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 Eighteen....


After a quick examination of the contents of William's
refrigerator, Buffy began preparing a luncheon platter.
She sliced up apples and peeled oranges, separating
them into segments and pulling off the "white strings"
that Melanie disliked.  She found a small container of
strawberries and washed them, then pulled off the husks
and added them to the plate, along with a bunch of
green grapes.

In the pantry, she spotted a can of pineapple chunks...a
particular favorite of Melanie's...and a box of wheat grain
crackers.  On a whim, she went back to the refrigerator
and began checking the little doors on the side, smiling
when she found a  brick of jack cheese. She took down
another plate and arranged the crackers on it, then sliced
slivers of the cheese on top of them.

In the very back of the freezer, she dug up a can of frozen
lemonade, then searched for something to mix it up in.
William had obviously never acquired a collection
of Tupperware, so she had to make do with an expensive
looking crystal pitcher she found in a cabinet over the sink.
After the juice was prepared, she added ice cubes and
lemon slices to it.

Melanie bounced into the kitchen wearing her yellow and
white checked bathing suit, dragging a towel behind her
that was twice as long as she was.

The little girl climbed up onto a stool next to the high
counter and hung over, watching her mother. "Can I have
some lemonade, Mommy?"

Wiping her hands on a paper towel, Buffy started
searching the cupboards. It soon became obvious that
this was a house unused to the presence of small children
with buttered fingers, because she was unable to find
anything but highly breakable glassware.

She selected the smallest juice glass she could find, filling
it a little more than halfway and passing it across the
counter. "Be careful."

Melanie nodded agreeably, then promptly began fishing
around inside of the glass with her fingers, trying to grab
hold of the lemon slice.

On the brink of admonishing her, Buffy completely lost
her train of thought when William walked into the kitchen
wearing nothing but a pair of faded cutoff jeans and a towel
slung around his neck. "Ready to swim, pixie?"

Melanie gathered her towel up and squeezed it into a
terry cloth ball. "Do you got steps?" she asked.

A smile formed in the corner of his mouth. "Steps? You
mean a staircase like the one in your house?"

"No, the ones that go into the water."

Buffy explained. "We haven't really had a chance to take
swimming lessons, so we usually stay in the shallow end
where the steps are."

Actually, she hadn't even tried to talk Melanie into the
idea yet, knowing that the child would be unhappy being
placed in a pool with a lot of strange children and having
to submit to a hands-on teaching method from still another
stranger.

"Yes, I have steps."


**************************************************

They sat at a glass topped patio table on the deck,
shielded from the hot California sunshine by a large
canvas umbrella.

Melanie ate a small amount of the fruit and three of the
crackers, after brushing the cheese off.  Impatient to
get to the 'fun with water' portion of the afternoon, she
resisted all Buffy's attempts to coax her into eating
more, asking, "Is that enough?" after every bite she
took.

The child was a consummate deal maker when it came
to mealtime. When told to eat five more bites of chicken
and six green beans, she was more than likely to make
a counter offer of four bites and three beans, haggling with
the savvy of a rug merchant in a Persian marketplace.

Over the years, Buffy had learned to start the bidding
high in order to get the amount of food SHE wanted into
Melanie's stomach, while giving the impression that she
was being taken gross advantage of.

When it became clear that nothing would induce her
daughter into taking one more bite of anything,  Buffy
threw in the metaphorical towel and went inside to
change into her bathing suit, a simple black one piece
with diamond shaped cut outs on both sides.

She found two more towels in a linen closet that was
bigger than her bathroom. Heading back outside, she
paused at the window and smiled.

William and Melanie were in the shallow end of the
pool. She was lying on her back in the water with
his hands beneath her, helping her float.  As Buffy
watched, he slowly took his hands away and left her
to do it on her own.

Dropping the towels on a chaise lounge, she sat
on the side of the pool and dangled her legs in the
cool water. "Hey, look at you!" she said, feeling a
shiver scamper up and down her spine when she
felt William's eyes on her. She met his intent gaze
with her own, blushing a little when he mouthed the
words, "Very sexy" in reference to her bathing suit.

"I'm swimming!" Melanie announced. Unfortunately,
her concentration broke and she started to sink.

William caught her and turned her upright.

"Did you see?" she asked, unfazed at her dunking.

"I saw," Buffy nodded. "Very good."

As she sat on the warm tile and watched, William
spent the next twenty minutes giving Melanie her
first official swimming lesson, doing such a good
job of it that she briefly wondered if he gave bike
riding lessons as well.


**************************************************


There was a large metal shed on the side of the
house, a shed containing the various necessities
for maintaining a swimming pool.

William disappeared inside, coming back out with a
few pool toys that looked suspiciously brand new to
Buffy; a large and colorful beach ball, a couple of long
foam rubber noodles, and a blown up 'Shamu' raft that
was almost as big as the whale itself.

Handing over the toys to Melanie, he sat on the
lounge next to Buffy's and stretched out on it.

Melanie giggled riotously as she tried to climb on the
back of 'Shamu' and kept sliding off into the water.

William laughed and looked over to meet Buffy's
inquiring gaze. "What?"

"Did you buy those things for Melanie?"

"What? No!" he blustered, visibly searching his mind
for an excuse. "I keep those around...in case friends
come over.  Friends with children," he added when he
saw her skeptical look.

"Really?" she asked him, her tone laced with dis-
belief. "Because those things look like they just came
out of the package five minutes ago."

He tried to hide behind his sunglasses, but she was
too determined. "Not five minutes ago," he finally
admitted. "Last night."

"But you didn't know we'd be here last night."

"Well....I figured I'd lure you two up here some-
time...and I wanted her to have something to play
with."

Melanie tossed the beach ball in their general
direction. After leaning over and whacking it back to
her, he turned and faced Buffy. "You aren't mad
because I bought her some toys....are you?" he
asked, giving her his most appealing smile.

In the face of such sweetly charming words, not to
mention a smile that made her knees quiver, how could
she be?

"Of course I'm not mad."

Actually, she was touched beyond words. The way he
always thought of Melanie, even when he wasn't with
her, was wonderful.  She just wasn't completely certain
that allowing her daughter to get used to such treatment
was a good idea. What if he woke up one morning and
decided that he was tired of.....

**Stop that. It's not going to happen. He adores her and
he is NOT like Angel. He is NOTHING like Angel**

"I'm glad to hear that....because I was thinking about
having a slide put in."

"William!"

"What?"


**************************************************


As soon as the sun began to do down, the air outside
turned chilly. Against Melanie's wishes, Buffy took
her back into the house and changed her into her
clothes.

William gathered up all the plates and glasses and
took them inside while Buffy parked her daughter in
front of the television and switched on 'Animal Planet's
Funniest Videos', one of the little girl's favorite shows.

She went back into one of the guest bedrooms to change
out of her bathing suit, and had barely gotten the door
closed before she heard a soft knock.  Melanie never
knocked...ever...so there could only be one person
on the other side of the door.

"Who is it?" she asked needlessly.

To her surprise, instead of answering her, he opened
the door and stepped inside. Closing the door behind
him, he looked at her with a playful leer.

"Oh, no," she said, pointing at the door. "Out you go.
We're not doing this here."

"Buffy," he murmured cajolingly, moving just a little
closer. "Come here and kiss me. You haven't kissed me
all day....and I'm lonely."

The pouting expression on his face was so fiendishly cute
that she almost laughed. "Melanie's...."

"Melanie," he interrupted, "is sitting on the couch watching
television with the dogs. I even got her to drink a glass of
milk. Now don't I deserve a kiss for that?"

She folded her arms across her chest and looked at
him. "Oh, you did? And...?"

"And what?"

"And....what did you have to give her?"

He made a face. "A few Oreos...but she's drinking the
milk!  Now, come here," he said, advancing a few feet.

She backed away. "No."

"All I want is a kiss," he begged. Clasping his hands
together, he held them up in supplication and dropped to
his knees, inching closer. "One kiss."

Buffy had to clap a hand over her mouth to keep from
giggling like a silly teenager. "Stop it."

"I've had a totally G rated day," he whined. "And it
hasn't been easy with you prancing around in that dead
sexy bathing suit."

"William...."  Still avoiding him, the back of her knees hit
the edge of the bed. She fell on her back, and William
took instant advantage of the opportunity. Before she
realized he'd done it, he was off the floor and on the bed.

"Now," he said softly, leaning over her, "I've got you where
I want you."

**************************************************


Her blush and wide eyed gaze, the tempting rise and
fall of her breasts, and the soft rose petal shade of
her lips were drawing his full attention. The playful inter-
lude was changing...deepening...becoming something
entirely new.

He hovered over her, leaning on his left arm, which
left his right hand free. Placing it on her waist, his fingers
slipped just slightly behind it and pulled her forward.

"Buffy," he whispered, now serious in his tone and
intent. "Will you kiss me?"

Without waiting to hear an answer, his mouth descended
on hers with heart aching sweetness, his eyes holding
her gaze until her sable dark lashes slowly fluttered
closed, shielding her emotions from him.  He closed his
eyes, too, his breath mingling with hers as his tongue
slipped between her lips with a gentle force.

He wanted to pull her closer, to mold himself against
her warmly feminine form, but he couldn't. The desire
to make love to her was too strong. He was already
having a difficult time controlling it.

When they finally separated, he stared down into green
eyes that looked soft and a little dazed, an expression
he was sure his own gaze was reflecting back at her.

His hand cupped her cheek, thumb stroking the
moist curve of her lips.There was so much he wanted
to say to her, but his thoughts refused to form coherently.

Fully aware that there was a six year old girl in the
other room who was liable to come looking for her
mother, he reluctantly moved away from temptation.

"Thank you for the kiss," he said softly, rising to his
feet on unsteady legs. "I'll let you get dressed."

He had his hand on the doorknob when she stopped
him.

"William, wait...."


**************************************************


She spoke without thinking first, an impulsive
request to keep him in the room, but when he
turned around, her inspiration failed her.

"Yes?" he finally prompted.

"Um...there's this thing."  Climbing off the bed,
she picked up her jeans and extracted the crumpled
blue flyer that she'd stuffed into her pocket at home,
the one that had been drifting on the edge of her
subconscious mind all day. "I'll understand if you
don't want to," she said, handing him the flyer.

She watched him unfold the paper and read its
message. Her nervous system was taking a
pounding until he looked at her and smiled.

"If I don't want to?" he echoed. "Are you asking me
to take Melanie to this breakfast?"

"Sort of."  She sat down on the end of the bed,
smoothing imaginary wrinkles. "In a way. But, don't
feel like you HAVE to say yes," she added quickly.

He was silent for a moment, then said, "Don't you
think she wants her father to take her?"

Buffy shrugged. "The thing is...well, they did this
last year when she was in kindergarten. She asked
him, and Angel agreed to do it, but...."

"He DIDN'T do it." William guessed. "Why am I not
surprised?"

"It's a lot to ask, I know..."

"Buffy," he said, cutting her off. "I told you. I'm here for
Melanie, and I'm here for you. And I'm not going any-
where."

She believed him. She really, really did. Believed him
and believed IN him.

It was an odd and unfamiliar feeling, one that she could
get used to quite easily.

But there was more to say, and she had to force
it out.

"I don't want you to feel like...to think that..."  She
sighed deeply. "What I mean is...she might want to
ask him...and he'll probably say yes. But if he does,
and then...."  Her voice trailed off. She felt awful for
making it seem like he was second choice, only to be
called upon should Angel flake out again at the last
minute.

He seemed to know what was going on in her head,
because he held up one hand.

"I know what you're saying, Buffy, and it's fine. I don't
mind playing the supporting role," he said, then smiled
as he pinned a direct gaze on her. "For now."

It wasn't until he'd left the room that she realized
she'd been holding her breath.


TBC.....