JANUARY 15, 2009

WEDNESDAY

9:30PM

"I think I'm out for the count," Buffy said, woefully, standing by the bedroom door, her nose red and sore, looking over to William who was working on a paper for tomorrow night's class. The cold she'd gotten last week was now in full swing and between teaching all day and going to school last night, it was making her feel run down. Like shit, would be another way to describe it.

"Goodnight, luv. I'll be in as soon as I can," William said, getting up and walking over to her to give her a hug and a kiss.

"You don't want to catch this, believe me," she warned, turning so his kiss landed on her cheek instead of her lips.

"Ah, Elizabeth," he said, in mock seriousness, putting his hand up to her face to caress it, and giving her a little wink, "know I'll share all with you, luv, even your germs."

That did it, he got her to grin.

"Very chivalrous of you William, and my germs and I thank you," she said, coughing, "but I'm sure you won't be doing any thanking, should my illness bearing visitors decide to pay you a call."

He chuckled.

"Night, don't stay up too late," Buffy said, as she went into the bedroom.

"I won't, I'm almost done," he said, going back to the desk.

He stretched before he sat down, then decided to get a bottle of water from the refrigerator. It was hard being a student again, not that one forgot how, just that now, he had other responsibilities to attend to as well.

He'd been in the zone, but now the little break to tell Elizabeth goodnight, had broken his concentration.

There was one little thing he had to check online in regards to his paper anyway, so he decided to log on.

Might as well check his email while he was on, he reasoned, not unlike any other modern student happy for the distraction.

There was the usual junk mail, an email from the university, and one from Xander and Dawn, as well. He opened the one from Dawn first.

It read:

01/15/09

The next letter was from Xander, which had been sent a few days before.

It read:

01/13/04

He had forgot, he thought, guiltily. Not that he supposed he could be held responsible for that, since he’d only been told her birthday once, and that was in the RV on their trip across country. Still, now that he knew, what was he going to do for her? Buy her?

He checked his Buddy List and found Dawn online.

WSW: Do you think she’d be honest about it? I mean, what if she says do nothing, then she’s angry at me, because I didn’t.

DSCG: well, you’ll never go wrong getting her a gift. I wouldn’t even bother asking her if that’s alright or not, only if you wanted to do something else. Technically speaking though, her birthday is in the middle of the week, and so if you want to do something for her, say on the weekend before or after, then she should be less anxious about it.

WSW: That’s a good idea, Dawn! In fact, we even have school that night and work during the day. Wonder if we can skip a class that night? I think I must now be remembering what it’s like to be a student, because I’m looking to get out of it already!

William quickly finished what he had to do for school, turned off the computer, and finished up his paper. He hit the print button, took the papers out of the tray and put them into his backpack, after putting then into a folder.

Going into the bedroom he heard Elizabeth snoring. Snoring? Ah, the cold, he reminded himself. She said that he snored sometimes, but of course he didn’t believe her.

He got ready for bed and lay down beside her. She stirred beside him and he drew her to him, closing his eyes.

She’d made his birthday so memorable, he hoped that he could do something as nice for hers.

He fell asleep, ideas rolling around in his head.

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

JANUARY 17, 2009

FRIDAY

7:00AM

Buffy felt him watching her from across the kitchen table before she looked up. Not that she didn’t often feel him watching her, but then again, she did the same thing. She guessed it was just a thing between them. Neither of them ever taking the other for granted after all they’d been through to come to this point.

Still...

"What?" she asked, as she looked up and caught him.

"What’s what?" he asked innocently.

"I dunno, you tell me. You’re the one staring."

"Just thinking," he replied.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

He shook his head. "Not even worth a ha’penny. Oh, I did want to tell you that I’ll be driving myself today, so you don’t have to pick me up."

"Why?"

"Got somewhere to go after work."

"Where?"

William sighed. She wasn’t making this easy, and he hated to lie, but..."I’m meeting Clem at the hardware store. I asked him if he’d show me what I might need to refinish the bathroom floor, that you’ve been complaining about."

"I didn’t complain. Only made mention of it; more than once," she said, grinning. "I could go with, look at some new flooring..."

"No, I’m not even going to be looking at that stuff yet. Just some sub-flooring stuff and patching stuff. You should rest, help yourself get over your cold. I’ll bring home some dinner afterwards, okay?"

"Okay," she said; feeling a bit left out.

"Good then," William said, getting up and pouring coffee into their two ‘to go’ cups. He’d have to remember to call Clem later so they could get their stories straight. In fact, maybe he would actually do that, as well as go shopping for a birthday present for Elizabeth.

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

JANUARY 19, 2009

SUNDAY

9:00PM

William waited until he heard the water running in the bathroom, before picking up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Dawn? It’s William."

"Hey, William, how’s it going? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothings wrong. Well, not exactly, only, I’ve been out shopping twice, and I still can’t figure out what to get for Elizabeth for her birthday."

"Twice, huh?"

"Yeah, told her I was meeting Clem at the hardware store the other day, which actually we did do, too...but that’s besides the point. Then I went yesterday, after I was finished helping Edna at the restaurant. Even looked at the stuff they have for sale, and I just...I don’t know," he said miserably.

"Poor William," Dawn offered. "Did you talk to Buffy about it?"

"No...I tried to talk to the professors about letting us make up the classes on Tuesday, but one of mine was being a right git about it, and I didn’t want to press him. Not that I’d care, mind you, if I had something special in mind. But I was afraid Elizabeth would take issue with my making one of my professors angry with me..."

"I think you’re over-thinking the whole thing, William," Dawn said.

"I know, I know."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Well, I think I’ve come up with a good idea, tell me what you think..."

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

JANUARY 21, 2009

TUESDAY

6:05AM

Buffy moaned hearing the alarm go off. She pressed the snooze button and went back to sleep, but not before she felt William get up.

The alarm went off again. She opened her eyes to see William standing there with a cup of coffee.

"Good morning, luv," he said.

She smiled up sleepily at him, "Morning," she said, propping herself up and reaching for the cup, " Thanks. What’s the occasion?"

"Why? Can’t a fellow do something nice without it being an occasion?" he asked, smiling.

"Of course he can," she replied. Well, it was her birthday, but she didn’t think he knew. She hadn’t said anything, and neither had he. She figured he most definitely would have, had he known.

She was glad that he didn’t. She hated her birthdays.

Buffy got up and took her shower, and came out to the kitchen.

William was just putting breakfast on the table. It was French Toast, which is usually something they only had on the weekends.

She looked at him quizzically, but didn’t say anything. Oh well, gift horse and all that. Might as well enjoy it, even if he didn’t know that it was making her feel all birthday special.

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

Usually, during the morning, she’d see him about numerous times as he went about his job at the school, but today she hadn’t. She’d even asked Marilyn if she’d seen him during the morning, but she reported that she’d only seen him before 9:00am.

She idly wondered if perhaps Mrs. Carpello had him working outside today, or had sent him to the store for supplies.

Around noon, one of the kids from the other classes came into hers to tell her that the office needed her to come down for a minute.

She left the classroom, but not before getting a grin from her assistant, which she wondered about.

When Buffy walked into the office, the first thing she spotted was a huge bouquet of flowers, consisting of yellow and white roses, a huge orange chrysanthemum, a bird of paradise, and a smattering of baby’s breath and greenery.

"Wow, is that gorgeous," Buffy said, turning to the secretary, who was grinning at her.

Buffy smiled back, "What? Didn’t you call me down?"

"Elizabeth! Look at the card!"

She looked at Sue, her eyes big.

Sue nodded.

Buffy took the tiny envelope out from the middle of the bouquet and pulled out the card.

Buffy looked up at the crowd that had now gathered around her. She spotted Mrs. Carpello, who nodded at her.

"Happy Birthday, Elizabeth. William called me over the weekend to see if I would let you out early today and I agreed."

Buffy shook her head, "No, I shouldn’t..."

"It’s alright, really. We’ve got your class covered for the rest of the day. Go on home now, I insist," Mrs. Carpello urged, "and have fun!"

Buffy smiled and got her coat. She grabbed the bouquet of flowers and headed for the door.

"Oh, one more thing," Sue called after her, "William said he was getting a ride home with your neighbor, so he’s already there."

"Thanks," Buffy said.

Buffy got to her car. There was a single yellow rose underneath the windshield wipers. She smiled and took it out, careful not to break the stem, and put it in with the rest of the bouquet.

She pulled up in front of the house 10 minutes later, not knowing what to expect.

As soon as she walked in the front door, she could smell food. She quietly walked into the kitchen, where William, his back to her, was busy doing something at the stove...frosting a cake? Her eyes swept around the room, taking in his efforts. A large Mylar birthday balloon hovered over the kitchen table, floating above its pink, decorative weight. There was also a large glass bowl, filled with her favorite chocolates, a bottle of wine, and a huge to-go bowl of her favorite Mandarin Orange and Shrimp Salad from a place in San Diego, which she and William had stopped at once.

She looked over at the counter, and could also see a pizza box from her favorite place in town.

William turned around and saw her; "You’re home!" he said, grinning, as he walked over to her. He stopped and kissed her softly on the lips, "Happy Birthday, luv."

"You did all this?" she asked, her eyes on his.

He shrugged, "I knew we couldn’t go out tonight because of school, and Dawn told me you didn’t like to....I just wanted you to have a nice day with some of your favorite things. I know it’s not much..."

Buffy swallowed the lump in her throat, "Thank you," she said, putting her arms around his neck.

Clem stops by briefly to wish her a happy birthday and to drop over their mail. Along with the bills and advertisements, there are birthday cards for her with return addresses from England, New Jersey, and Los Angeles. She thanks him for that, and for the Mandarin Orange and Shrimp Salad he's picked up for her, at William's request, earlier that morning.

William and Clem stand there in the kitchen talking about the unlikely dual subjects of remodeling the bathroom and the finer points of frosting a cake, when she suddenly remembers her birthday in Sunnydale 7 years ago, when they came by. The faces of Clem the demon and Spike, his still black and blue, superimpose themselves over them for a moment. Imperceptibly shuddering, she blinks away the painful image.

Clem is gone and Buffy is standing next to William as he frosts a cake, pretending to be just a bit embarrassed by the unmanly act of it. She knows it’s just for show and that he’s enjoying doing it for her.

"I love your face," she says to him suddenly, reaching out to caress his cheek.

William turns to her, with a half-smile, half-quizzical look; "I love your face, too. Love you," he says, and puts a dab of frosting on her nose, which he then kisses off.

Buffy spends the next 6 hours being pampered, from her favorite foods, to a nice long bubble bath, complete with candles, wine, and chocolate.

Afterwards there had been a massage, lovemaking, and a nap, before they’d reluctantly had to get up to get ready for their evening classes.

She’s daydreaming during classes that evening, just thinking about how lovely her birthday had turned out to be. Not since she’d been a child, before her parents divorced, could she remember being so happy with the outcome.

Maybe that had been the trick all along - no expectations.

Even when she’d told herself that she didn’t have any in the past, somewhere in her heart, she’d still wanted something or someone to make her feel special one day a year.

It had been so much easier, since coming up here five years ago, to just totally give up wanting anything, on her birthday or any other day. Just live, just survive; reasonably well, if not happily.

But now there was William, and he was constantly surprising her in the smallest and largest of ways. He seemed to almost intuit her needs, even before she did.

Perhaps, it had something to do with the fact that her and Spike’s souls had truly become a part of each other’s during those last moments in the Hellmouth. Yet even before, Spike had always seen to her needs, those she didn’t admit to, didn’t lay claim to, those she wasn’t aware of having in her heart of hearts.

And now William was, too. Today, he had done just the right things, kept it simple, but yet so special.

God, she loved him!

"...isn’t that correct, Ms Worthington? Ms. Worthington?" her professor addressed her, "did you come for an education tonight, or just to stare off into space?"

"Yes," she answered, fully aware of the vagueness in her answer, and for once, enjoying the look of dismay it caused.

She smirked to herself.

When her class ended, she hurried down the hall, until she got to William’s class, which ended later than hers. For some reason, she had butterflies in her stomach waiting for him to come out.

She smiled at her own silliness, her neediness, but her cup ‘o happiness just runneth over today, and she was going to go with it.

When he finally came out of his classroom fifteen minutes later, he was engaged in conversation with a pretty, dark haired, fellow student, almost missing her standing there in the process.

Feeling a bit let down, she tapped him on the arm. William spun around, smiling, then frowning a bit, as he saw her slightly hurt expression, which she didn’t quite manage to hide in time, "Hi, luv," he said, putting his arm around her, "Sorry I didn’t see you, I was busy talking," he apologized.

She didn’t say anything.

"Elizabeth, this is Wendy...um, sorry, forgot your last name."

"Morrisey."

"Wendy Morrisey, Elizabeth Worthington," he said, introducing them.

"Nice to meet you, "Wendy said, but not before Buffy saw her eyebrows raise slightly at the mention of her last name.

"Nice to meet you, too. Are you enjoying the class as much as William is?" Buffy asked politely.

"Oh, I totally am," she gushed, "Dr. Wittman just leads the most interesting discussions, doesn’t he William?"

William nodded, "Yes, very enlightening."

"Well, that’s always a good thing," Buffy said, then turned towards William, hopefully dismissing the interloper with her body language, if she got the hint.

She took his hand in hers and squeezed it; "You ready to go home?"

"Always," he said, softly, as he looked into hazel eyes that were looking at him with such tenderness right then, that it made his heart ache.

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

Carly, came out of the class and turned her head in the direction Wendy was looking, "What’s up?"

"Nothing," Wendy said.

"Is that William?" Carly asked, her eyes catching the back of two figures, hands entwined, leaning towards each other.

"Yeah, him and his wife," Wendy said.

"He’s married?" Carly asked, surprised. He didn’t strike her as a guy who could even get a date.

"I guess so, has the same last name as his."

"Maybe it’s his sister," Carly said.

"I don’t think so and eww if it was! I definitely didn’t get a sister vibe from her. More like a, ‘that’s my man, keep your hands off,’ sort of vibe."

"Somebody gave a vibe like that to you over William?" Carly said, guffawing.

"Sure, why not?"

Carly turned to look at her, "Have you listened to this guy when he talks in class? He’s so...I dunno, let’s see, an egghead, naive, dorky, weird?"

"You think? I think he’s kinda cute, and he has a nice voice," Wendy said, as she watched the two figures exit the building.

Carly snorted, "Oh yeah, he’s soooo Masterpiece Theater!"

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

They walked hand in hand to the campus parking lot. Buffy felt almost giddy. Good grief, she thought, half-mocking herself. What the hell did he put in that wine? Or was it the chocolate? All this happy stuff, this can’t be good! Too good to be good!

And yet it was. Good as it got.

"I’m sorry, this can’ t wait any longer!" Buffy said, dropping her backpack and kissing William as soon as they were in front of her car. He dropped his, too. Leaning into her, his hands running up her sides, until one was in her hair, the other around her back.

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

Carly and Wendy chatted as they walked to their cars. Suddenly, Wendy stopped, as she pointed to a couple leaning up against a car a few rows away, oblivious to their surroundings.

"Is that?" Carly whispered.

Wendy nodded, gulping.

They heard the woman moan.

"Sheesh! Tonsil hockey much? Get a room," Carly snickered.

"Shhh!" Wendy felt herself flush. William didn’t look too dorky from her perspective, in fact he seemed pretty sexy.

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

Before they’d gone to bed, he’d surprised her one more time by telling her that he had booked reservations for them at the Capistrano Seaside Inn for the following weekend. He said Dawn and John would be joining them there, at least for dinner, since they weren’t sure if they could stay overnight on Saturday or not, but if she wanted to change the reservations to another time, that was alright, too.

Buffy was curled up next to William; her hand drawing invisible doodles on his chest, still basking in the afterglow of the best birthday she’d had in recent history.

"Always hated them," she said, sleepily, shaking her head in wonder.

"What? Or is it a who?" William asked.

"Birthdays. Well, mine, to be exact."

"Why, luv?" he asked gently, already having been told as much by Dawn.

"Lot’s of reasons; either bad things happened or be disappointed by..."

She stopped talking, raising up on her elbow so she could look at William.

"What I wanted to really say is thank you for today; for making this birthday so special."

"I didn’t do much," William said, shaking his head.

"You did. You made me feel special. All day. But then you always do."

"See? What did I tell you?" he chuckled.

"Extra special, then. Okay?" she asked, laughing as she playfully slapped him.

His face grew serious. "You can hate the day before your birthday, or the day after, but never your birthday. I won’t allow it!" he said.

The internal feminist model Buffy fought for a second with the pick your battles wisely Elizabeth, over the word ‘allow,’ before the latter won out.

"Why’s that?"

William put his hands on either sides of her face, staring into her eyes for a few minutes before stating the obvious, "Because you were born that day, Elizabeth, and because I love you and everything about you. So, you’re not allowed to hate anything about the woman I love, including the day she was born. Day you were born. That’s why," he said, kissing her, "that’s why."

END CHAPTER 116

CHAPTER 117 - VALENTINE’S DAY

January 22, 2009

Wednesday

7:00pm

Buffy was seated on the floor in front of the fireplace the following evening, grading papers, when William came in, carrying hot chocolate.

She took the mug from his hand and thanked him, taking a couple of sips.

"I was thinking," she began, "maybe we could wait to go to San Juan Capistrano until March. That’s when the swallows come back, and it’s usually warmer that time of year, too."

"Oh," he said, slightly frowning.

"Unless you really want to go this weekend. That’s okay, we can go..."

"No, it was for you to decide, that’s why I said that to you. We can go in March."

"You sure?"

"Unless you want to go twice?" he half joked.

"Nah...think there’s other places we should go away to also, don’t you? Places we’ve never been to? Well, guess that’s just about everywhere, huh?"

William didn’t say anything. This would put his plans on hold a bit, but he’d think of something else. Maybe this was a good thing, let him have some more time to do it right. Maybe afterwards they could go there, maybe...

"Maybe Dawn and John could stay the weekend if they had some more time to plan on it," she said, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yeah, maybe," he replied.

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

FEBRURARY 8, 2009

Saturday

10:00am

"Here, I’ll get that, luv," William said, getting up to pour some more tea for Edna.

They were seated in the dining room of the restaurant, talking over tea. William had come by early that morning to do some chores for Edna, and lunch hadn’t started yet.

As had become their habit, he would come by on Saturday mornings to do whatever she wanted done, but after a while, she always insisted he take a break and have some tea and whatever else he wanted to eat, while sitting and talking to her.

It was during these talks, that William came to find out how his ‘grandfather,‘ his ‘father,’ and he had been connected to the McKennitt family and this place over the years.

He learned of her coming over from Ireland as the young bride of Lawrence McKennitt. They'd moved west to settle in this area and make a go of it, opening a hotel and restaurant here in Julian, during the secondary gold rush started by his grandfather. His grandfather, who had hung onto 1000 acres of land during the primary gold rush, until the 1930’s, when he divided and sold the land in 10 - 100 acre parcels.

She told him how her husband, Lawrence, had been saved by his grandfather during a fight. After being thrown out of the establishment for lewd behavior, the drunken patron had come back with a knife. Lucky for them, she told William, that his grandfather just happened to be walking by that night.

It was through this chance meeting, that they got to know the reclusive gold mine owner a bit, and it wound up being Lawrence, who had talked his grandfather into building the house, that him and Elizabeth now resided in.

His grandfather had given Lawrence the money to pay the workers to build the house while he was away.

With tears in her eyes, she told William how while she was pregnant, Lawrence had been murdered by a man who had been staying at their hotel. When his grandfather came back a couple of years later, he had found the restaurant closed, the hotel boarded up, and Edna with an 18-month old, she could barely feed.

"Your grandfather was stunned that the money was still in an account for him, that I hadn’t used it to keep out of debt, even though I didn’t know when he was coming back, or if he ever would. But I just could never do that. It wasn’t mine to use, no matter what," Edna said.

"What happened, then?" William asked.

"Your grandfather paid off the debtors, bought back my lease, and helped me get back on my feet, so I could reopen this restaurant is what he did," Edna said, smiling fondly at the memory.

"I never really saw him again, but he set up a college fund for my son Lawrence. Then about 20 years later, after your grandfather had passed, I met your father. He was as kind to me as your grandfather had been. Looked just like him, too. In fact, you do, too. You’re all the spitting images of each other."

"And me? When did you meet me?" William asked.

"Hmmm...I’d say about the mid 90’s or so. Maybe a little earlier, maybe a little later. My memory isn’t what it used to be," she answered, smiling.

He smiled at her wryly, "Preachin' to the choir, luv. Preachin' to the choir," he said softly.

"Tell me about the first time I brought Elizabeth here."

"Let’s see. It was Valentine’s Day 2003. You and her had just come up to Julian. It was the first time that you had brought anybody here with you or to your house, that I ever knew of. You stopped here first, for a bite to eat. I think you were so excited to be bringing Elizabeth with you, that you forgot what night it was," she said, winking at him.

"Anyway, I was so surprised when I saw you, I didn’t want to turn you away, so I made up the little room next to my office for you and her to eat your dinner in."

"Could I...?" William paused.

"Can you what, dear?"

"Could I please see it?"

"The room?"

William nodded.

"Of course you can," she said, rising.

He got up from the table and she took his arm, as she led the way through the kitchen.

"Right here," she said, opening the door, to a small room, about 8’ x 10’ and packed quite tight with extra kitchen and restaurant supplies, "not much to see now."

"Oh," he said, disappointed.

"What is it, dear? You look upset."

"No, no, I’m not upset, just wanted to see it. Guess I thought maybe if I saw it looking like you described, maybe I might remember something," he fibbed. Sort of.

"Oh, I’m sorry," she said patting his hand.

He looked wistfully at the room, thinking how his plan wouldn’t quite work out like he hoped.

"Valentine’s Day is next week," Edna said, looking at him, as he stared at the room.

"Um-hmm," he answered.

"I’ll make sure you have a table this time," she said.

He nodded, but didn’t say anything.

"But it wouldn’t quite be the same, would it?" she asked perceptively.

"No, not the same. I was sort of hoping...ah, nevermind," he said, turning to her and giving her cheek a kiss.

"Tell me, William. What were you hoping."

He looked down at his feet, getting his courage up, then back up at her, "I was sort of hoping that we could have dinner in this room on Valentine’s Day, just like we did the first time. I wanted it to be special, I wanted to ask...to ask Elizabeth..."

Edna gasped, "You mean...?"

William nodded, blushing.

"And you wanted to do it here, where you first brought her?"

"Yeah, but that’s all right, I’ll..." William started.

"Well what are you waiting for then?" Edna asked, forcefully, "let’s get this room cleaned out!"

William looked at her and shook his head; "You don’t have to..."

"Not another word, William. I’m an old lady, and I don’t do anything anymore that I don’t want to, and I want to do this for you, for both of you. I'm so happy you're both," she stopped, her voice choking, "it's so wonderful!"

He patted her arm.

"Ack, look at me, going on like an old fool..."

"You're not a fool, anything but."

She wiped at her eyes with her sleeve and pulled herself together, "The bad thing is, I'm afraid you’ll have to do most the moving yourself, Wally isn't around, and..."

"That's not a problem, I'll be happy to," he said, then looked around at the quite crowded room, "but where will I put it all?"

"There’s a little room upstairs that some of these paper goods can be stored in for now, and if you’ll help clean up some of the kitchen cabinets that haven’t been used for a while, then some of foodstuff can go into them, like they should’ve been. I think we’ll be leaving some of the stuff here anyway, but it will at least be cleared enough for a table for two," she said, winking.

William grinned, "Can I borrow your phone? I’d better tell Elizabeth I’m going to be late."

He looked back over at her, smiling; "Can you keep this our secret?"

Edna smiled back at him and crossed her heart, and pretend zipped her lips, then pointed to her office, "Just press #9 first, then your numbers, after you get a dialtone."

She smiled as she looked at him going into her office.

"It’s about time, wouldn’t you agree?" she said, looking up at Lawrence’s picture which hung in the small hallway.

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

"Hello!" William called as he came in the door.

There was no answer as he walked through the rooms of the house. Finally, he opened up the door to their bedroom and saw her laying on top the covers, asleep.

He smiled and walked over to the bed, then lay down next to her, spooning up against her back. He pushed the hair away from her neck and kissed it, as his arm pulled her against him.

"Umm," she mumbled, stirring, her arm pulling his closer, "what time ‘s it?"

"A little past 3:30, luv."

She moaned, "Can’t believe I slept so long! I went to the store, did laundry, cleaned, all those fun things...then I was going to do something in here, and decided to lay down for a minute, and boom!"

He chuckled, "Yeah, it happens. What time was that?"

"I think about 1:00 or 1:30. How about you? You just get home?"

He nodded against her neck, "Yeah, stayed a bit longer than I thought I was going to."

She made a sympathetic sound and pushed up against him, her one leg, going between his two, "Edna working you hard? I hope she’s not going to keep you this late every Saturday, or I’ll hardly get to spend a day off with you."

"I don’t think she will. Besides, we have Sundays."

"Homework on Sundays. Blech!"

He almost reminded her that she hadn’t had to take a class that semester, but decided that could lead to a fight. Plus, he still would have had to study.

"I’ve an idea."

"What’s that?"

"We could just spend the rest of the evening doing homework, that way we’ll have all of tomorrow just for the two of us."

She rolled over and faced him, putting her hand up to his face, "So what would we do tomorrow then?"

He smiled at her, his eyebrows arching, as his face neared hers, "Maybe some of this," he said, kissing her; his tongue tracing her lips languidly, before slipping inside her mouth to explore it, "and some of that," he said, his hand cupping her breast.

"Um, think I’m liking your idea more and more," she said, as she pulled his head in further.

"Or," he said pulling back, "maybe we could even go to that movie you’ve been wanting to see, the one that was playing in that theater in the mall," he said, as he kissed her neck.

"The one we went Christmas shopping at with Dawn and John in San Diego?" she asked, surprised.

He nodded.

She turned her head to look at him, then put her hand on his forehead, then felt his head.

"What?"

"Just making sure you’re not running a fever, or didn’t bump your head," she said, grinning.

He grinned back, "A man can’t take his best girl out to the movies without being thought to be ill?" he asked, feigning hurt.

"Of course he can," she said, kissing him happily, "shutting up now."

"Good," he said, seeing to her in a way that made sure that she did.

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

FEBRUARY 9, 2009

SUNDAY

2:45PM

Buffy looked over at William, as he watched the movie, enthralled. Of course, he was more or less use to television, though theirs didn’t come in too well, despite the satellite system that Clem had tried to rig up. However, they’d only been to a couple of actual movies at the theater since he’d come back home and each time she had to remind herself how new and enchanting the whole thing must be for him.

William had his own agenda when he’d suggested going to the movies at the mall. After he’d left Edna’s yesterday, he’d gone to a jewelry store in town, but hadn’t found what he was looking for. Today, he hoped to casually get some ideas while they were at the mall. He thought he’d pulled it off pretty smoothly, too. They’d stopped for coffee at Starbucks first.

"Let’s take it with us," he’d said. As they strolled through the mall, when they’d gotten near Radio Shack and the jewelry store, he suggested they sit on one of the benches and finish their drinks.

He mentioned to Elizabeth that he’d been looking for a ring for her there, but hadn’t found anything until him and Dawn had gone over to the antique store.

"Show me," she said, curious to see what he was talking about,

He watched her reaction to some of the various rings, even had the clerk show her some.

"Are you looking for an engagement or wedding ring?" the saleslady had inquired.

"Just looking," they’d both said.

After about the fifth or sixth ring she’d tried on the lady asked her which she liked best.

"I don’t know. They’re all nice, but I really like mine the best," Buffy said, shrugging and showing her the gold ring with the lovebirds William had given her for Christmas.

"Yes, I can see why you like it, it’s beautiful, very unique," the lady said, smiling as she examined it.

Buffy nodded, pleased by her statement.

"Oh, I just remembered! My watchband, I need a new pin for it and a buckle, I think. Can I get that here?"

"Of course, just take it over to the counter where the man is at, he’ll take care of it for you," she said, putting away the ring trays, disappointed there would be no sale.

"Thanks," Buffy said, walking away.

The woman was just about to go to the next customer she spotted, when William caught her eye.

She stopped and he whispered, "The ring that Elizabeth was wearing...do you think it would be an appropriate engagement ring?"

"The one she already has?" she asked, puzzled.

"Nevermind, that's not a very good idea, is it?" he asked, looking forlorn. I’d hoped she’d like something here, then I would’ve known what I could get her..."

"She really likes that one, doesn't she?" she asked, looking at William, while the commission wheels in her head turned.

"Hold on a minute, I may have an idea."

She walked over to the counter where Buffy was being taken care of, pretending to look for something, all the while, taking a closer look at the ring. She went into the back, and a minute later, a man followed her out, both then going to the counter that Buffy was standing at.

William could see them talking in low voices. The woman smiled and nodded, then walked back to where William was waiting.

"Here’s what the jeweler suggested..."

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

FEBRUARY 14, 2009

FRIDAY

11:30AM

The Montessori classes had gone to the library across the street this week looking for ideas for making Valentines. The older classes also had a one-page report due about the history of the day.

William had helped them while they were there, as he did nearly every week, and now he was in Elizabeth’s classroom, sitting at a low table with some of the students.

In the middle of the table lay a pile of ribbons, red and white paper, lace doilies and some old-fashioned Victorian cutouts, which had come in a package from one of the teacher’s magazines, which she had ordered for them.

William was working on a small Valentine at the moment. The children watched as he used a pen and lettered it in the best calligraphy script he could recall.

They started begging him to show them how, and so he asked one of the children to bring him a sheet of paper, and in calligraphy, he demonstrated both upper and lower case letters of the alphabet.

One of the children had taken it upon herself to go and look in the art supplies. She came back with a calligraphy pen and handed it to William.

"Excellent! I didn’t know if these were still around. This is just the sort of pen that was made to use with this type of writing. Not that you certainly can’t make calligraphy letters using a regular pen or pencil, even a paint brush," he added, seeing that there was only one pen and about six children sitting at the table, all anxious to give it a try.

They decided to share the pen for the front of their card, using regular ones for the inside, as to be fair.

Katie got up to see over William’s shoulder at another one he was making.

"Uh-uh. This one is private," he said with a wink, covering it up with his arm, causing the kids around him to giggle and make childlike noises of glee.

Elizabeth looked toward the noise, and saw William sitting there, holding court with the kids. He felt her eyes on him and looked up at her and smiled.

"Mr. W., Mr. W.," Katie whispered with urgency, "Mrs. W. is coming!"

"Thanks, Katie," he said, turning his card face down.

Buffy went around the table complimenting the children on their efforts.

"How about yours, William?"

"You can have this one now. The other's not done yet," he said, handing her the small card. It read:

Dearest Elizabeth,

Please do me the honor of having

Dinner with me at:

The Rittenhouse Restaurant

Tonight

Friday

14 February 2009

7:00PM

Love,

William

"I’d love to," she said, smiling as she looked at him, " but I think we need reservations, seeing that it’s..."

"Already taken care of, luv," he said, saying the last part so only she could hear, "did that last Saturday afternoon."

"Oh," she said, surprised in a way, and not at all in another.

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

They arrived at the restaurant at 7:00pm sharp.

The waiting area was full as they walked up to the maitre’d’s station.

"Name?" the man asked.

"William Worthington."

The man frowned as he looked up and down his list. "What time was your reservation for?"

"7:00PM, but I don’t suppose you’ll find it there."

The man and Buffy both looked at William. Just then, Edna walked up behind the maitre’ d and whispered something to him, he nodded, and she then turned her attention to them, "William, Elizabeth! You’re here! Good, follow me," she said, nodding to them.

They walked into the dining room. Buffy expected Edna to stop at one of the few empty tables that were left, but she kept walking. Buffy was confused; until they followed Edna into the kitchen and beyond, then it all made sense.

"And here you are, William and Elizabeth; your very own, private dining room."

Buffy gasped, as Edna opened the door. It was just as she’d remembered it, from the two, old-fashioned high back wooden chairs with cushioned red velvet seats, to the small table, set with a white linen table cloth and napkins. On the table sat crystal long stem glasses for wine, shorter ones for water, real silver utensils, and two lit, red candles in crystal candleholders.

William and Edna both smiled at Elizabeth’s pleasure.

"How did you...?" she asked, looking at William, then at Edna.

Over the years, she’d grown accustomed to looking at the room, not without some pangs of nostalgia, as she’d gone into Edna’s office on many occasions and she knew that it hadn’t been used as anything other than a storage room for a very long time.

Edna started to open her mouth to explain, then thought better of it, "Why don’t you have a seat, Elizabeth and let William tell you all about it, while I go and get some menus for you both," she said.

William pulled out the chair for a still stunned Elizabeth and took the seat across the table. Her eyes were large as she looked around, coming to rest on his face.

He cleared his throat, "You remember you told me about my bringing you here the first time I brought you up here?" he asked, his hand covering hers.

She nodded.

"Well, I asked Edna to fill me in a bit. I wanted to make tonight special for you; for us," he said softly, as he held onto her hand, "that’s why I stayed so long last Saturday, I was helping sort this room out. ‘fraid I had nothing to do with the decor, though. Is it...? Do you like it?"

"It’s just like I remember it," she said nodding, looking around her in wonder.

Her eyes came back to him, marveling really, that he would’ve thought to do this for her, make it like when she and Spike had...

Oh.

Where had that thought come from? He was...Spike, wasn’t he? Come back to her, just all William, but still Spike had William inside him.

She shook herself mentally and focused on the man in front of her.

"Luv?"

"Huh?"

"Looked far away for a moment."

"Just remembering. This. You."

He nodded, "Wish that I could, too."

He let go of her hand and took the bottle of champagne that was on the table, opened it and poured it for them.

"To new memories, as well as old, then?" he said, raising his glass.

She nodded, and clinked her glass with his, and they drank.

A few minutes later Edna came back and took their order. William had wanted to know what he’d ordered that night. She remembered it had been Prime Rib, though she left out the part about very rare, reminding him to order it well done, if he was going to get the same. She had her favorite, Shrimp and Scallop Fettuccini.

"Tell me about that night," he said, after Edna had left.

"You already know about it," she answered.

"Know some of it, you mean."

"What do you want to know?" Buffy asked.

"Just tell me the story, luv. All of it. Please."

Buffy drew a breath, looking for the right words before she began.

"Things were bad in Sunnydale. They had been for a while. I’d gone out the night before and had gotten hurt, afterwards..."

"How do you mean, hurt? Did somebody hurt you?" he asked, tensing.

She couldn’t believe she’d walked into that! This was treading on dangerous ground.

She shook her head, "No, I...I fell down and hit my head, because I was...overtired."

He looked at her skeptically, wondering if he should ask her about the fight that Xander had told him about, the one where he’d lost his eye.

She continued, "I knocked myself out when I fell and you found me, brought me back home. You decided then that I needed a break from my...responsibilities, from everything. And lucky for me, I let you talk me into taking me away for an overnight," she said, smiling, trying to lighten the mood.

"Your responsibilities," he repeated, "caring for Dawn you mean?" he asked. She’d told him of her mother’s death.

She nodded, "Yeah, that and working, money problems..." she said.

Not adding, ‘Oh, and fighting The First and an impending apocalypse, having a soulfully depressed, sometimes insane, possibly lethal vampire, ex-lover, which I was just a tad confused about, sleeping in my basement, and housing about 30 other potential slayers...’

"Were we together then?" he asked, unsure of the length or duration or exact nature of their romance. From what he could ascertain, all he’d learned in their months together from her and others, or rather, what he had gleaned; was that theirs had not always been an easy relationship. Not like it was now. Yet, it had endured. Lost for five years, she’d found him, they’d found each other and their love had endured. Always would, he believed with all his heart, for he couldn’t imagine a life without her.

"Not exactly," she answered, trying to measure her words carefully, "I mean, you were living there in my basement. In fact, I had a lot of people living there then. At my house I mean, not all in the basement," she laughed nervously, aware of babbling.

"Your basement? Why? And why were there other people living in your house? Were you renting out to boarders?" William asked, looking puzzled.

She almost laughed. Would’ve, if it hadn’t been so tragic, really.

"Not exactly. Just a lot of my friends had lost their homes recently. Earthquake activity," she quickly made up, in a bit of inspired thinking-on-her-feet, or her seat, rather, as it was at the moment, "so they were staying with me. You, too."

"Oh," he said, remembering what he knew of Sunnydale collapsing. Made sense.

Buffy took a silent, grateful breath, that he’d accepted that.

"And us? I thought we were...?"

"We had. The year before, but then things got...difficult, so we weren’t together at that point, but it was around that time, when we really started to..." she paused, looking across the table at his trusting face. The face that she loved, into eyes that always seemed to hold nothing but love for her. A face that she never wanted to see crumple with pain again.

"...really become friends," she finished, then hurried to explain, when she saw him sadly mouth the word, "good friends, William. The very best, the kind that real love is built on. And you and I came to trust each other in a way we hadn’t before...I trusted you enough to let you bring me here, because you did it for me, because you knew I needed to get away, to...just be able to breathe, to be me. You did that," she said, taking his hand in hers again.

William didn't know why, but somewhere deep inside him, he knew that the the essence of what she, for that matter all of them, weren't telling him about his past had to do with trust. Her trusting him. Them trusting him. Otherwise, why mention it? Wouldn't trust among friends or in their relationship, have been implicit? The mere fact of her mentioning it; had shown it to be at the heart of the issue.

"Had I been...untrustworthy before?" he asked bravely, afraid to hear the truth, but unwilling to be a coward about it either, not if he was to be worthy of her now.

"William," she said, her voice catching at how far he was pulling them onto thin ice, farther than he even imagined. He’d taken hold of her and spun her in a dance around the big white elephant in the room they both inhabited. He was dancing with her again.

Buffy put her hand on his face, "Let’s just say we both hurt each other, and let it go at that. Alright? Please?" her voice had a hint of fright in it, which he heard.

"Of course," he said, relieved himself, for reasons he didn’t care to examine right then.

The food came and they started to eat. They talked then about other things, their recent history, and the mood lightened.

"When you brought me here, it was the first time that I’d met Edna, or knew about this part of your life. You bought me this necklace that night," she said, looking down at it fondly. William’s hand reached across the table and she felt his delicate touch on it as he lifted it up off her chest to look at it. Her eyes caught his and they stared at each other for a very sensual moment.

"And you bought me the Shakespeare book," he said in a low voice, still staring at her.

She nodded, dumbly. He knew that part of the story already.

She cleared her throat, and pulled away from his hand to gain some coherence,

"We went back to your house. Clem had already come up ahead of time to start the fireplace and to open up the house, since you hadn’t been there in a while. Edna sent us home with lots of food. Like always," she said, smiling.

William nodded; knew it well he did.

"We sat in front of the fireplace and talked for a couple of hours, then we went to bed. You in your room which is now our room, and me in the guestroom. You didn’t want it to be about you that weekend, so you didn’t want to pressure me, if I didn’t want to be with you in that way."

"I see," William said, looking down at her hand, which had come across the table to hold his.

"But I did, you see..."

He looked up, expectantly.

"...want to be with you, in that way. Again. Still. Always."

His heart pounded, as he looked at her, gripping her hand tightly, "And I...I was so happy that you did, I thanked God, the saints, and everything else that I held sacred," he said, awe in his voice.

She stared at him, holding her breath for a few seconds. Had he realized what he’d said? Well, except for the thanking God and saints part, didn’t think Spike...

"What is it?" William asked, realizing that she’d become unnaturally still.

"What you said...do you know what you said? You don’t...do you?"

"What I said?" he asked, thinking about it for a moment.

"I said, I was happy that you came to me, that...oh," he said, looking at her, apologetically.

"It’s okay, really it is," she stammered, "you know it is...I just...when you..."

"Spoke as if I remembered, didn’t I?"

She nodded.

William got up and came over and knelt by her chair, his hands on either side of her legs, "It’s just I know how I would’ve felt. I don’t need to remember it to know how happy I would have been to have you back in my arms, to know that I would have thanked God that you’d come to me. I feel like that everyday, Elizabeth. Don’t you know that by now?"

The room had suddenly taken on a surreal quality, with everything else quiet, still, falling away, as she looked into his face.

"I know," she barely whispered, her hand automatically going to his face. He turned into it, kissing her palm.

"I brought you here tonight...wasn’t exactly how I planned it, think I even had a card," William said, laughing nervously, as his hands found hers and brought them both to her lap, as he looked into her eyes.

"Yes," Buffy whispered.

"Marry me, Elizabeth. I love you so much. Will you marry me?" he asked, his eyes on hers, hopeful, full of love.

"What?" he stammered, suddenly realizing she’d spoken.

"I said yes," she said, smiling.

"But I hadn’t even...yes?" he asked, then his face broke into a huge smile,

"Yes?"

"Yes. Yes!" Buffy repeated for them both, before smashing her mouth to his, silencing the need for any more words, as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up out of her seat, as he rose, too.

Of course, he wouldn’t be silenced for long, "I love you, I love you, love you so much," he murmured into her mouth, as they stood kissing.

"I love you, too," she said back, overwhelmed. Her knees felt like jelly, and not just from the physical sensation of being kissed by him, which in and of itself was enough to do it to her quite often, but of having culminated this relationship in the promise of marriage, of ever after, of all the things she’d never thought she’d ever have.

"I think I...need to sit down a minute," Buffy said, feeling a bit shaky.

He nodded, and pulled the chair out for her and took his seat once more across the table.

Edna chose that moment to bring their desert. Like five years before, it was once again a chocolate cake, frosted in white, with their names, William and Elizabeth written in white in the of a blood-red heart. She also brought coffee and another bottle of champagne.

Edna could feel the heightened tension in the room, and wisely decided to make her stay brief, not wanting to hone in on the couple’s big night, although she was dying to know if William had popped the question yet.

They sat there staring at their cake, and each other, a bit speechless after the flurry of words and activity previous to this moment.

Finally William spoke, "Usually it’s the custom for the man to present the woman with a ring," he began.

She shook her head, "That’s alright."

"I wanted to get you something that you would love. That’s why I took you into the jewelry store the other day...to see if you liked anything."

She nodded, with a knowing look; "I kind of thought so. I didn’t help you any, did I?"

He shook his head, "No, well, not exactly, but I did get some ideas when I was there. About your ring," he said, taking her hand and tracing his fingers over the birds and heart. "If you would like to have this as your engagement ring, I found out that we could have a diamond put into the center of the heart, here. If not, then we can pick out something else, if you’d rather have a more traditional one," he said, looking at her, questioningly.

"No, I don’t want another ring. I love this one, just as it is, in fact. But, maybe if it could be done without hurting it, then that would be alright. That would be perfect," she said, smiling as she put her other hand on top of his.

He smiled back, relieved.

Edna returned a few minutes later and this time they invited her to join them in a toast to celebrate their news.

The champagne bubbled and so did Edna.

"I’m so happy for you two," she said, sniffling.

As expected, she sent them home with plenty of food, champagne, and well wishes and love.

END CHAPTER 117

They drove home in silence, both of them being rather in shock. Buffy held onto William's hand the whole time, forgetting her own rule of two hands on the wheel, as he was still a 'new' driver this time around.

William pulled up in front of the house and turned off the car. He looked down at her hand, linked tightly in his, then up at her face. Their free hands went around each other and they kissed for a few minutes, until with exact timing, both stopped, nodded to each other and got out of the car.

William carried in the bags from Edna in one arm, his other held onto by Elizabeth.

They still didn’t speak as they quickly put away the food, or as she took his hand and led him into the bedroom.

There was a shyness between them, that belied the fact that they’d been living together for the past eight months, as if something had shifted, which of course, it had.

A leap of faith, despite all they knew, and didn’t know, commitment to an unknown future.

Buffy released his hand, once inside the bedroom and they stood there staring at each other for a moment. Her eyes never leaving his face, she began to undress until she stood naked before him.

William stood watching transfixed, his mouth gone dry, as he watched her, looked at her body, saw the rise and fall of her chest. His own heartbeat increased and he felt himself harden at the sight of her.

His gaze traveled back up to her face and he shook his head slightly in wonder, as he crossed the space between them and pulled her into his arms.

"I love you," he said, kissing her softly, "be mine."

She looked at him quizzically for half a second, before he added, "Valentine?"

Buffy giggled a little, remembering seeing the forgotten card on the kitchen table, when they were putting away the food, "I will. I am...yours."

She put her arms around his neck, and she kissed him, as her body molded to his. Their kisses grew more passionate and tongues vied for dominance, as both the friction of his clothes and his desire against her bare flesh, increased her level of excitement, which served to make her all trembly in the knees.

Not to mention the deliciousness of being the only one naked at the moment,

He smiled and arched his eyebrows in a most self-satisfied way, when he heard her little gasping noise, when he suddenly swooped her up and carried her over to the bed.

He followed her down, as she pulled him on top of her, legs locking around his, as her hands went under his shirt, pulling it from his waistband, coming around to undo the buttons. That finished, he shifted, arm to arm, as she helped pull off his sleeves. He felt her smile as he kissed her, as the process became awkward, and he smiled, too, matching the shape of his mouth to hers, while their bodies melded together, as well.

Legs still locked around his; he pulled them over, until she was on top. She sat up, as they both worked on the belt, button, and zipper of his pants. She pulled them down his legs, watching his face, as she did so.

William’s eyes were half closed as she moved her hands down his thighs, then over his calves, his feet, ever so gently, ever so sensually; fingertips barely dancing along his skin, but enough to make him harder, still, at the anticipation.

Pants removed, Buffy came back up his legs slowly; hands, body, mouth, until she was sitting on top him, the only thing between them now was his soft black boxers. He groaned, as he felt her wet heat centered on top of him, rubbing him in all the right ways. He opened his eyes and pulled her down to him, kissing her, while they still rocked together.

His mouth sought her breast and he sucked her nipple into his mouth, his teeth just barely rasping against the soft flesh of it, as she liked, causing her to gasp as she both tried to pull away and urge him on, simultaneously. He switched sides, his hand holding onto the underside of her breast, guiding it, other hand cupping her bottom, while her hands pulled at his hair, ran along his face and neck.

His face came up to hers, seeking her mouth, and they rolled to their sides. He pulled off his boxers and pressed himself against her and her leg automatically went up around his hip, maneuvering for the best position.

Buffy reached down and grabbed hold of him, guided him, until she felt him starting to slowly slide into her. She made a little hitching sound in her throat, as she was completely filled by him, as they both pushed together. She arched slightly backwards, to give him the right leverage. William’s head went down to her breast, suckling it, as the lower half of their bodies moved in perfect rhythm.

She was always amazed by the power of her desire for him; from the moment he touched her just so, to the act itself. Her body seemed to have a memory of its own, as if it could only be pleased by him, and never enough, all jumbled up together.

From the short amount of time she had studied psychology in college, she could surmise that it was her id, the pleasure center that wanted what it wanted. She could also surmise, that it was this id, which had been at work mostly, when she’d first began the torrid affair with Spike, after she’d been resurrected, which nearly destroyed them. Want. Take. Have. That was pretty much her id’s motto at the time.

But the feelings she had now, every time they made love wasn’t like that at all. It was deeper than id alone, it was what it felt like in her heart, her soul, her mind, as well as the deep pleasure it gave her body. It was being loved, totally. It was love.

William gasped softly at the exquisite feeling, as he slid into her warm depths. As always, he had to steer himself to not lose it completely right then and there. Every time was like a first time for him, discovering her body’s secrets within the depths of her womanly embrace. William knew that he’d never tire of discovering them. Never. Knew that her body was made for his, from the moment she’d come into his arms in the hospital, and obviously, before that, too. Knew that God, in his infinite wisdom, had led them to each other again, given them a second chance. Knew that she was meant to be his, to love, adore, protect, and all that, above all others. Knew that his pathetic poetic expressions and fantasies he’d had as a young man could never do justice to the look on her face when he made love to her; when he’d see the beauty of her heart and soul in her eyes, see the love for him there.

"Love you...William...love you," Buffy cried out, orgasm shaking her body. A few moments later, William followed her into bliss.

He lay still on top her for a few moments, as she still tightly gripped him. As she relaxed, he rolled off onto his back and pulled her towards him, until her head lay against his chest. He put his hand to her face and cradled it, as he reached down and kissed the top of her head.

"Happy Valentine’s Day, Elizabeth," he whispered to her, "love you."

"Happy Valentine’s...Day...you, too," she mumbled, lulled to sleep by the beat of his heart.

END CHAPTER 118

FEBRUARY 15, 2009

SATURDAY

9:00AM

"You sure you don’t mind if I go to the restaurant this morning?" William asked over breakfast.

Buffy shook her head, "Of course not, you should go help her."

"Because I don’t think she’d mind at all if I didn’t come today, considering..." he said, winking at her.

"No, go. It’s fine."

"Trying to get rid of me, already then?"

"Only if you keep asking me if it’s alright," she said, throwing her napkin at him across the table.

He laughed.

They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"When?"

"Huh?"

He motioned between him and her, "Um...when do you want to get married?"

"Uh...I...I don’t know, I haven’t really had a chance..."

"I know. Nevermind. We’ll talk about it some other time; I’m not trying to rush you, Elizabeth. You know that, right?"

She looked up at him, "I know. Thanks."

"Well, guess I’ll be going then," William said, reluctantly, as he was putting his coffee cup and plate in the sink. He slipped on his jacket, then came over to where she was sitting and bent over to give her a kiss.

"I won’t be gone too long today, luv."

"Good," she said, touching his face.

Leaning into her touch for a moment, he closed his eyes, then groaned as he opened them and looked at her adoringly, shaking his head.

"Bye."

"Bye William, drive carefully, okay? Watch for any snowy patches."

"I will," he said, as the door closed behind him.

She walked over to the door just in time to see him driving off.

Buffy sighed in relief, then hurried to put her clothes on.

Five minutes later, she was running up the trail behind the house.

"Well, Buffy, this’ll teach you what not training for five years will do to you," she said to herself, as she tried to catch her breath, when she arrived at the clearing beyond ‘their’ tree.

She had kept it together all morning, but as soon as William had left, she felt the uncontrollable urge to get up here to think. It had always been a place she’d come to over the years when she wanted to talk to Spike.

"Is that what this is?" she wondered, her missing Spike?

Buffy bent over and cleared some snow off of an area of the rock, pulled her coat around her legs and sat down. She would meditate like she used to do, and hope that she could still find him to talk to. Closing her eyes, she tried to envision his face, the way he had looked before. It was hard now that she’d been living with, and looking at William for so long. The same face, yet different. But it was him that she needed to talk to now.

She closed her eyes and cleared her mind of everything. After about fifteen minutes, she finally began to see an image of him. He was sitting on a bench, not far from where his crypt had been in Sunnydale. As she stood staring at him, he turned to her.

"Hello, Buffy," he said, softly.

"Hello, Spike," she said, sitting down next to him.

Spike looked at her, an unreadable expression on his face, "Come to tell me the news, then?"

"The news?"

He cocked his eyebrow at her.

"Oh...oh." She laughed, "Yeah, it is pretty crazy me coming to tell you, isn’t it."

"You said it, luv, not me," he chuckled.

"Yeah," she said quietly, looking down.

"Hey, look at me," he said, reaching over and taking her chin in his hand. She shivered at the cool touch as she looked into his knowing eyes, "what’s wrong?"

"I...I don’t know. I’m happy, really happy, ecstatic even."

"Liar," he said, softly.

She shook her head, "No, Spike. I’m not, it’s just..."

"He’s not enough for you, is he?" Spike said, a hurt look on his face.

"No, no, no! That’s not it, he, I mean, William is wonderful, you’re wonderful. You know how much I love you, er...him," she said, rolling her eyes. "God, this is really an insane troll-logic conversation, isn’t it?"

"And a Kewpie Doll goes to the girl who states the obvious," he said, with a slight smirk.

She gave him a look, then continued, "I just feel in order for William and I to move forward, I have to let you go, because sometimes I still miss that part of you. Does that make sense?"

"Still need a little monster in your man, pet?" Spike teased, cutting to the chase.

"No, it’s not that. I mean, I wouldn’t want to see William turned into you again. Oh, shit! That came out all wrong," she said hurriedly, seeing his pained expression.

"Bloody hell, Slayer! What do you mean then; and be very specific."

Buffy took a deep breath, "I miss the man that you’d become Spike," she shook her head in wonder, "all the changes that you made to be a better man, to become a man. Sometimes I miss sharing our past with you. We have so much you know, and it’s a part of me that I can’t share with him, er...William. But I love him, as much as I love you, I mean, he is you, he always was a part of you and that part of you saw me, knew me, called to me...you were him, but he’s not you."

"I’ll still always be inside you, luv," Spike said, "you know that, so the question is, is William enough for you?"

She turned on the bench and reached over entwining her fingers with his, while her other hand came up to caress his face. It was cool under her palm and she ran her fingers gently over his lips before leaning in and giving him a tender kiss, "Thank you."

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

An hour later, walking back down from the ridge at a much more leisurely pace, Buffy felt at peace with herself. She could do this.

"Just a bit of buyer’s remorse," she said, smiling at the metaphor.

It had snowed while she’d been walking; big, fluffy flakes floated down from the skies.

She was glad to see William’s car already back.

"Hey," he said, waving to her from the doorway, "was just about to go out looking for you."

"Here I am," she said, smiling as she walked up to him, "just went for a walk."

He pulled her to him, and brushed the snow out of her hair, then kissed her, "Missed you," he said in a low voice.

"I missed you, too," she said, and she had.

"Let’s go in, I’ll make us some something warm."

"You go ahead, I want to do something first," Buffy said.

"What’s that? Need some help with something?"

"Nope. It’s a surprise. Go on, go in, I’ll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay," he said, giving her a benevolent grin.

She watched as he walked to the house and waved to him as he closed the door. As soon as she was sure he wasn’t looking at her through the windows she got busy.

"Ta da!" Buffy said, about 10 minutes later, setting the smallest part of the snowman she’d just made on top of the other two sections for the head.

She went to the back door and called inside, "William, come look!"

William put down the book of poetry he’d been looking at, and got up from the couch, "Coming!" he said, as he walked through the kitchen to the back door.

"What is it?"

"Look," she said, pointing.

"A snowman! You made a snowman!"

"Yeah, you showed me how the first time I ever came up here with you. I’ve been making them about this time of year ever since," Buffy said. "But you have to help me make his face, okay?"

William nodded, "What do we use?"

"Um...carrots for his nose. Some burnt wood pieces for his eyes and mouth. Oh, and I need a hat and a scarf, too."

"Be right back," William said, hurrying to get the things she’d wanted.

He was back in 5 minutes with all that they needed. She took them from him as he put on his coat and boots.

Once outside, she let him put on the finishing touches.

"Would’ve helped you with all of it," he said, pouting a bit.

"Just wanted to surprise you. Don’t worry, he’ll probably melt in a couple of days, then we can build another one."

Finished with the snowman’s face, William put on its hat and tied the scarf around his neck. He also gave him some buttons going down his front.

"There!" he said, proudly. "Now, what shall we call him?"

"Um...well, he already has a name."

"He does?"

"Yeah," Buffy said, smiling, "kinda like Frosty the Snowman. He comes back every year."

William wouldn’t have known from Frosty, except it had been on the television over the Christmas season, and he’d watched it. That, Rudolph, and lots of the holiday specials. It’s a Wonderful Life was his favorite, followed by A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

"What’s his name then?" William asked, grinning.

Buffy picked up a handful of soft snow and sprinkled it over the snowman’s head, "I hearby christen thee, Snowman Spike."

"Snowman Spike?" William asked, rolling his eyes.

"The seventh, to be exact. Or would you rather I christen him, Winter Wonderland William?" she asked, laughing as she tossed some snow at him, "because I can do that. I can sooo do that!"

His eyes widened at her, then narrowed, "Winter Wonderland...oh God! That’s just...God awful. How about...? Darn, nothing goes with your name!" he said, frustrated.

"Doesn’t mean you’re not going to get it still!" he said, lunging at her. She quickly dodged away and William wound up falling into the snow, sans Elizabeth.

"Hoo-hoo!" she cried, laughing, "that’ll teach you."

He quickly got up and reclaimed his dignity, by whooping loudly and running at her full speed. Before she could turn around and run, he tackled her and they both fell into a heap in the snow.

They laughed, throwing snow at each other, him succeeding in getting some down the back of her jacket and top, making her scream from its iciness.

"Surrender! Say you surrender!" he said at her, threatening to do more of the same.

"I surrender, I surrender!" she giggled.

He rolled them over in the snow a few times, her winding up on top of him. Laughing still, she kissed him, "Umm..." she said, "my very own snowman!"

Finally she got up, extending her hand to him. One last time, he pulled her back down and he pinned her and kissed her hard, then looking satisfied, got up and pulled her with him.

As they walked into the house, she felt inside her pocket jacket to the two burnt wooden fangs that she’d always used to make the snowman into her lover's namesake.

She took one last look before closing the door, "Sorry Snowman Spike, you'll have to make due with regular teeth this year," she whispered.

END CHAPTER 119

A/N Hope this last chapter isn't too confusing. Or the last 3 for that matter. If when I'm referring to something that's a fact of his past from my story, those of you who already read One Normal Day, will know the whole backstory of Edna, Lawrence, etc. And also of Snowman Spike.

Next chapter will definitely have the return of a certain tweed-suited character.

Thanks for reading. R&R please.:)