Subject: [SpikesSalvation] Phoenix Dreams- Chapter 25 Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 13:34:57 -0800 (PST) From: Jerusha Hancock Reply-To: SpikesSalvation@yahoogroups.com To: SpikesSalvation@yahoogroups.com Chapter 25 "I never thought I'd get to do this," Buffy said smiling, as she and William walked side-by-side down the sidewalk. Ty was riding his scooter up ahead of them, racing ahead and then waiting impatiently just like any other eight-year-old boy. It was hard to remember how not-typical he was at times. Just like his father. "What, luv?" he asked, glancing down at her, his bleached hair shining in the sun. He'd let it grow out a little, so that his dark roots showed, but Buffy thought he would keep it bleached. It really was a good look on him, especially as it was now. She waved a hand vaguely. "This. You, me, sunshine. Kid. All of the above." William shrugged. "If it makes you feel any better, feels weird to me too." Buffy's eyes were caught by Ty as he stooped to look at something on the sidewalk. She felt a sudden twisting of her heart. "Do you miss her? Ty's mom, I mean." William frowned slightly. "Yeah, I do. She was a good woman, gave me a place when I didn't have a clue who I was. Erin gave me Ty. I'd love her for that alone." "I wish I'd been there," she confessed. "I hate to think of you going through all that on your own." "I wasn't alone though, Buffy," he corrected her gently, understanding her jealousy, at least a little. She smiled, letting him know there was no bitterness there. "I know. And it's probably a good thing that there was some time between, you know? Sometimes you have to lose something to know how much you needed it in the first place." William wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a show of solidarity. "Yeah. Can't lie to you, luv, I can't really miss what I don't remember, but if I hadn't been with Erin, I never would have known Ty. Wouldn't give him up for anything." "No," Buffy agreed. "He's pretty wonderful." "Never believed in fate till the day I held him," he said quietly. "Erin asked me pretty early if I'd put m'self down as his dad, and I didn't mind. Felt grateful to her for everythin' she'd done for me, and we were both pretty much on our own. No one else to hold on to really. I figured I'd love him, but when I looked into his eyes—" William's own blue eyes held a reverence Buffy couldn't remember ever seeing before. "I knew I was meant to be his dad." "Does he know?" she asked, and he didn't need clarification to understand her question. "Yeah, enough. He knows that Erin asked me to be his dad, but we told him his biological dad's a sperm donor. Erin never knew different, I guess, an' there's no way to track the bugger down. When he gets older, we'll tell him the rest, but for now he knows what he needs to." Buffy couldn't imagine what that conversation would be like. On the other hand, Ty had so many people who had chosen to be his family, that he couldn't help but feel loved. "Well, you've done a really good job with him, Spike. You couldn't ask for a better kid." He smiled, grateful for the compliment even as he gently brushed it aside. "Thanks. But I couldn't have done it on my own." They had reached their destination, and Ty was immediately on the monkey bars of the large playground, swinging himself across with an ease even a Slayer could envy. She sat down next to William on a bench, soaking up the afternoon sun. "Buffy?" She glanced over at him, taken aback slightly by the bashfulness in his tone. "Yeah?" "Could I—?" Buffy glanced down and took the hand he was offering her, entwining her fingers with his. This felt good, right, as though this was what she was meant for. And she let herself savor the moment of sun and warmth and a child's laughter. "But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed." 2 Cor 4:7-9 ---------------------------------