Title: Acting The Part Author: Pattyanne snapkik@yahoo.com Disclaimer: None of the BtVS characters belong to me. Feedback: Love some, thanks. Rating: Up to NC-17 Summary: AU. William St. James is an actor in a hit television show. While appearing at a fan convention, he meets Buffy and her six year old daughter, Melanie. Part Seventeen... When the phone rang on Saturday morning, Buffy was standing at the kitchen sink with a cereal bowl in her hand, trying to chip off hardening bits of oatmeal from Melanie's breakfast. As it always did these days, her heart rate kicked up a notch. Drying her hands on a dishtowel, she picked up on the second ring. "Hello." "Hi. Did I wake you up?" William asked. She smiled. "No. We've just had breakfast." "Damn. I wanted to catch you still in bed." "Why?" "So I could picture you there, all soft and warm, with your hair spread out over the pillow, your eyes sleepy and a little smile on your pretty face, because you were dreaming about me." He was painting a very appealing picture with his words and the husky tone of his voice, and she felt a pleasant shiver chase up and down her spine. "Sorry," she replied. "But you'd have to call a lot earlier to do that. Melanie's up with the birds." "Are you busy today?" Surprisingly, she wasn't. Both Willow and Anya would be opening the store, and she had no pressing errands to run. "Because I was thinking," he went on, "I have to take the dogs in for their rabies shots around noon, but after that I'm free. How about if I come and get you two and take you out to lunch?" Buffy was agreeable, so they made their plans and said goodbye. After finishing the breakfast dishes, she went upstairs to tell Melanie that William was coming over. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * It was almost one o'clock when she came down and found Melanie kneeling on the couch. She was facing backwards, staring out the window and watching for William's car to pull into the driveway. Just for something to do, Buffy picked up Melanie's pink backpack and began to empty out the previous weeks worth of corrected homework papers, a wadded up sweatshirt with a grape juice stain she'd never seen before, a Cinderella lunch box, and notices from the school about upcoming events that required either her participation or a hefty donation to the cause. Smoothing out a piece of slightly crumpled blue paper, she sighed when she read the heading, remembering when this same notice had come home last year to inform her of the upcoming breakfast banquet the school was having for the children and their fathers. Melanie had been very excited about it a year ago. The pizza lunch for the kids and their mothers had been a great success, and she hadn't quite lost all her faith in her father's promises at that point. Angel had agreed to attend, had even marked the day down on his calendar while Melanie had him on the phone. Then, the night before the event, his firm had sent him to Spain to handle an emergency for one of their wealthier clients. He'd called on his way to the airport, after Melanie had gone to bed, leaving Buffy to break the news in the morning. Not wanting Melanie to be the only child in her class whose father wasn't there, she kept the little girl home from school that day and took her to the park instead. "Hey...I see they're having another breakfast party," she said brightly. "Uh-huh," Melanie replied, leaning forward to see if the car turning the corner belonged to William. Trying to keep an encouraging smile on her face, Buffy asked, "Do you want to call your dad and invite him?" The little girl just shrugged. "Maybe later." Buffy set the flyer down on the coffee table. Without her meaning it to, her mind drifted back to the other night when she and William had made love, after which he'd made that startling declaration about wanting to be Melanie's father. Although she didn't remember planning it that way, her facial expression must have been somewhere between disbelieving and totally flabbergasted. He'd apparently felt as though he'd said too much, too soon, and had offered up a stumbling explanation of what he'd meant; that he would be happy to assume any kind of 'fatherly' type role Melanie might need him to play. He'd been so pleased that he'd been able to rescue her from the unkind taunts of her school mates that he wanted to be there for her if she should need him for anything else. Buffy had almost laughed at his nervous backpedaling, assuring him that she knew exactly what he'd meant by his words. When she'd thought it over later, she'd come to the conclusion that it had been an impulsive remark on his part, no doubt prompted by his obvious dislike...sight unseen...of Melanie's biological father. But he was far too sensitive and intuitive to consciously try to shove Angel out of his daughter's life at this point in what was still a very new relationship. Still, he HAD offered, she mused, eying the paper she'd placed on the table. Certainly, Melanie would be thrilled. On the other hand, maybe it WAS pushing things along too quickly. If William volunteered to attend this function with Melanie, it was liable to give rise to all sorts of wrong impressions, especially to Melanie herself. Her rambling thought patterns were terminated when Melanie suddenly jumped off the couch. "He's here!" the little girl announced, flinging open the front door. Deciding to think about it later, Buffy followed Melanie out onto the porch just in time to see her streak past William, who was halfway up the sidewalk, and head straight for his car instead. Since he'd parked by the curb and not in the driveway, the child was able to see in the windows of the SUV. After trying hard to peer through the dark tinted glass, she finally turned and looked at William. "No doggies?" she asked, clearly disappointed to find that he hadn't brought his canine pals along with him. William glanced at Buffy helplessly, then walked back to his car and ruffled Melanie's curls. "I'm sorry, Pixie," he said sincerely. "I took them home before I came." "Oh. Did they go to their doctor?" she asked, taking the hand he held out for her and walking back up the sidewalk with him. "Yes. For their booster shots." "I did that for school." She looked up at him. "Won't they be lonely?" He smiled. "No, they'll be fine. They have each other." Buffy leaned against the door jamb, her arms folded across her chest, watching them. It quickly became clear that William wasn't going to be able to stand letting Melanie down. "I think you're right," he finally said, contradicting his previous statement. "They might get lonely. Maybe we should go back to my house and keep them company. You know, I've told them all about you, and they can't wait to meet you." "Can we go do that, Mommy?" she asked her mother happily. Buffy smiled at her. "I don't see why not." Melanie wasn't the sort of child who jumped up and down clapping her hands in excitement when a treat was promised, but she more than made up for it with the sweetness of her smile. William had no resistance whatsoever. "Great," he said, then asked, "Do you have a bathing suit?" Melanie nodded. "You run up and get it, then," he instructed her. Without even pausing to ask why, she obeyed. After she was up the stairs, he joined Buffy on the front porch. Sliding one arm around her waist, he pulled her against him and kissed her. "What about YOU?" he murmured, biting gently on her earlobe. "Have you got a bathing suit? Something sexy?" "I have one." Her smile was teasing. "I'm not sure it's all that sexy." "How about I be the judge of that?" Disentangling herself before her legs stopped working, she went upstairs after Melanie, only stopping to grab the school flyer from the coffee table and slip it into the back pocket of her jeans. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * His house was in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles. Alone, it sat nestled at the very end of a long private driveway that was lined on both sides by dense foliage and huge shade trees. William pulled in to a three car garage, parking the SUV alongside a silver Carrera, and cut the engine. He escorted them through the double front doors, and into a large foyer. Buffy's jaw dropped when she looked straight ahead across the living room through a large picture window, amazed at the panoramic view of the surrounding hills and canyons. "Oh, my gosh," she whispered, taking it all in. "What a view!" He nodded. "Part of the reason I bought it. Wait'll you see it at night." A sliding glass door next to the window opened out onto the patio. There was a redwood deck with a built in jacuzzi off to one side and, beyond that, a swimming pool's turquoise blue water shimmered in the warm afternoon sun. Melanie clung to Buffy's hand as William gave them a quick tour of the house. There were four bedrooms, each with their own private bath; the large living room with a stone fireplace on the far wall; a family room; a formal dining room; and the biggest kitchen Buffy had ever been in, with a breakfast nook in one sunny little alcove. "So, what do you think?" He seemed anxious to know her opinion. "I think it's beautiful," she said honestly. "How about you, Pixie?" He knelt beside Melanie. "You like it here?" "Yes,"she nodded, looking around. "Where do the doggies live?" William chuckled. "Pretty much anywhere they want to." he told her. "But right now, they're in the side yard. Come on and meet them." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * As Buffy had imagined, it was love at first sight between Melanie and the dogs. Belle, the labrador, was calm and good natured. She sniffed the newcomers up one side and down the other, then stood still and accepted the over abundant affection Melanie lavished on her without complaint. Sam, the poodle, was the antithesis of Belle. He was all wriggling silliness and ran around them in circles, yapping his tiny lungs out for attention. It didn't take Melanie long to discover a couple of slobbery tennis balls hidden in the grass. She threw them as far as her small arms could propel them, and the dogs patiently brought them back, time after time, dropping them at her feet. Buffy sat on a small retaining wall that surrounded a clump of bushes that hadn't been pruned in what looked like years, watching her daughter play with the dogs. William stood next to her, one foot up on the wall, his thumbs stuck casually through the belt loops of his jeans. After fifteen minutes, Melanie announced that the dogs were thirsty. She spotted two large silver water bowls on the patio and dumped out the old water, refilling them with a garden hose. Belle and Sam drank loudly, snuffling their noses in the water as Melanie knelt beside them, patting them gently on their backs. When the animals had drunk their fill, they collapsed in the shade of a tree close to the back wall. Melanie wiped her hands on the grass and trotted back to her mother. "Having fun?" Buffy asked her, smoothing down her hair. "I like your dogs" she told William, squinting up at him through the sun. "Is it time for their lunch?" He sat on the wall next to Buffy, pulling Melanie onto his knee. "I guess it could be," he said. "And I think it's time for our lunch, too." "Are you hungry?" she asked him, slinging one arm around his neck as he stood up. "I could eat. How about you?" "I could eat, too." They both looked down at Buffy. "Oh, I get it," she said, standing up and brushing off the seat of her pants. "Some- thing tells me that the 'out for lunch' plan is scuttled, right? Is it time for old mom to see what's in the kitchen?" "Well," William replied, "we could still go out...but it's so hot.." He gave Melanie a little squeeze. "and I think Melanie wants to try out the pool." "Mommy is a really good cook," Melanie added. Buffy smiled archly at her daughter. "Flattery will get you everywhere, cookie," she said. "Let's go see what's in the kitchen." "Yay!" Melanie cheered. "Yay!" William echoed. He tossed the child up and caught her easily, then did it again when she squealed with laughter. Buffy stood there, watching them play, feeling that notice from the school practically burning a hole in her back pocket. TBC..... (Still with me on this one?)