught sight and feel of the new ring on her finger. She stopped in mid-stretch to admire it, then looked over at William, "It’s really pretty," Buffy said, smiling at him, "thank you."

His eyes lit up, pleased, as he took her hand and looked at it for a moment, then brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it.

She shook her head.

"What?"

She didn’t say anything for a moment. "Just this. You, me, Christmas; being happy."

He turned over onto his side towards her and propped his head up on his one hand, the other, still holding hers between them.

He waited for her to continue.

"If someone had told me last year that you I’d be spending this Christmas with you…I don’t think I would’ve believed them. I take that back, I definitely wouldn’t have believed them."

"Why, luv?"

"Because things like this just don’t happen to me," she said, softly.

"You mean good things?"

She nodded, eyes unexpectedly filling with tears.

He put his hand under her chin and made her look at him. "What about me? I don’t even remember what I was doing or who I was last year, or for the past 5, for that matter. If I did, I’m sure that I would’ve been missing you every second of them. It’s a gift, Elizabeth."

"What is?"

"This. All of it. I know that and you do, too. And I don’t…I don’t think for a moment that it didn’t come with a price. I can’t begin to know what price you already paid, imagine mine was a lot less…"

"No, William! You paid yours, too. A great price; we both did."

"My point, Elizabeth," he said, "is that we’ve been given a gift, paid a price, but it’s still something we work at, right? I mean, look at me, I was a right mess when you first found me, practically a blithering fool…and you," he stroked her face gently, "full of love for me still…a miracle that you could be, but so afraid to…still are a bit, I think. I don’t think you knew how I was going to fit into your life or if I could, despite what loyalty you felt towards me. Or love, even. And so, yeah, we work on it, everyday."

Buffy looked at him, fell just a little deeper and opened her heart up just a little bit wider to this man of miracles, this man of words, this man that she loved like no other.

And it wasn’t as scary as it had once been, that was the miracle.

"It’s worth it," she said, "you’re worth it."

"So are you, Elizabeth, so are you," William said, as he kissed her with all the love he felt for her in his heart and she melted into his embrace.

END CHAPTER 112

DECEMBER 28, 2008

SATURDAY

3:00PM

"What time did you say we had to leave?" William asked again, sticking his head into the bathroom.

"Around 4:00pm," Buffy called from the shower, "that will give us at least 2 hours to get there, which should be more than enough time."

"Okay," he sighed. He went over and stood in front of Buffy's new mirror adjusting his tie. He and Clem had hung it two days after Christmas, even installing a couple of hinges, so that it could be pulled forward a few inches. He'd told Clem it was so that Elizabeth could sit in front of the dresser if she wished to, but actually, the reasons were of a much more personal nature.

He heard the water turn off and a few minutes later; Elizabeth came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him.

"Hey, you're wet!"

"Hey, you're warm and dry," she said, grinning.

"Come on, you'll make my shirt all wet," he said, turning around.

"So? Take it off, then," she said, giving him 'the look.'

"Now? We have to leave, you have to get ready..."

"Not for another hour. Besides, it'll help you relax."

"Before we're to meet with your father? I highly doubt that!"

"Okay, then. It'll help me relax," she said, putting her arms around him again and letting the towel puddle to her feet.

"In that case," he said, sweeping her off her feet in one quick movement, causing her to giggle and gasp all at once, "I'd better do my duty, but only in the name of relaxation, of course," he said, plopping her down on the bed.

"Of course," she agreed, "in the name of relaxation, then."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4:15PM

"I'll be right there!" Buffy called from the bathroom, exasperated. "We still have plenty of time."

"Says you!" he called back. "Didn't you say that Saturday night traffic in L.A. is pretty horrible?"

She shook her head, wishing she hadn't let Dawn influence her to having dinner with her father.

"I’m ready, okay?" she said, walking out of the bedroom. She was dressed in a soft woolen, two-piece, wine colored sweater-skirt set. Around her waist was tied a soft multi-toned gold sash. She wore nylons and a plain, but tasteful pair of black high heels. Her only jewelry, besides a small pair of gold hoop earrings, were the necklace and ring that he’d given her. She wore her hair loose, save for a single gold clip in the back.

William stared at her, his eyes slowly moving over her appreciatively. "Worth the wait, luv," he said, softly.

Buffy felt herself blush at the attention and compliment.

"You look pretty yourself," she said, smiling at him.

"Pretty?" he scoffed.

"Okay, beautiful!"

He rolled his eyes, "Thanks ever so."

Buffy looked at him in the gray suit and wine colored dress shirt, accented with a gray and black tie and a simple gold tie clip. Black shoes completed the outfit. They’d picked this out together a few weeks before, but just picked it up from altering a few days ago.

"You look very handsome," Buffy said, as she walked over to him.

The words lovely, cute, and sexy, also tumbled through her mind, but she knew they’d only embarrass him, so she kept them to herself.

"Do we match?" he asked suddenly.

"Sort of," she said, then cleared her throat, "but not in a matching ski-sweater sort of way…more of a going to the prom sort of way."

He gave her a funny look.

"It’s a formal high school dance, where the boys buy the girls wrist gays to match their dresses, and sometimes wear a shirt that color coordinates with their girlfriend’s dress. But not always. Especially, not in the case of a pink dress…"

William rolled his eyes, "Never mind. I don’t think I want to know." He already had been embarrassed when they’d gone to Edna’s on Christmas Day for dinner and more than one person had remarked that his and Elizabeth’s sweaters seemed almost matching.

"Did I say you look handsome?"

"I think you may have," he grinned, "Thanks, I just don’t want to look like some poncy git to your father."

"Number one, you don’t! Number two, I don’t care what he thinks about you, me, or anybody else, much."

William took her hand, "I know you don’t luv, but it’s still your father. I can’t help wanting to make a good impression on him."

"I know. You will; don’t worry William," she said, softening the angry thoughts that started to loop in her brain, as they often did when confronted with her father. She often had to make herself stop, just in order to deal with him and pretend that their history didn’t include abandonment and years of pain brought on by that. Heck, she still had issues that she didn’t like to think about that had to do with, and thanks to Hank’s treatment of her mother, her, and Dawn. Nothing a few dozen years of therapy probably couldn’t correct, she thought.

"Let’s go," she said, grabbing the car keys he held out to her, as he grabbed their overnight bags.

About half way there, Buffy was forced to concede that she should’ve left earlier. She called Dawn on the cell phone, and after apologizing, asked if Dawn could call Hank and make the reservation for an hour later.

They arrived at Le Cirque, a little French restaurant about half way between her dad’s and Dawn’s about 6:30pm.

"Well, we got here early after all," Buffy said, as she parked in the lot alongside the restaurant.

"Yes, but still late for the original reservation," William pointed out, as he got out of the car and came around to open her door.

They walked in and Buffy told the maitre de her dad’s name.

"Mr. Summers hasn’t arrived yet, however, I believe other members of your party are in the bar, if you’d like to follow me," he said.

"Sure," Buffy said.

They spotted Dawn and John sitting at a round booth and came over to join them.

"Hey guys!" Dawn said.

John stood up and extended his hand, "William, Buffy; nice to see you again. Here, sit down," he said, moving closer to Dawn and making room for them.

"We couldn’t get reservations until 7:30, but we came now, in case you got here early. Which you did," Dawn said.

"Sorry about that," Buffy said.

"That’s okay. John was running a bit late anyway."

"What did dad say?"

"Not much. Did a bit of grumbling, as he feels is his fatherly right."

Buffy bit her tongue, but William intuitively patted her hand under the table none-the-less.

She was edgy. Partly, it was because she was in Los Angeles. With William. Waiting to introduce them to each other. The man she cared the most about in the world, with the man she once had cared the most about in the world. One had left her voluntarily, with not as much as a look backwards, when she still needed him. The other never left her. At least not voluntarily, but still…"

"What would you like to drink, Miss?" the waitress interrupted her thoughts.

"Me? Oh, white wine? Do you have Merlot?"

The waitress left with their orders.

"Did I mention that you clean up real nice, William?" Dawn asked, teasingly.

For a moment he was confused, then he relaxed, remembering how Elizabeth had said those same words to him in Michigan.

"Don’t mind Dawn, William," John said, beating Buffy to the punch, "it’s just her way of telling you she thinks you look nice."

"Thank you. You make quite the picture yourself, Dawn," he said.

"Picture of what? That’s the question," she said, teasingly.

"Picture of loveliness, just like your sister," he said, turning to look at Buffy, who blushed again.

"I think I need lessons from this guy," John said, "what do you think, Dawn?"

"Most definitely, though you do all right, too," she said, snuggling up into his arm.

The drinks came and they toasted the holiday season and each other. They chatted amiably for about half an hour, until Dawn spotted Hank.

"There he is," Dawn said, pointing to the entryway into the bar. She caught his eye and he waved and came over.

"Hi dad," Dawn said.

"Hi Dawn, hi Buffy. You gals look lovely tonight. John, nice to see you again. He looked over at the other man at the table.

"Dad, this is William," Buffy said.

"Nice to meet you, sir," William said, partly standing, as best as he could from a booth seat, and extending his hand to Elizabeth’s father.

"You, too, William. Call me Hank, though."

John pulled up from another chair from a nearby table to their booth and Hank took a seat.

"Been here long?" Hank asked.

"About half an hour," Dawn answered.

"I’m sorry about having to change your reservation," Buffy said.

"It’s okay. We’re all here now, that’s what counts, right?"

The waitress came by and Hank ordered a gin and tonic, with a twist. He also asked her to check on their table.

She brought the drink and asked if they’d like to take it to their table, which was ready.

They followed the waitress into the much larger dining room, which was soft-lit by candlelight. After they were seated and appetizers ordered, they made small talk for a few minutes as they looked at their menus.

Buffy tried to read the French only version of hers, but was hopelessly lost, her high school French having long been forgotten. She’d taken the more practical Spanish in college.

However, William, although claiming not to be very fluent, was in fact, surprisingly adept at it, both translating and ordering for her in French when the waiter came for their choices.

Once Dawn, currently in her fourth semester of French, got the picture, she started happily chatting with William.

"Hey now," Buffy said, "no fair talking when we can’t understand you."

"Americans!" Dawn said, in a pseudo-French accent.

"I understood that, doofus!" Buffy said.

"Who’s the doofus?"

"Now girls!" Hank said, half-serious, half-playing along.

"She started it," they both said at once.

Hank shook his head, laughing; "Some things never change."

"So," Hank said, turning his attention to William, "what is it that you do?"

William cleared his throat; "I work at the same school Buffy works at, and at the library across the street, too, at present."

"Are you a teacher, also?"

"No, I’m afraid not. I’m doing some maintenance for the school right now and some filing for the library."

"I see," Hank said, looking puzzled. By his speech and the way he carried himself, it was obvious to him that William was a refined young man, probably had a good education under his belt, as well.

"And how long have you known my daughter?"

William looked over at Buffy.

"We’ve known each other since Sunnydale. So about 10 years maybe," Buffy answered for him.

"I see," Hank said, again.

"So, how do you like your new apartment, dad?" Buffy said, changing the subject.

She’d put her hand on William’s leg when Hank had started to question him and he had wrapped his fingers around hers, gratefully.

After dinner, Buffy excused herself to use the restroom, William got up to pull out her chair and let her get past him. She kissed him lightly on the cheek as she did and he smiled at her, letting her know he was fine.

Some soft dance music was playing and John asked Dawn to dance, leaving Hank and William at the table alone.

"So, William," Hank began, taking a chance on his hunch, "what’s an educated fellow like yourself doing working in maintenance?"

William cleared his throat, "Well, you see sir, something happened to my memory after Sunnydale collapsed. I don’t rightly know what happened to me, only that when Elizabeth found me this past summer, I had no memory of anything. So, I’ve had to learn everything again. And I am planning on returning to school to update my education this next semester."

"I’m sorry William, I didn’t know anything about that. I do know that a lot of lives were destroyed in more than one way when Sunnydale collapsed. Terrible tragedy. Did you lose any family there?"

"I…my family’s all gone sir, but before Sunnydale."

"You said Buffy found you this past summer?"

"Yes sir. In Chicago."

"Chicago? What were you doing there?"

"Apparently, being lost," William said, and smiled a bit ruefully.

Hank laughed, "Apparently. Um…tell me, what is your relationship with Buffy, if I can ask."

"Do you mean my intentions?"

"If you’d like."

William looked Hank in the eyes; "I love her with all my heart. I’ve never loved another person in my whole life like I love your daughter. And my intentions are to marry her someday. Sooner, rather than later, I hope. If she’ll have me."

Hank looked William over, appraisingly and saw only sincerity.

"William, I don’t know what Buffy’s told you about me. I imagine if anything, that it’s none too favorable," he said, shrugging. "Unfortunately, she has good reasons. I left her mother when Buffy was about 15, and for a long while, I didn’t have much contact with her or Dawn. I’d like to say it was because it was too painful to only see them once in a while, or that their mother was to blame. I’d like to say it, but I won’t."

"I was a selfish bastard and that’s really all there is to it. The poor, or should I say almost non-existent relationship I have with Buffy is because of it. I think I have a somewhat closer relationship with Dawn, but that’s only because she lived with me after Sunnydale collapsed. She finished her last couple of years of high school here, you know."

William nodded, and not only to the information about Dawn. Hank had unwittingly provided another piece of the puzzle about the woman he loved. No small wonder she was so afraid to commit to marriage. Men had been leaving her all her life, starting with the self-described selfish bastard who sat in front of him now, trying to ease his own conscience. He himself had left her for 5 years, and although Elizabeth said it was only due to circumstances beyond his control, he still felt a terrible sense of guilt for the grief he had caused her.

Hank went on, oblivious to the low regard William now held him in, "My point is, that Buffy would never ask for my blessing for anything she does in her life. Hell, I don’t even know much about her life. She’s kept it that way and I have to respect her wishes. But, I’d like you to know, for what it’s worth, that if you want to marry my daughter William, you have my blessing. From the short amount of time I’ve seen you with her, you seem to make her very happy and vice-versa."

William nodded, as he regarded this statement. Once upon a time, having a father’s blessing would have made him delirious with happiness; would have made him feel like he’d been given the much-needed approval in the eyes of his beloved. But knowing what he knew about this man, the history of his betrayal, and what it must have done to Elizabeth, changed the picture considerably in his eyes. Hank had been right, she would never ask for his blessing, nor would he. None-the-less, it had been given, and he would be gracious about it.

"Thank you Mr. Summers, that means a lot to me, and I’m sure it will to Elizabeth, too." he said, putting out his hand.

"It’s Hank, and you’re quite welcome," he said, shaking William’s hand. "Just one more thing. Why do you call her Elizabeth?"

"It’s a long story, dad," Buffy said, as she returned to her seat.

"So, what were you two chatting about?" she asked, as William pushed in her chair.

"Just you, pumpkin," Hank answered.

Buffy rolled her eyes at the nickname.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner was over, and Hank insisted on paying, over everyone’s protests.

Hank grabbed onto Buffy’s arm as they walked to the parking lot.

"I like your William a lot, Buffy," he said in a low voice.

"Me, too," she replied.

"He loves you and I think he’s good for you. You seem happier than I’ve seen you in a long time. Ever maybe. Not that I see you very often, but you seem…I don’t know if this is the right word, but at peace with yourself."

She turned to look at her father. Funny for him to say something so personal, as if he actually saw her, the few and far times between visits.

Hank caught her look. "You look surprised. Buffy…I know that I haven’t been what I should have been in the father department for a long time, but that doesn’t mean I ever stopped loving you or noticing how sad you were when you’d come to visit me, or more aptly, Dawn, these past years. Despite my many shortcomings, I do love you and only want you to be happy."

Buffy nodded, grateful tears welling in her eyes, "I am, dad. I really am. I…I love William, and he does make me very happy."

Hank put his arms around Buffy, drawing her near, "You should marry him, then," he whispered to her.

"What?"

"You heard me. Marry him, become a family. It’s time…it’s your time."

"We’re already a family," she protested, also letting him know their living status, which he’d suspected anyway.

"It’s not the same."

Buffy didn’t say anything as she regarded this statement coming from her dad.

"I wish mom was here," she finally said.

"I wish she was, too. Joyce was always able to communicate about these things much better than I ever could, but I think she’d tell you the same thing," he finished and with that, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and let her go. They finished walking to their cars in silence, while the others chatted up ahead.

"Well, goodnight everyone," Hank said, getting into his Jaguar.

"Goodnight," everyone replied.

"Gentlemen, you take good care of my girls, hear?"

"We will," John and William both said at the same time.

"Very well. I’m off then," Hank said, and with a wave, he drove off.

"Well, that was very Little Women of him, wasn’t it?" Dawn said, amused.

Buffy nodded.

"In fact, it was very Little Women of all of you," she said, looking accusingly at John and William.

John smiled placatingly at her, while William shrugged, since he wasn’t familiar with the book, but could only guess from the title.

"I’m what they call it, Pleading the Fifth," William replied.

"Well, let’s get our Little Women out of the parking lot, what do you say, William?" John asked, teasingly putting his arm around both Buffy and Dawn.

"Ouch!" John said, as he got pinched from both sides.

"You guys can follow us," Dawn suggested.

"Sure, but turn on your cell phone, so in case we lose you…"

"Okay. Or, if you prefer, I can ride with you and William can ride with John, that way, we won’t have to worry. Oh, and we can chat. You know, us Little Women kind of chat things that we do," Dawn said.

Buffy nodded, "Okay, that’ll work."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once back at Dawn’s apartment, they listened to music, played board games, and drank wine until the early hours of morning.

Dawn wanted to give up her bed to her guests, but they insisted that they’d be fine on the couch.

Dawn had asked Buffy if it was alright with her that John also stayed, and although she assured her it was, it was a strange none-the-less. Not like she hadn’t known, but …well, little sister thing and all that. Proof positive that Dawn was all grown up and having her own love affair.

Buffy was laying in William’s arms when she turned to him.

"So, what did my dad and you talk about when I was in the bathroom?"

He turned to look at her, and stroked her hair, "He asked me what my intentions were towards his daughter and I told him that I loved you and wanted to marry you."

"I know," she replied softly.

"When you’re ready," he added, and kissed her gently on the lips.

She snuggled down and closed her eyes without replying. She knew she didn’t need to, knew that he understood and accepted her, that he wasn’t saying this to pressure her. It felt good, safe…

He held her for a few minutes, then whispered; "I’ll never leave you, you know…like he did. Never would be the kind of man to leave his wife, his children. Never."

"I love you, too," she answered, and hugged him tighter, her eyes moist as she fell asleep.

END CHAPTER 113

DECEMBER 30, 2008

MONDAY

NOON

"So, how does it feel to be a licensed driver now?"

"Feels great, and I must say, I'm just happy to have that blasted driving test over with, wasn't worried about the written part. I really do owe Wallace a debt of thanks for his parallel parking instruction."

Buffy grinned. She'd insisted that William contact Wally after Christmas and let him help him with that.

"Yeah, we or rather you should do something for him."

"I did tell him I'd help him with his French this semester, if only I could recall all the verb tenses..."

"Or maybe you can help him with his car?"

"I think that's the other way around, don't you?"

Buffy shrugged.

What William hadn't mentioned was that while out driving, Wally had brought up his 'grandfather' and 'father' and how they had helped Edna. He'd tried to get as much information about them as he could, although he knew there was something about it that didn't seem right.

For one thing, from what he could remember, he'd never known his grandfather, and his father had died when he'd been a boy. Of course, that was from memories that he didn't quite trust either, but when Wally spoke about his grandfather being there and his grandfather helping him to find contractors to start to build the house, something registered as familiar to him; a story, a memory, he wasn't sure.

"So, what classes have you decided on?" Buffy interrupted his thoughts.

"I don't know. You think I should take a beginning computer class or intermediate?"

"Beginning. I know you know how to surf the web and write letters and all that, but there's so much else that I never knew I had to learn, stuff that I never even thought to use. It's just a bit boring at first because they'll probably go through the most basic stuff that you already know, but within a class or two, they'll probably move onto something new. Especially, because it's a college course. Now, if it was a community class, they'd probably spend a whole lot more time explaining things like how to turn the computer on to the senior citizens," she said winking.

He rolled his eyes, then nodded, "You're right. Okay, Beginning Computers 101, it is then. Oh, I can also take American 20th Century Literature, right afterwards.

"What nights are those on?"

"Tuesday and Thursdays, 5:45pm - 7:00pm, then the Lit class is 7:15pm - 8:45pm."

"Good, I can take that Master's course in Learning & Development that I need during that same time. It runs from 6:00pm - 8:30pm."

"You don't have to, you know."

"What?"

"Take a course just because I am. You're working all day, you should go home and relax."

"So are you."

"Yes, but not the same. I don't have the extra burden of having to deal with little ones all day, then have to correct their homework and make lesson plans for the next day, do I? Plus, we agreed, I need to do this, how am I going to catch up with the world otherwise? Doesn't look like my memories are coming back anytime soon, does it?"

They'd been having this same discussion for the past few days. Part of her knew he was right, but the other part of her wanted him to not be driving at night by himself yet, and she just wanted to be close by him, still.

"William, I told you that I have only so much time to finish my Master's in Education, anyway. Five years, I think, so this works out well. I can take a class when you are and get it out of the way."

He sighed, "Very well," he acquiesced. He knew better than to argue with her once her mind was made up. And it wasn't like he didn't want her to be along with him on those nights, but a part of him had been a bit thrilled to be doing something on his own. Something independent, but ultimately, for both of them.

"Well, we'd better get to the registrar's office tomorrow and even see if those classes are open. This is late registration already."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DECEMBER 31, 2008

TUESDAY

11:00AM

"Good thing we got here when we did," Buffy said, as they were leaving the California State University San Marcos campus.

William nodded. The registrar's office was going to close that day at noon and they wouldn't be back until the following week, when they had to start work again.

Registration had gone smoothly enough. William's documents, that Willow had 'made up' had been processed without as much as a glance and luckily for them, the classes they'd wanted were still open. Then it was off for fun and sticker shock at the bursar’s office and bookstore.

"So, whatcha want to do tonight?" Buffy asked, slinging her newly weighted down backpack over her shoulder.

He pulled her towards him and then backed her up. His arm went over her head, to lean on the tree which she found herself suddenly backed up against, his other arm went sensuously around her waist, as he pulled her into him.

She gasped in delight at his Spike-like display of sensuality.

He grinned at her lasciviously, teasingly; his tongue licked his lips, as she looked on mesmerized, eyes glazed over. He pushed into her and then whispered in her ear, in all his William seriousness that he could muster, "I don’t know, watch television, read a book, maybe pay some bills, clean the bathroom," he said, looking at her shocked face.

He backed up grinning innocently, then turned around and started to sprint for the car.

Buffy’s legs started working about the same time as her brain, which told her she’d been had!

"You! You big tease! You wait until I get a hold of you, mister!" she said, taking off after him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JANUARY 1, 2009

WEDNESDAY

1:30AM

"William, William, oh God, William!" Buffy cried out, as the last in a series of orgasms rocked through her.

"Love you, beautiful, so lucky I am, Elizabeth, Elizabeth," William called out his own brand of poetry as he, too, came. He collapsed back onto his pillow, underneath her, bringing her down to rest on top him, him still inside her, his arms around her back. He reached down, grabbed at a corner of the bedding and drew the covers up over them.

They’d had a quiet dinner, then drank wine and actually had watched television, as the country celebrated New Years, starting with the ball dropping in Times Square in New York, and ending with live music performances and fireworks over San Diego Bay. They’d made love on the rug in front of the fireplace right after midnight, and finally wound up in their bed for the duration.

William gently played with her hair with one hand, as his other rubbed her back. She was deliciously spent, a rag doll of spent, in fact, as she lay there sated, listening to the lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub of his heartbeat.

"Sad," she whispered.

"Sad? Why?" he asked, perplexed.

"Sad that 2008 is over. Best year I had in…maybe forever. Found you," she said, sleepily, "found you."

"Found each other, luv," he corrected, kissing the top of her head, "but think, get

to spend the whole next year together and all the years after that, too."

"That’s right. Happy 2009, William."

"Happy 2009, Elizabeth."

END CHAPTER 114

JANUARY 11, 2009

SATURDAY

2:00PM

"Long week, huh?" Buffy asked as her and William drove south towards San Diego.

"Um-hmm," William agreed.

They'd both been back to work, plus school two nights a week. Last night they'd finally gotten to the grocery store, fixed something to eat, then fallen into bed, exhausted. Most of the kids in her class had come back from vacation with colds, which now she appeared to be getting, if her scratchy throat she’d woken up with was any indicator. She'd stayed home this morning, on house cleaning and laundry detail, while William had gone into town to help Edna at the restaurant.

Buffy had met him there about half an hour ago, and they were now on their way to Lawrence's home in La Jolla; him having cornered her on Christmas Day at Edna’s and persuading her on making an appointment right then and there.

They arrived at the house around 2:30pm, Lawrence’s wife Shirley, showed them to the living room, bringing them tea and biscuits.

Lawrence came downstairs a few minutes later, and after some pleasantries, suggested they go into his office.

William carried their tea for them.

They took their seats in comfortable, matching, maroon leather chairs, which Buffy recognized as the likely, ‘missing relatives' to their couch at home, which Spike had told her he’d gotten from Lawrence the first time she’d ever been to Julian.

"William, Elizabeth," Lawrence said, nodding his head seriously at each of them in turn, "the reason I’ve called this meeting with you, is so that you know where you stand in regards to your property and holdings. I should be meeting with each of you separately, under the unusual circumstances that make this meeting a necessity."

"It’s alright with me, Lawrence. I think that you should probably talk to William alone first," she said, nodding to him in understanding. Indeed, in the short time that he’d spoken to her on Christmas, she’d made clear her wishes in the matter.

Lawrence nodded back, as she started to stand.

"No!" William said, putting his hand on Buffy’s arm, "this concerns us both, there’s no reason to speak to us separately."

"You might want to hear what Lawrence has to say," she told him gently.

"I do, but I want you here with me," he said, his eyes imploring hers.

"Sit down, Elizabeth, it’s fine," Lawrence said.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

"First, let me be blunt and ask you, this. Are you going to be getting married anytime soon; as in the current year?"

William looked at Buffy. For the moment there were only his eyes and everything else fell away. Why shouldn’t she? Besides the obvious, that is...the fact that she was holding out information from him, about him. But besides that? She gave him a tentative smile.

He nodded slightly at her, though he was sure that Lawrence might hear his heart pound with happiness and anticipation that her small smile had conveyed to him.

He cleared his throat and turned back to Lawrence, "Might be."

Not exactly the ringing endorsement that Lawrence had wanted to hear. Oh well, more work was what it was to be, then.

He handed them each a copy of the home’s deed, "Let’s start with this, shall we?"

"William, I know you haven’t any memories of this, but 5 years ago you asked me to draw up your will, leaving your house, its surrounding acres, and all your investments in the stock market, mutual funds, and gold bullion to Buffy Summers, whom you now know as Elizabeth Worthington. You further requested, that in the case of her death, everything would go to Dawn Summers. In the case of her demise as well, it would have been willed to one of the environmental organizations you’d named."

"Gold?" William asked, that being the only word he could think to utter.

"Of course," Lawrence said, nodding, "and very fitting, as your grandfather first made his money here on mining gold. As I understand it, he had bought about 1000 acres when the prices were low, then held onto them for quite a few years, until after the main gold rush. Then he sold off about 900 acres, creating another mini-gold rush, and got the money out of those, which has become your inheritance. Today, you live in the house that he started to build on the 100 acres that he kept, and that your father finished building."

"My grandfather, my father?" William mouthed.

Lawrence nodded, "Yes, I remember your father well, although I only met him a couple of times, but I had contact with him throughout the years, as I was his lawyer as well. In fact, I was given your grandfather’s name as my middle name."

"You were? Why?" William asked.

"Because your grandfather helped pay off my mother’s foreclosure note, when she couldn’t do it. He saved her hotel and restaurant, put me through college, too."

He was quiet a minute to let William take this in.

"To go on, William, acting as your lawyer, and upon hearing of your presumed death in the earthquake and destruction of Sunnydale, I executed the wishes of your last Will and Testament, as you had instructed me to do so."

"William, this is quite unusual, to say the least, as obviously, you’re alive and well, and if I can just say this, I’m very please that you are. However, this presents a set of very unusual circumstances. You no longer hold any of your possessions. From the house in Julian, to your investments, they’re all under Elizabeth’s name now."

"That’s fine," William said, shrugging.

"Change it back," Buffy said at the same time.

"No!" he said, looking at her, "why do that? I don’t care about such things. You’ve managed fine so far, and better than I could have done anyway, more than likely."

"No, William, that’s not the point..."

They bickered a few minutes, before Lawrence intervened.

"Excuse me. William, I understand that you aren’t terribly interested at this moment in time, in what it is that you have willed away. However, as your lawyer, I would tell you that it is in your best interest to take stock in this, as well, as to have yourself declared legally not dead, making the will null and void."

"NO!" he said, looking over at Elizabeth, "that would mean..."

"That would mean that everything would revert to you," Lawrence finished.

"NO! That’s not right, I don’t accept that. She’s...she deserves to have this."

"William," Elizabeth said softly, taking his hand, "the house, the money, it belongs to you, not me."

He shook his head, "No! I won’t let you do that to Elizabeth!" he said, looking at Lawrence.

"William, it’s what we must do, at least temporarily. If something were to happen to you now, for real, and it were found out that you actually hadn’t died 5 years ago, well then, your former will would automatically be called into question, leaving Elizabeth with nothing, ultimately. But there is a way around it, as well as a compromise, that I think you two can live with."

"Let’s look at your portfolio," Lawrence said, handing them two copies of that as well, "Elizabeth has left you with just about everything that you had 5 years ago," he said, handing them both a copy of the portfolio and deed to the house.

They both took a couple of minutes to look through the papers.

"Is this...it can’t be?" William said, shaking his head, while looking at the numbers on the page.

Lawrence nodded, "Yes, William, it is. You’re quite well off. So, you can see there’s quite a bit at stake here. Please, if you would both turn to the last page; at the bottom, right hand corner, line 115. This is what your portfolio was worth 5 years ago. Line 116, is what Elizabeth withdrew during that time, for home improvement, mostly I see from the receipts she’s given me over the years. Line 117 is the interest that the remaining principal has made during this time, leaving on line 118, what your net worth is. As you can see, the balance on line 118 is greater than the beginning balance on line 115, so you’ve actually made money in the interim."

William took in a deep breath, "Made money while I was ‘dead,’ did I?"

"It would appear so," Lawrence said, gently.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

William was quiet on the drive home, thinking of the end result of their meeting.

"I don’t think I like this," he said.

"Why?"

"I don’t like the fact that it will all be in my name."

"But just for a while, right after you’re declared ‘not dead,’ in court and the will becomes null and void."

"What if something happens to me then?"

This had been the hardest part for him to understand.

Buffy looked over at his too serious face; "Nothing’s going to happen to you. I won’t allow it," she said, smiling at him, trying to lighten the mood.

"Besides," she continued, "that’s what the new will is for. I’d be covered in the meantime. Then afterwards, we do the paperwork to change the deed to both our names, and then we both make out two more wills, naming each other as beneficiaries if something happens to either one of us."

"It’s a lot of...legal stuff, something could go wrong," William said.

"It is a lot," Buffy agreed, "but Lawrence is good at what he does and he has your best interests at heart. Mine, too. He won’t let anything go wrong, trust him, he knows what he’s talking about."

William sighed, laying his head back on the seat’s headrest. His head had started to pound while in Lawrence’s office, and it hadn’t stopped.

It wasn’t just the confusing talk of wills, deeds, and portfolios. It was the talk about his father, his grandfather. This, more than anything boggled his mind. Although he knew he suffered big time memory loss, what he thought he remembered, at least whom he thought he remembered, rang true to him, and one thing he thought he was certain of, was that he’d never met any of his grandfathers. His maternal grandfather died when his mom was around 16, and his paternal grandfather died the same year his parents married. As for his father, he died when he was only 12 years old. And he was certain that he’d never heard any stories of them being in California. They had never left England as far as he knew.

He looked over at Elizabeth, then away again, closing his eyes. She’d nodded when Lawrence had been telling him that, leading him to believe that she had already known the story, so wouldn’t do much good to ask her then, if that’s what he’d told her. Still...

"Elizabeth?"

"Hmm?" she said, as she pulled off the ramp on their exit.

"What did I tell you about my father and grandfather? You know, before?"

"Um...not much, just pretty much what Lawrence told you."

It hadn’t been much, but he’d thought he heard her hesitate.

"Why?" she asked after a moment.

"I just though maybe I’d told you something else about them that you might have remembered. You know, fill in my Swiss cheese-like blanks in my memory," he said, a little bit of bitterness creeping into his voice.

"I’m sorry," Buffy said, reaching out to pat his leg, "you never talked about them very much."

That struck him as odd, considering that his inheritance and his family’s long term connection to Edna and Lawrence.

They arrived back home early in the evening.

"You hungry?" Buffy asked when they walked in, "really didn’t get a chance to have lunch today."

William shrugged, "I don’t know. Think I’m just going to lie down for a while."

"Tired?"

He shrugged again, "I don’t know. Maybe. Have a headache, though."

Buffy walked over to him and putting her arms around him, gave his cheek a kiss, "Kind of a headache worthy day, wasn’t it? Why don’t you go on then; I’ll bring you something to take for it, and put some soup on. Sound okay?"

He nodded and walked toward the bedroom.

A few minutes later she was there, holding out a glass of water and a couple of aspirin. He sat up and took the glass from her hand, took a sip, then swallowed the pills.

"It’s a good thing we did today," she said, as he lay back down, "it’ll all be okay."

He nodded, then closed his eyes. He heard her leave the room, shutting the door behind her.

Suddenly, he remembered the question Lawrence had asked them about whether they were going to get married anytime soon and her response.

William smiled to himself. Well, that was at least something quite nice that had come out of today that didn’t give him a headache. Elizabeth has smiled at him, rather than looking scared.

She’d just smiled.

This was something quite nice indeed.

END CHAPTER 115

CONT. CH. 116 - 120

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